Red Songs

in the white i wake up in the white i die and somewhere in the red i see your eyes

and in the green i’m out walking and in the green i live but somewhere in the red i have your lips

i dreamed of eyes… i dreamed of ears…

and in the blue i’m rising like an ocean and in the blue it’s down i sink but somewhere in the red i taste your skin

the girls they loved his face cut their fingers when they could not look away but joseph never saw a thing his eyes were wrapped in all of these dreams in coloured cloth and autumn grain coloured cloth covered with bloody stain

no love, without the pain but we learn to love again.

i dreamed of mine i dreamed of yours

and in the black I feel you and in the black I sense that somewhere in the red the colours end

[traditional english-newfoundland folksong, arranged by tim]

“who is at my window weeping, weeping there so bitterly?” “it’s i, it’s i, your own true lover, arise, arise and pity me.”

“oh darling, go and ask your mother, if my wedding bride you’ll be. if she says no, return and tell me, and i’ll no longer trouble thee.”

“i cannot go and ask my mother, for i’m her only child and dear oh darling, go and seek some other,” she whispered softly in his ear.

“then darling, go and ask your father, if my wedding bride you’ll be. if he says no, return and tell me, and i’ll no longer trouble thee.”

“i cannot go and ask my father for he lies in bed at rest, and beside him lies this silver dagger to slay the one that i love best”

then william took that silver dagger, and pushed it through his aching heart; “i bid adieu to all false loved ones, i bid adieu, for now we part.”

then mary took the blood-stained dagger, and pierced it through her lily breast; “i bid adieu to my cruel parents, i bid adieu, for now we rest.”