1.No Change In Me
You could shoot off a cannon
Down the middle of bond
And attract no attention in downtown st. john's
This getting nowhere is getting to me
Wondering where can you go
To be all you can be
No regular joe wants to pull up and go
And wind up homesick
Where there's no one you know
Just a smoke and a beer
And the sports on tv
Being sorry you left
With no choice but to leave
(chorus)
No change in the weather
No change in me
I don't want to leave
But i can't live for free
Can't eat the air, can't drink the sea
No change in the weather
No change in me
You could shoot off a cannon
From the top of long's hill
And a gulliver's taxi might be all that you'd kill
We were promised the sun
And the moon and the stars
We got weathered old clapboard and salt-rusted cars
So i'll join in the leaving like all of the rest
Montreal, calgary, vancouver west
Lay down on the sidewalk
Kick off and die
And watch people not looking
As they hurry by
(chorus)
2.Sonny's Dream
(chorus)
Sonny don't go away, i am here all alone
And your daddy's a sailor who never comes home
And the nights get so long and the silence goes on
And i'm feelin' so tired, i'm not all that strong
Sonny lives on a farm, on a wide open space
Where you can take off your sneakers
And give up the race
And you can lay down your head
By a sweet river bed
But sonny always remembers
What it was his mama said
(chorus)
Sonny carries a load, though he's barely a man
There ain't all that to do, still he does what he can
And he watches the sea from a room by the stairs
And the waves keep on rollin'
They've done that for years
(chorus)
It's a hundred miles to town,
Sonny's never been there
And he goes to the highway
And stands there and stares
And the mail comes at four,
And the mailman is old
Oh but still dreams his dreams
Full of silver and gold
Sonny's dreams can't be real,
They're just storieshe's read
They're just stars in his eyes,
They're just dreams in his head
And he's hungry inside for that wide world outside
And i know i can't hold him though i've tried, and
I've tried, and i've tried
(chorus)
3.Hello In There
We had an apartment in the city
Me and loretta liked living there
Well it's been years since the kid's have grown
A life of their own and left us alone
John and linda lived in omaha
And joe is somewhere on the road
And we lost davey in the korean war
And i still don't know what for
Don't matter anymore
(chorus)
You know that old trees just grow stronger
And old rivers grow wider everyday
And old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say
Hello in there hello
Me and loretta we don't talk much more
She sits and stares
Through the backdoor screen
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream
That we'd both seen
Someday i'll go and call up rudy
We worked together
At a factory
But what do i sya？
If he asks what's new？
Nothing what's with you？
Nothing much to do
(chorus)
If you're out walking
Down the streets of town
And spot some hollow ancient eyes
Well please just don't
Pass them by and stare
As if you didn't care
Say hello in there hello
(chorus)
4.Natives
For all our languages we can't communicate
For all our native tongues we're all native here
Sons of their fathers' dream the same dream
The sound of forbidden words become a scream
Voices of anger, victims of history
Plundered and set aside, grown fat on swallowed pride
With promises of paradise and gifts of beads and knives
Missionaries and pioneers are all soldiers in disguise
Saviors and conquerors they make us wait
The fishers of men they wave their truth like bait
With the touch of a strangers' hand innocence turns to shame
The spirit that dwelt within it sleeps out in the rain
For all our native tongues we can't communicate
For all our native tongues we're all natives here
The scars of the past are slow to disappear
The cries of the dead are always in our ears
Only the very safe can talk about wrong and right
Of those who are forced to choose some will choose to fight
Promesses de paradis terrestre,
Presents de perles et de coutreaux
Missionnaires et poinniers sont des soldats saveurs deguises
Survivants et conquerants,
Ils nous font attendre
Des charlatans ondulant
Leur verite comme un applat
Au toucher d'une main atrange
L'innocence se convertit en deshonneur
L'esprit qui demeure a l'interieur
Dort dans la pluie
Malgre toutes nos langues,
Nous ne pouvons communiquer
Malgre toutes nos langues natives,
Nous sommes tous natifs ici
Les cicatrices du passe sont lentes a disparaitre
Les complaintes des morts resonnent toujours
Dans notre tete le bien du mal
De ceux forces de choisir,
Quelques uns choisiront de lutter
5.Guardian Angel
Now that we have come this far
Don't be frightened by the night
Just let me be your guardian angel
You will be my guiding light
We've been on this road so long
And sometimes not know where we are
That's when i'd be your lost horizon
You would be my shangri la
Praise slips out so easily
It may not sound sincere
But it only seems to come to me
Whenever you are near
So thank you for the joy ou bring
Thank you for your love each night
I'll always be your guardian angel
Always be my guiding light
When the sun is far too strong
When the wind is cold as ice
That's when i'll be your life's oasis
You will be my paradise
So thank you for the joy you bring
Thank you for your love each night
I'll always be your guardian angel
Always be my guiding light
Yes i'll always be your guardian angel
As long as you'll be my guiding light
6.Friend Like You
I don't have to look any further
Like i always used to do
No searching for some other unknown mystic lover
Now i've found the perfect friend in you
There are those i've known for a lifetime
Others, they're brand new
They come through lucky chance,
Some from brief romances
They'd all love to have a friend like you
But you took me by suprise
I wasn't ready for you
Something flashed before my eyes
Suddenly i adored you, adored you
I was never terminal lonely
From my sheltered point of view
My life was kind of simple, i hadn't built a temple
Dedicated to a friend like you
On the way from cradle to tombstone
There may be a lucky few
Who sail through life untroubled,
Floating on the bubbles
In the wake of special friends like you
When you took me by surprise
I couldn't help but allow
One day vague, the next day wise
To love you beyond tomorrow, tomorrow
You took me by surprise
I wasn't thinking of you
Suddenly realized
How much i really loved you, i love you
Now i don't need to look any further
Like i always used to do
No searching for some unknown mystic lover
Now i've found the perfect friend in you
Now i've found the perfect friend in you
Oh my perfect friend how i love you
7.Never Be The Sun
You'll never be the sun
Turning in the sky
And you won't be the moon above us
On a moonlit night
And you won't be the stars in heaven
Although they burn so bright
But even on the deepest ocean
You will be the light
You may not always shine as you go
Fearful of the storm
You might be so long together
Or you might walk alone
And you won't find that love comes easy
But that love is always right
So even when the dark clouds gather
You will be the light
And if you lose a part inside
When love turns around on you
Leaving the path behind
Is knowing you'll do like you always do
Holding you blind
Keeping you true
8.Voyage
I am a sailor and you're my first mate
We signed on together, we coupled our fate
We hauled up our anchor determined not to fail
For the heart's treasure together we set sail
Withnomaps to guide us we steered our own course
We rode out the storms when the winds were gale force
We sat out the doldrums in patience and hope
Working together we learned how to cope
Life is an ocean, love is a boat
In troubled waters it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage
There was just me and you
Now gathered around us we have our own crew
Together we're in this relationship
We've built it with care to last the whole trip
Our true destination is not marked on any chart
We're navigating for the shores of the heart
Life is an ocean, love is a boat
In troubled waters it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage
There was just me and you
Now gathered around us we have our own crew
Life is an ocean, love is a boat
In troubled waters it keeps us afloat
When we started the voyage
There was just me and you
Now gathered around us we have our own crew
9.Here, There And Everywhere
Here, making each day of the year
Changing my life with a wave of her hand
Nobody can deny that there's something there
There running my hands through her hair
Both of us thinking how good it can be
Someone is speaking but she doesn't know he's there
I want here everywhere
And if she's beside me i know i need never care
But to love her is to need her
Everywhere, knowing that love is to share
Each one believing that love never dies
Watching her eyes and hoping i'm always there
I will be there and everywhere
Here there and everywhere
I will be there and everywhere
Here there and everywhere
10.When You And I Were Young, Maggie
I wandered today to the hills maggie
To watch the scene below
The creek and the creaking old mill maggie
Where we used to long long ago
The green growth is gone from the hills maggie
Where first the daisise spring
The creaking old mill is still maggie
Since you and i were young
Oh they say that i'm feeble with age maggie
My steps are much slower than then
My face is a well written page maggie
And time all along was the pen
Oh they say we have outlived our time maggie
As dated as songs that we've sung
But to me, you're as fair as you were maggie
When you and i were young
Oh they say we have outlived our time maggie
As dated as songs that we've sung
But to me, you're as fair as you were maggie
When you and i were young
When you and i were young
11.Mary Of Argyle
I have heard the mavis singing
His love song to the moon
I have seen the dewdrop clinging
To the rose just nearly born
But a sweeter song has cheer'd me
At the evening's gentle close
And i've seen an eye still brighter
Than the dewdrop on the rose
'twas thy voice, my gentle mary,
And thine artless winning smile
That made this world an eden,
Bonie mary of argyle
Tho' thy voice may lose its sweetness,
Thine eye it's brightness too
Tho' thy step may lack its fleetness
And thy hair it's sunny hue
Still to me wilt thou be dearer
Than all the world shall own
I have loved thee for thy beauty,
But not for that alone
I have watched thy heart, dear mary
And its goodness was the wile
That has made thee mine forever,
Bonnie mary of argyle
12.Oh Rowan Tree
Oh rowan tree, oh rowan tree
Thou'lt aya be dear to thee
Entwined thou art wi' many ties
O'hame and infancy
Thy leaves were aye the first of spring
Thy flowers the summer's pride
There was nae sic a bonnie tree
In a' the country side
Oh rowan tree
How fair was thou in summer time
Wi' a'thy clusters white
How rich and gay thy autumn dress,
Wi' berries red and bright!
On thy fair stem were mony names
Which now nae mair i see
But they're engraven on my heart,
Forget they ne'er can be
Oh rowan tree
We sat aneath thy spreadin' shade
The bairnies round thee ran
They pu'd they bonnie berries red,
And necklaces they strang
My mither, oh! i see her still,
She smil'd our sports to see
Wi' little jeannie on her lap,
And jamie on her knee
Oh rowan tree
Oh there arose my father's pray'r
In holy ev'ning's calm
How sweet was them my mother's voice,
In the martyrs' psalm
Now a'are gane!
We meet nae mair aneath the rowan tree
But hallow'd thoughts around thee twine
O'hame and infancy
Oh rowan tree
13.Steal Away
Steal away let's steal away
No reason left to stay
For me and you
Let's start a-new
And darling steal away
Steal away and chase some dreams
And hope they never find us
The dreary days
The empty nights
We'll leave them all behind us
(chorus)
We'll leave behind the city streets
The gloom and desolation
The rain the cold
Just growing old
God knows it's a hard old station
(chorus)
We'll leave with just a memory
And make a new beginning
We have to choose
To win or lose
And it's time we started winning
(chorus repeat)
14.The Mountains Of Mourne
Oh mary this london's a wonderful sight
With the people here working by day and by night
They don't sow potatoes nor barley nor wheat
But there's gangs of them that's what i've been told
So i just ook a hand at this digging for gold
But all that i found there i might as well be
Where the mountains of mourne sweep down to the sea
I believe that when writing a wish you expressed
As to how the fine ladies in london were dressed
Well if you'll believe me, when asked to a ball
They don't wear a top to their dresses at all!
Oh i've seen them myself, and you could not in truth,
Say if they were bound for a ball or a bath
Don't be starting them fashions now, marry machree
Where the mountains of mourne sweep down to the sea
You remember young peter o'loughlin, of course
Well, now he is here at the head of the force
I met him today, i was crossing the strand
And he stopped the whole street
With one wave of his hand
And there we stood talking of days that are gone
While the whole population of london looked on
But for all these great powers, he's wishful like me
To be back where dark mourne sweeps down to the sea
There's beautiful girls here - oh never you mind!
With beautiful shapes nature never designed
And lovely complexions, all roses and 'cream
But o'loughlin remarked with regard to the same：
'that if all those roses you venture to sip,
The colour might all come away on your lip'
So i'll wait for the wild rose that's waiting for me
Where the mountains of mourne sweep down to the sea
15.The Green Isle Of Erin
There is a voice in the silence
A voice ever calling
A voice like the song of a far distant sea
A music the soul
Of the wild breakers roaring
If floats like a dream
O'er the waters to me
I hear it with tears
And a heart wildly beating
While far and alone
In a strange land i roam
And i weep as i list
And my prayers give it greeting
The voice of the green isle
My country and my home
(chorus)
Oh green isle of erin
That waits for me yonder
Though fate may decree
T'is forever be part
Still exiled and lonely
Where ere i may wander
The green isle of erin
Remains in my heart
There is nowhere a sea
Like the blue rippling ocean
That surges around
And beside that dear strand
There's nowhere a star
That looks down in devotion
So bright as are those
That shine down on the land
(chorus)
With tears in my heart
Tears beyond all controlling
I wake and remember
An exile am i
And ipray as tho' between us
The wide seas are roaring
To come home to thee
It is only to die
Oh green isle of erin
That waits for me yonder
Though fate may decree
T'is forever be part
Still exiled and lonely
Where ere i may wander
The green isle of erin
Remains in my heart
16.The Last Rose Of Summer(Another Version)
Time and time again i am asked the same questions：
'john where did you study？'
'are you professionally trained？'
'is it difficult to stay in voice？'
I come by my voice by virtue of my birth. i can honestly say,
with great pride, that i have inherited my dear father's voice.
'the last rose of sumer', the last track on this album, is
A tape recording of my dad, made in the cabin bar in glasgow,
scotland on august 31, 1957.
,john mcdermott
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