Get all 22 Ian Bruce releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Together Forever (CMR 2023 Album of The Year), The Land We Love, Children of Blue, The Naked Truth Vol 1 Remastered, Auld Hat New Heids Vol 1, Ain't That Pretty?, Above Wild Water, Hits & Pieces (The first 30 years), and 14 more.
1. |
Solway Sands
04:22
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SOLWAY SANDS
(Ian M. Bruce/Victor C. Besch)
If silven by starlight from coal black sky
Or gilded by beams from the blue
Or misted and eerie I'll always try
To keep Solway Sand on my shoe
Though I was not born here, it's here I feel free
Together we're seamlessly sewn.
I and the spirit of Solway agree
T's the greatest peace I've ever known.
CHORUS
I'm leaving the bright lights of Glasgow behind
For rolling hills, beach and the bog
For strolling along on Solway sand
And throwing a stick for my dog.
If you leave him alone the adder won't bite
For the midgies I can't say the same.
Here on the trail of the soaring Red Kite
The keepers are guarding their game.
The ghosts of the reivers peek over the hill
Powerlessly they gaze on
Cattle now safe, threat painlessly still
And foot and mouth fires are gone.
CHORUS
To Gretna through Stewartry out to the west
Let's raise a glass, drink a toast
And I hear to your south, though I've never been
There's a beautiful Cumbrian Coast.
God bless you Kentigern, fare thee well Rutherglen.
But I wont be so far away.
If you or I yearn to meet up again
CHORUS
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2. |
Adieu Sweet Lovely Nancy
02:56
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3. |
Slip Set
05:13
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THE SLIP SET
(Ian M. Bruce & Victor C. Besch
Pushin' and a shovin' backs to the car
How far did it go? Not far.
Slide slip, slide slip slippery snow
Pushing' and a shovin - Still won't go.
Skiddin' to the left. Skidding' to the right
Faith man, faith ma. It just might
Grip this time. You never know!
Pushing' and a shoving' but it still won't go.
Fingers freezing'. Pink with the chill
Pushing' like hell but the car stood still
Wheels spin fast. Throwing ups ice.
Covered us both. Really not nice.
'Ventrally moved to another place
One last push. We fell on our face.
Jolt and a jerk - Didn't collide
But landed in the garden on the other side.
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4. |
Help Me Find My Way Home
05:37
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HELP ME FIND MY WAY HOME
(Ian M. Bruce/Victor C. Besch)
He rolled up his sleeves, he firmly believes
Do it well if a job needs doing.
Forging a career through blood, sweat & tears
Working the whole day through.
Takes a wee break, soothing the ache Miraculous rejuvenation.
At the end of the day he gets a little pay
But he never found his way home.
The opposite guy with his shifty eye
Sneaks off round the corner.
Watching others sweat is as close as he gets
To working a whole day through.
Takes a long break, feigns a headache
Pure procrastination
At the end if the day he's told to go away
But he never found his way home.
Dressed to the nines, careful designs
Must create the right impression.
Another diplomat talks through his hat
Compromises his whole day through
A constant preach, a goad and a screech
Stirring a conflagration.
But he never found his feet nor political beat
So he never found his way home.
You'd almost swear he just didn't care It's a habit.
He can't kick it.
Had another swig till his liver got big
From working the whole day through.
He drank another glass, fell on his arse Cold inebriation.
In cold winter chill he lies quite still
He never found his way home.
One last vice, throwing the dice
And faith at some daft system
Another wheel spin, again no win
But gambled the whole day through. T
he odds were bad, he risked all he had
Hideous speculation
One last shot he lost the bloody lot
Even lost his way home.
So what of these five? They all survive
To some extent I within me.
From busting a gut to systems all shut
Lasting the whole day through.
Sometimes I feel great, sometimes in a state
Bi-polar fluctuation.
Confusion reigns again so I picked up the pen
To help me find my way home.
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5. |
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6. |
Above Wild Water
05:27
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ABOVE WILD WATER (Ian M. Bruce/Charlie Milne)
CHORUS
Up above wild water
Up above the raging sea.
Great white horses flounder down below me.
Upstanding on this rock I'd rather be.
One single step, toes teeter on the edge.
I'm feeling not so steady now up here upon this ledge.
I know I'm only human.
I know that I can't fly
But something deep inside keeps tempting me to try.
CHORUS
St. Mary's Island, Cara casts a warning to the sea.
Lizzard stands so lonely where a ship should never be.
Summoned by the sirens and drawn towards the damned.
Please be my saving Grace;
Help keep me where I am.
CHORUS
Up here on this compromise where we have stood for years.
Sharing love and laughter and talking through our fears.
Tested by temptation time and time again.
Time and time and time and time
And time and time again.
MIDDLE
And if like "Darling Clementine" I fall into the foam.
Throw a line, in good time,
Take me home.
Don't yield to temptation. You know it is a sin.
Each vict'ry truly helps you others to win.
Fight boldly onward.
Dark passion subdue.
Don't disregard the dangers.
Let love see you through.
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7. |
The Call and The answer
04:29
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8. |
Fly Like An Eagle
04:29
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FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
(Ian M. Bruce/Charlie Milne)
If you could fly like an eagle
Would you take me under your wing?
If you sang like a tenor
Would you choose a song I could sing?
Soaring so high!
Sweet notes in the sky.
Would I wear you down?
Would I spoil the sound?
REFRAIN
Or are you not tearing me?
Scaring me?
Not laughing me down?
Are you hearing me? Cheering me?
Crowning this clown?
You're a rock!
You're a mountain and I am a tiny wee hill.
You run like a hare.
By comparison I'm standing still.
And if I am fast then you're faster still.
If I said please slow down would you say "I will!"?
REFRAIN
Damned insecurity.
See what you do to me
Day after day after day after day.
If I crave your attentions
And hang upon all that you say
Would you push me away?
When you go to high places
Do you think of me on the floor?
If you roared like the rapids
Would you float me gently to shore?
I'm sorry my friend, but I need to know.
Is there a chance,
A chance you won't show?
Coz I think you are tearing me! Scaring me,
Not laughing me down?
Are you hearing me? Cheering me?
Bringing me round.
Put a frown on this clown!
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9. |
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10. |
The Burnsong Suite
07:23
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BURNSONG SUITE (Ian M. Bruce)
DEUCH AND KEN
(Written with Carsphairn Primary Kids)
I sat by the river and watched it flow free.
Just as the day was a-dawning
My true love is gone; too far from me.
And it's oh my poor heart is a mourning.
Cally has gone; he's left for the war
Just as...
Nobody knows what they're fighting for.
He's gone by land; he's gone by sea.
Just as...
Oh Cally, Cally come back to me.
And oh...
But just like the water, time flows away.
I sit here alone day after day.
By Deugh or by Ken; by river and burn
And wish for the moment my Cally retuns.
But something has changed.
I'm losing my fear.
Soft winds are whispering into my ear.
And all of the flowers are smiling at me.
Could it be my Cally is free?
The flowers were sweet.
The wind never lied.
Just as...
We're sat by this river side by side.
And oh...
SEASONS OF THE RIVER
CHORUS
September brings the autumn. Autumn brings the fall.
Fall of leaves and water. Mother Nature's call.
Calling is the time.
Time slips through the vine.
See the clock of water.
Time is yours and mine.
Ours for the taking. Hours for to give.
Though the bodies die. Still the spirits live.
CHORUS
Calling is the winter.
River at a high.
All the hills are covered over
White to winter sky.
Trees on the horizon.
Icicles and snow
Footprints in the frost
Cold sun sitting low.
All the birds are flying
Flying to the sun.
While snow and ice is melting
Spring must surely come.
CHORUS
All the birds are flying
Landing by the burn.
To build nests they are trying
For food and drink they yearn
Calling is the river
Watch winter disappear.
Spring is diamond sparkling
Sparkling for the year.
Another year of seasons
Flying past so fast.
They all have their reasons
Enjoy them while they last.
ACID RAIN
CHORUS
Acid rain burns my face.
Thought I'd found a happy place
Walking home in this nightmare
With my clothes burning bare.
need some alkaline.
I went home - Mum went spare
When she saw me standing there
Standing there with no clothes on
She wondered where my clothes had gone.
Please let me explain.
CHORUS
I was banished to my room
To contemplate my certain doom.
I can't take this stuff anymore
All this junk I've heard before.
Aw, get me out of here.
CHORUS
I'm so fed up being so far down.
I feel as if I'm going to drown.
They say everything will be OK
That everything's hip hip hip hooray.
Life is one sad song.
CHORUS
Lo and behold to my surprise
The sun always seems to rise.
From the most unhappy rhymes
If you read between the lines.
Life is looking up.
CHORUS
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11. |
Pachelbel's Canon
03:34
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