Track 9 on the album 'Lantern', released February 2020.

Manifesto

Track 10 on the album 'Lantern', released February 2020.

The Oaks Pit Disaster

Track 11 on the album 'Lantern', released 2020.

Pushing iron underground through sunken landscapes and nights that never end
His pick a ticking clock, another seam's worth of words is buried with him 
every time that he descends
A voice on his shoulder, insistently repeating what he knows
Sowing seeds bearing seeds of promise where it laboured once to grow

Pulling hearts and minds neglected from the coal face to the clarity of day
Little Blinder, those in shadow will find in you the lamp
they'd stopped believing might ever show their way.



Sharpened eyes and toughened hands dissect pride and deprivation
and from them build a stage on which will play
tales of rogues, of redemption, of the people's armageddon,
of those told to get out of the way.
A scream on his conscience insistently drowns out the siren's call;
that noise in every throat the morning after the night the fires fall.

Casting onto streets we know a ragged future with no hope to mend the fault
Little Blinder, those in terror will find in you the thread
we disregarded in favour of assault.



Dragging hope and aspiration from the goal mouth to a gamble on the throw
Little Blinder, those not chosen will find in you the nerve
the class decided was never theirs to show.



Billy now may rest, no longer fearful of the depth to which he'll fall
and the noise of all those others, of his teachers and his brother
is lost beneath that noble falcon's call.

Little Blinder (for Barry Hines)

The unfilled hours, the points never made, blessings counted on one thumb.
Honey sours having never found a worthy tongue.

The half raised towers, the abandoned grade, the minute's distance left to run.
Sunless flowers, summer's chorus left unsung.

Failure teaches but one thing; pass the baton while you can.

Idle powers, seeds in the shade, defining fabric left unspun.
A contender cowers having thrown a fight he could have won.

Words ran out so I repeat myself.

Repeat Myself

Walk Me Home

The 'She' of the time is the personification of lost time, potential and opportunities. The track is influenced in no small part by Maestro Leonard Cohen and tips its hat to 'Raglan Road', arguably one of the most beautiful songs of the 20thC.




'From the traps to the tape
A torrent of spit and opinion keeps me afraid
And such shadows are banished
by lighting a lamp for which
only one oil has been made.
There, cloudless and drunk
in that still between storms
comes something approaching a word
until the din of sobriety
once again silences
She who may never be heard.

The land slowly sours
for want of the hand
known only through rumour and lore
as a kingdom at once
in defiance and chaos
adheres to a blank page of law.
There are those who would reign there
with reason in peace
but they'll never get close to the crown
as another presides in absentia:
Her Majesty,
She who may never be found.

An old teacher in some ancient tongue
sent out word
of a clue he found too late to track.
From the tower he surrendered his title to anyone
willing to never look back
So I'll sit by the moat
until he sends the boat,
Charon bearing that lock of her hair
then take up my place
as the scholar condemned to seek
She who may never be there.'

She Who May Never

From the 'Lies and Failures' E.P., featuring Katie Needham on sax and Steve Booth on percussion.

Apology

Some Days Are Alright


The pale blue overhead insists on staring you down.
Feet against character commandeer a place on the ground.
The reams of abuse well prepared for remain in the pen.
Despite having lost Hallelujah you found your Amen.

Some days are shy of good grounds not to go to the light,
and some days are alright.
Some days are alright. 


The man you waited for in vain is now out on remand.
A chance presumed snatched by time beats a path back to your hands.
Sins all forgotten leaving nothing for which to atone.
The bailiffs asked only directions then left you alone. 

Some days behave like they’re ordered to shoot you on sight,
and some days are alright.
Some days are alright. 


Some days spill their own pint then square up and force you to fight, 
and some days are alright.
Some days are alright.


The veil through which views of Eden strive falls from your eyes,
And the view it bestows assures you nothing less than everything dies.


Some days want your first waking vista to be the gallows they’ve built overnight, 
and some days are alright.
Some days are alright.
Some days are alright.
Some days are alright.

Some Days Are Alright

The opener from the 'How the Night Gets In' EP. 
A short ditty conveying the outright bitterness artists often feel when confronted with the wrong audience. 

You're Here Now

The title track from the 'How the Night Gets In' EP. 
A bastardisation of and antithesis to ‘…there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in…’ from Leonard Cohen’s ‘Anthem’, this song is about how we often damage ourselves by placing our eccentricities and idiosyncrasies out of sight (but never really out of mind), endeavouring to shape a comfortable, easy life. 

How the Night Gets In

A reference to aspects of life (time, health, etc.)that are taken for granted until such point that we start to notice their absence and subsequently begin to look for them outside of ourselves, obviously to no avail.

Around Here

Alt. folk singer/songwriter, guitarist and composer from South Yorkshire, UK.

Del Scott Miller

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