Bitter Lullabies
‘Bitter Lullabies’ is the highly anticipated debut album of North-East band, Bridie Jackson and The Arbour. Featuring 9 original songs arranged with rich layers of vocal harmonies, cello, violin, mandolin, bell plates, bassoon, glockenspiel and guitar, the work shows an ensemble approach to song writing, by a diverse and skilled group of musicians.
“A unique record of startling beauty.”
“An album of stunning authenticity, which manages to be simultaneously contemporary and timeless, Bitter Lullabies’ ought to be treasured by all who hear it.”
Lyrics
4. Aliens | 5. The Burden of Survival | 6. The Woman with Milk Teeth
7. Mucky | 8. Please Forgive Me My Human Ways | 9. All You Love Is All You Are
The ice came, the ice came
and we talked again, we talked again
A child strayed in our neighbourhood
and we talked again, we talked again
Long to be loved for the small things once more
Once more
They built fences high
and darkened the sky
we forgot to be strangers
and talked again
Long to be loved for the small things once more
Once more
Caught in the lost folds of the day
We lie
I’ve heard your punch lines now
So many times
There’s no soul left to bare
You’ve touched every inch of me now
So all we can do is ..sleep
So we sleep
No more fighting
Over chinks of light
I feel your breath move through
My heart.
Remember a time I begun at the place you would start
Now all we can do is..sleep
So we sleep
No more fighting
Over chinks of light
(Lyrics inspired by a poem by Sue Kane)
Struggling with their brimming needs
Reeling even when they sleep
For them truth will over flow
As their minds tumble
To the young
As their minds turn and tumble
The damage caused by broken dreams
Promised by the fully grown
Stays with them til they grow old
Lives in their bones
Over the weeping day
And they long to feel your heartbeat
Next to their own
Staring into the sun
Wondering has life begun
Watching lovers in the rain
Through the thickly dusted window pane
In the half light
Wait for anyone to come and take their hand
So life can start
So love can start
Reading books on being human
They are clearly mystified
What are the secrets that the rest of us hide?
We try to so hard we try to hard
In the half light
Wait for anyone to come and take their hand
So life can start
So love can start
Over the weeping day
Dressed like a martyr
there stood my sister
looking out of the window
tiny face, staring out the sun
blistered lips, blistered skin
from the fire that only she sees
on those you love
and fear their empty shoes
more than monsters in the walls
more than love that leaves you raw
Second in line to
to be brave I stand 3 foot tall
between the living and the dying
and the burden of survival grows
with the passing of each day
on those you love
and fear their empty shoes
more than monsters in the walls
more than love that leaves,
more than love that leaves you raw
And the burden of survival grows
with the passing of each day
Pour your salt on me
From above, above
Your life blighted by the trails of love, of love
They took but they ever gave
You are here to be saved
Dropping milk teeth like they’re treasure
I know you’ve been here
Hoping to be cradled
Childish bullet fired
Misses in time
The nick of time
Good fortune does little to excuse your crime
He makes you feel like something human
Lurks inside lurks inside you
She’s in everything that grows
See her face in every grain of earth
Everything must go
Dropping milk teeth like they’re treasure
I know you’ve been here
Hoping to be cradled
Here I am here I am
on cloud eight and a half
you put me there you put me there
and then you left me hanging high and dry
sliding down the walls
and sticking to the floor
your ceiling and I’ll show you mine
and then we’ll dance like uncoiled springs
and then… and then.
You’re in all my warm and sticky dreams
gliding through my fantasies
violate my sense until I’m deaf, dumb and blind
and, and touch me me
you know I’ve been, you know I’ve been, you know I’ve been
Waiting
Oh please forgive me my human ways
for I count my sorrows day by day
and this load is too heavy to carry home
while those brave in love
Sleep so long.
When your name is spoken for that final time
that’s the day you pass, fall between the lines.
But needing more than I could ever tell
While those brave in love
Sleep so well
Laughing harder
Than your jokes deserve
You are 4 today
And we were born to serve
Is all you are
All you love
Is all you are
You are
Looking at your see through skin
Silent hands
Your mothers chin
Under the rubble
Heartbeats fade
Heartbeats fade
Is all you are
All you love
Is all you are
