We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Live Here & There

by Ben Holland

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
1. Son of a Refugee 2. Death of a Heart 3. Song of a Prisoner 4. If I ever get Sober (Annalise) 5. Your God's Wont Tell You
2.
I married Isis on the fifth day of May, But I could not hold on to her very long. So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong. I came to a high place of darkness and light. The dividing line ran through the center of town. I hitched up my pony to a post on the right, Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down. A man in the corner approached me for a match. I knew right away he was not ordinary. He said, "Are you lookin' for somethin' easy to catch?" I said, "I got no money." He said, "That ain't necessary." We set out that night for the cold in the North. I gave him my blanket, he gave me his word. I said, "Where are we goin'?" He said we'd be back by the fourth. I said, "That's the best news that I've ever heard." I was thinkin' about turquoise, I was thinkin' about gold, I was thinkin' about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace. As we rode through the canyons, through the devilish cold, I was thinkin' about Isis, how she thought I was so reckless. How she told me that one day we would meet up again, And things would be different the next time we wed, If I only could hang on and just be her friend. I still can't remember all the best things she said. We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice. He said, "There's a body I'm tryin' to find. If I carry it out it'll bring a good price." 'Twas then that I knew what he had on his mind. The wind it was howlin' and the snow was outrageous. We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn. When he died I was hopin' that it wasn't contagious, But I made up my mind that I had to go on. I broke into the tomb, but the casket was empty. There was no jewels, no nothin', I felt I'd been had. When I saw that my partner was just bein' friendly, When I took up his offer I must-a been mad. I picked up his body and I dragged him inside, Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover. I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied. Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her. She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise. Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed, I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes. I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead. Isis, oh, Isis, you mystical child. What drives me to you is what drives me insane. I still can remember the way that you smiled On the fifth day of May in the drizzlin' rain.
3.
1. Sweet Scarlett 2. Bleary Eye Blues 3. One Mans Land 4. Down At The Docks 5. Black Was The Colour 6. Copper Kettle
4.
1. Hunger (half of song) 2. One Man's Land 3. Bleary Eye Blues 4. From Kane Down 5. Susanna 6. Black Was The Colour 7. Sweet Mary Jane
5.
1. Son of a Refugee 2. Death of a Heart 3. Your Gods Won't Tell You 4. If I Ever Get Sober (Annalise) 5. Song of a Prisoner 6. One Man's Land
6.
The poison here is compulsory The cure will kill you too Born between two empty dreams Under an empty sky of blue And the loneliness can be endless When you're buried alive alone Buried beneath someone else's business Buried by the roof of your home And the boarders are undecided New mothers all dress in black You can take any road that you wish to But you'll never find your way back Some hold hope in a fiction In the promise of a dream that calls A place where their fears are forgotten In a garden where the fruit never falls From the Thames Down to the Congo From the Jordan To the Nile There's been blood spilled on every inch of land When a shell Steals the life away From a mother With a sleeping child Look down to see if there's blood on your hands I was born in this prison My children will die here the same The blind man is hanging the watchman There must always be someone to blame For every Abel there is a Kain
7.
Her mother named her Annie Her father didn't care He once bit the lord mayor's son And threw him down the stairs Annie had her mothers eyes And her fathers fangs There'll never be another like Annie of the elephant gang Annie saw the poor Who lived to work and worked to live Annie saw the rich Who'd take and never give She saw the chains of poverty That ran across the land There'll never be another like Annie of the elephant gang In nineteen and fourteen Annie signed for war Not to fight in France But to fight for her front door When she joined that night on old kent road All the kings head sang There'll never be another like Annie of the elephant gang She went from rags to riches With stealing as her game She stole from Oxford Circus She stole from Park Lane She had a brain for robbery And a gamblers slight of hand There'll never be another like Annie of the elephant gang Annie hit the headlines In nineteen seventeen It read the roughest diamond The world has ever seen She liked the way that sounded She liked the way it rang Then she was known all over as Diamond of the elephant gang Diamond was a natural She soon became the boss And gave a home to every orphan The gang would come across The orphans all had mother Tattooed on a diamond on their hand There'll never be a mother like Diamond of the elephant gang They once arrested Charlie Diamonds friend for life She waltzed into the jailhouse With just a carving knife No one said a word As she led him free by the hand There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang She said the police think their kings But they never will see I make them As much as they make me When she handcuffed one inspector He swore he'd see her hang But they'll never catch the queen, Diamond of the elephant gang The men were willing victims They came from all around She'd fool them into love Then steal the ring and gown She'd leave them at the alter As the church bell rang There'll never be a lover like diamond of the elephant gang The landlords strangled London They thought they owned the town But every time they upped the rent Diamond took it down She couldn't stand no one That thought they owned the land There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang Some will rob you with a mortgage Some will rob you with a note Or rob you of your dignity Or of your right to vote But she never hurt no one Who didn't deserve the back of her hand There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang So the rich men got together Decided diamond had to die They bought the best assassins Their money could buy Diamond always said She'd leave here with a bang There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang They followed Diamond through the fog Thought they had the upper hand Little did they know They'd soon be dead where they stand There was one assassin less As the first shot rang There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang When the bloody day had ended All the men were lying dead Diamond dropped her pistols And staggered up to bed There she lay forever Diamonds in her hands There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang Every eye was filled with tears But no one made a sound It seemed the whole of London came To see her in the ground Everyone just listened As the orphan sang There'll never be another like Diamond of the elephant gang.
8.
A soldier says a prayer into his gun Don't die on me before our job is done His fingers reach the handle of the door But theres nothing left to die for anymore Ruby red sparkles on the sand As she's rolling loose her golden wedding band She tastes the colour of her tears Still married to a stranger after all these years To live so long To love so all in vain She smiles as she steps onto the train She knows that she'll never need home again That smile was the last her daddy saw Now theres no one left to cry for anymore The priest lifts his hands up to the sky My God gives me the right to choose who has to die He kneels and puts his hands against the floor But theres nothing there to kill for anymore To live so long To love so all in vain I can hear the drumming of the rain It keeps me from finding that dream again The nightmares come steady through the door And theres nothing left to dream for anymore.
9.
If you go down to the docks tonight You'd better go prepared The workers they are hungry men They're teeth are sharp and bared You stripped them of their means to live Like they didn't have a right So write your speech before you leave Down to the docks tonight If you go down to the docks tonight Then wear a good disguise It's certain you will come to harm If you are recognised Your pictures on the bar room wall Complete with a kitchen knife So take your hat, wear your coat collar high If you go down to the docks tonight If you go down to the docks tonight Its surely suicide But they'll soon find out just where you live Then there'll be no place to hide So take your pick, here or there In darkness or in light Will you take a walk with fate Down to the docks tonight If you go down to the docks tonight You could take back what you stole Give them back what they have earned Could save your crooked soul But if they smell another lie Wont be a pretty sight Fish will feed on a fat cats flesh Down at the docks tonight.
10.

about

Live performances recorded here & there...

credits

released November 10, 2014

license

Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

tags

about

Ben Holland London, UK

Staying one step ahead of my feet.

contact / help

Contact Ben Holland

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Ben Holland, you may also like: