1. |
Heart of Song
02:20
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Heart Of Song
Copyright © 2008 David McCann All Rights Reserved
I was young and hard to reach
I was thinking on the edge of speech
Hard to love and hard to teach
Thinking on the edge of speech
Then I grew tall and I grew strong
Talking on the edge of song
I studied hard and I worked long
Talking on the edge of song
And then you come along and the music starts to play
The words all seem to mean what they should say
You come along and the thinking all makes sense
It’s time to take my heart down off the fence
Time to take my heart down off the fence
Now you are here and the blues are not
I’m singing on the edge of thought
Grateful for the things I’ve got
Singing on the edge of thought
If you would stay where you belong
We’d be singing in the heart of song
Nothing broken, nothing wrong
Singing
Singing in the heart of song
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2. |
The Owl and the Pussycat
02:46
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The Owl and the Pussycat
© 2007, David McCann, All Rights Reserved
Once upon a distant time
All I had was yours and you were mine
That’s when our living was full of rhyme
And of reason
Time has passed the rhyme is gone
And for some reason reason’s moving on
And your sunshine has long since shone
In a season that’s long since gone
Time was when we were happy in love
In our beautiful pea green boat
And we loved like the owl and the pussy cat
Just as long as we kept afloat
We lived in a nursery rhyme
Two babies lost in the wood
And the world was ours to play in
And everything was good
Now the time to part is near
Recriminations don’t suit you my dear
But I don’t expect any tears
As I leave you
You get half of what I got
But half of feeling sorry’s not a lot
It’s not a lot for the years we fought
It’s not a lot for a parting shot
And I’ll be leaving you tomorrow
Because of all our yesterdays
And I’ll be leaving you in sorrow
Because of all the things that we did that we shouldn’t have done
And all the love songs that I wrote but left unsung
Once upon a distant time
All I had was yours and you were mine…
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3. |
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Don’t Let It Be
Copyright © 2007 David McCann All Rights Reserved
Don’t let the Summer build you up
With folding chairs and buttercups
Don’t let the sunlight cloud your mind
Because of all the things that shine
Don’t let the bees between the flowers
Buzz in your brainpan after hours
Don’t let the moonlight moths hold sway
Over your senses through the day.
So How You going to feel at this time of year?
Tell me How You going to deal with this time of year?
Don’t let the Autumn chill your brain
With driving wind and howling rain
Don’t let the season’s soggy mists
Beat on your mind with foggy fists.
Don’t let the smell of coal-fire cold
Bring back the memories of old
Don’t let the shooting stars leave tracks
Like whiplash scars upon your back.
So How…
Don’t let it be
Don’t let the Winter bring you down
Beneath the snow upon the ground
Don’t let the festive spirits feed
Upon your pessimistic need
Don’t let Jack Frost inside your dreams
He’s not as jolly as he seems
Don’t let the flash of Northern lights
Keep you awake on frosty nights
So How….
Don’t let the Spring cast bawdy spells
Over your body’s fragile cells
Don’t let the mayfly take control
Over your sentimental soul
Don’t let the flame of Beltane fires
Rekindle long time dead desire.
Don’t let the cuckoo and the dove
Lead you so lightly into love.
So How…
Don’t let it be
Don’t let the Summer build you up
With folding chairs and buttercups
Don’t let the Autumn chill your brain
With driving wind and howling rain
Don’t let the Winter bring you down
Beneath the snow upon the ground
Don’t let the Spring
cast bawdy spells
Over
your
body’s
fragile
cells
Don’t let it be
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4. |
Sheherezade
02:31
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Sheherezade
Copyright © 2009 David McCann All Rights Reserved
You take away the morning sun;
Daytime skies are never blue.
But when the day is dead and dun,
You bring the moon and stars with you.
Chorus
When night-time comes
Won't you be true,
Sheherezade please?
But if my choice
Is truth or you,
Sheherezade
Tell a tale for me.
And every morning I must choose;
Have I been blest or am I cursed?
But when the sorceress is you,
Even the best is for the worst.
Chorus
Bridge
A thousand nights that seemed like one.
See - now another night's begun.
Tomorrow will you rise and go,
And steal the sunlight from my eyes,
Or will you stay with me and show
That you have made an end to lies
Chorus
But if my choice
Is truth or you,
Sheherezade
Tell a tale for me…
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5. |
Moonshot
03:32
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Moon Shot
Words: Sean M Doran
Music: David McCann
Copyright © 2005 Doran/McCann
New Moon Night,
I've missed bright sky,
Silver moon and stars,
No hint of blue lies,
New Moon Night,
I've missed bright sky,
Goading moon and stars,
Can't let this pass by,
The chance I've dreamed of, a dawn away,
And still I'm not certain of what I'll say.
The chance I've dreamed of, a dawn away,
And still I'm not certain of what I'll say.
Half moon night,
Comes quickly,
I bide my time,
wait patiently,
Half moon night,
Comes quickly,
I bide my time,
wait for opportunity,
To catch your eye, to sit and chat,
To make you smile, I've dreamed about that.
To catch your eye, to sit and chat,
To make you smile, I've dreamed about that.
A full moon sky,
The Sun behind me,
The planets gleam,
The next steps easy,
Just one more dawn,
I'm sure we'll see,
No more the moon the sky and me.
A new moon sky,
No words were spoke,
The stars, the night,
A dream, a joke,
A new moon sky,
No words were spoke,
The moon and sky,
Our bonds unbroke.
The life I dreamed still a life apart.
And I stand here with an empty heart.
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6. |
Spark
03:08
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Spark
© 2008, David McCann, All Rights Reserved
Nothing changes for us
We are set in stone
And the chains we let rust
Are fastened through the bone
Time constrains us to be
As companions expect
But in time you may see
Expectations are wrecked
But sometimes in the dark
I question what might be
If we lose the spark
If I don’t have you
Would I still be me?
As the world turns to grey
I need something that’s sure
Never fading away
Something made to endure
I’m inclined to believe
In the need for a friend
And it hurts to conceive
What might cause this to end
But sometimes in the dark
I question what might be
If we lose the spark
If I don’t have you
Would I still be me?
(Repeat)
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7. |
If Only For A Day
03:20
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If Only For A Day
© 2006, David McCann, All Rights Reserved
I hate to leave you
If only for a day
Cos it seems so long
And it feels so wrong
To leave you this way
And when I left you
You were talking on the phone
And it seems I forgot
To say the things that I ought
Before I left home
And if you feel some doubt
You know I’ll be loving you
And if my luck runs out
You know I’ll be loving you
Like I always do…
The papers lead me
Down roads I fear to take
But as I write this song
I hope they’re wrong
For everyone’s sake
But the morning news said
A big rock may land here soon
And even if we could
It would do no good
To go to the moon
But if worlds collide
You know I’ll be loving you
And on the other side
Still I’ll be loving you
Loving you
Loving you
Like I always do…
Returning home I see your smile
I lose my fear for a little while
I lose my fear because I’m loving you
Like I always do
Like I always do…
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8. |
Belfast Town
03:18
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Belfast Town
© 2008 David McCann, All Rights Reserved
Looking at the colours of the Belfast Hills
From my ugly pee-stained boat
I wonder how I left this place
Hidden in the post in a mess of bills
I found the letter that you wrote
It made me want to see your face
Sing to me as I come into shore my Love
Bring to me what you did before
Show me your love and your hate and I’ll settle the score my Love
Sing to me - Bring to me what you did before.
I’ll meet you at the bottom of a dead end street
Outside the Rotterdam
If they haven’t dragged it down
Seeing all the people that we used to meet
Will remind me who I am
And why I’m back in Belfast Town
Sing to me as I come into shore my Friends
Drink to me as you did before
Leave all your troubles and worries outside at the door my Friends
Sing to me - Drink to me as you did before.
Oh Belfast Town, I was so eager to leave you then
Belfast Town, now I’m determined to stay
Believe me now, Darling I’m going to make amends
Oh believe me now I’m never going away.
Opening the letter with a kitchen knife
I caught a hint of your perfume
It’s funny what a spell a smell can cast
Brought me to another time another life
The silence of your room
I thought it couldn’t fail to last
Sing to me as I come into shore my Love
Cling to me as you did before
Leave your doubts with your party dress on the floor my Love
And Sing to me
Cling to me as you did before
Cling to me as you did before
Cling to me as you did before
…as I come into shore
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9. |
Ray’s Tune
02:12
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10. |
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The times you were not there
© 2007, David McCann
The times you were not there
The texture of your skin
The colour of your hair
The heartache where you’d been
The colour of your hair
The times you were not there
I try to trace the story of our love
And face the lack of meaning of your leaving
I pace the steps we walked along the shore
The footprints I can see no more, still grieving
It doesn’t take a lot to understand
That footprints vanish from the sand completely
But still I find the sand inside my shoes
It feeds the thoughts that feed the Blues so sweetly
The times you were not there
The secrets that you’d keep
The colour of your hair
The tears you’d never weep
The colour of your hair
The times you were not there
I bless the sleep that frees my mind
from dwelling on our love’s decline morosely
But waking once again I fear
I focus on our love’s career more closely
The times you were not there
The hope of your return
The colour of your hair
The farewell notes I’d burn
The colour of your hair
The times you were not there
I was hoping all that summer ‘til September
You’d find a way to love me again
Now it’s the funny little things that I remember
That cause me so much pain…
I often wonder did you meet someone
Who’d break your heart as you had done to me
The times you were not there
The promises you’d make
The colour of your hair
The liberties you’d take
The colour of your hair…
The times you were not there
The texture of your skin
The colour of your hair
The heartache where you’d been
The colour of your hair
The colour of your hair…
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11. |
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The Thing That Killed The Cat
© 2008 David McCann, All Rights Reserved
The thing that killed the cat
Wasn't curiosity
No the thing that killed the cat
Was getting caught
We all admire the cat
Less for its ferocity
Than for its philosophy
And its purity of thought
The cat had gone to town
In a limousine
To see what he could see
To see and to be seen
He trundled into town
Checking out the scene
And the scene he checked out most
Was the ruling monarch’s queen
We all want to be cats
Tell me what is wrong with that
And the reason we’re not cats – is that we just don't see
That the secret cats don't share
About their feline savoir-faire
Is that they really just don't care
About you or me.
The thing that killed the cat
Wasn't curiosity
No the thing that killed the cat
Was a jealous king
The king despised the cat
He called it a monstrosity
He called it an atrocity
When the cat began to sing.
[Cat]
9 out of 10 cats
said they liked my song
The other cat was wrong
And he has no friends
So if you are a cat
Then this song was sung for you
It was written for you too
So just give a little mew
Before it ends
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David McCann Bangor, UK
David McCann’s music has invited comparison with a wide range of artists, such as Ralph McTell, Jacques Brel, Morrissey, Don
McLean and James Taylor.
Yet none of these fully describe the style of music David writes and plays.
He has performed throughout Northern Ireland and has played at the Belfast-Nashville and Ards Guitar festivals.
“…and sang to a small guitar” is David’s debut album.
... more
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