Ring of Roses

Once I dreamed a ring of roses
All my family were there
All my friends and my ex-lovers
Pretty flowers in their hair

Well I don’t believe they saw me
As they lay upon the ground
So sacred, so holy
That I dared not make a sound

I picked them up and I held them
But my breath scattered them like seeds
Some they fell among the long grass
Some they fell among the weeds

Some they fell among the weeds

All at once I saw their faces
Glowing high upon a screen
Saints and angels gazed upon me
Ghosts stared out of the machine

Your time is short the spirits told me
If you have come to say goodbye
I asked them Which of us is leaving?
Is it you? Is it I?

Their faces pixelated
I could hardly make them out
As the picture was degraded
Goodbyes buffered from their mouths

Goodbyes buffered from their mouths

All alone at last I wandered
Lost in pity lost in prayer
Only the wild high birds could hear me
The wild high birds they didn’t care

Words can’t say how much I’ve missed you
If I ever was your kin
If I ever was a friend to you
I hope to be your friend again

If I ever was your lover
Who wandered in the night
If I ever hurt you
How can I ever put things right?

How can I ever put things right?

Ring Of Roses

The Garden

There’s something in the garden
Something I can’t see
Hidden in the shadows
Looking back at me
The garden is so beautiful
Danger’s far away
Somebody find the children
I sent the here to play

I think I hear the children
I think I hear the children
Don’t you hear them too?

Oh there’s something in the garden
And you’d better catch it fast
Is it underneath the apple tree?
Is it hidden in the grass?
The garden is so beautiful
In the morning light
Somebody find the children
They’ve been camped out here all night

I think I hear the children
I think I hear the children
Don’t you hear them too?

There’s something in the garden
And it’s down beside the lake
When I heard my dog stop barking
I found it playing with a snake
The garden is so beautiful
It shimmers in the heat
Somebody find the children
They’ve got no shoes upon their feet

I think I hear the children
I think I hear the children
Don’t you hear them too?

I think I hear the children
I think I hear the children
Don’t you hear them too?
I think that I heard laughter
I think I heard a song
Or did I hear an angel
Saying come along

I think that I heard laughter
I think I heard a song
Or did I hear an angel
Saying come along

There’s something in the garden
A stranger passed by yesterday
He sang a simple melody
He stopped to watch the children play
You garden is so beautiful
He was leaning on my gate
Somebody find the children
Come on it’s getting late

Come on it’s getting late

Come on it’s getting late

Come on it’s getting late

Come on it’s getting late

The Garden

Is it really true 
That I've been fooled by you once again? 
Again!
The first time you thrilled me
 Last time nearly killed me 
I must be insane 
But here I go again 
Again!

Oh again and again and again and 
Here I go again!

Well my Ma told me tales 
About wolves and white whales and then
 I would ask for more
Coz I love to pretend 
I don't know how this ends 
But then you keep me in suspense 
And here I go again 
Again!

Oh again and again and again and …
… here I go again!

James Brute: Vocals & Guitar
Mat Martin: Guitar & Vocals
Dave Ferrett: Bass, Vocals & Percussion
Johnny Manning: Keyboard & Percussion
Fin Brown: Drums & Percussion

No Collective Title

Again (Again)

Well I feel like Don Quixote on mezcal and peyote
Taking on the windmills of my mind
With a bottle of chianti and my trusty Rocinante
Sancho Panza rides along behind
Sancho Panza, he rides along behind
Then swimming through my vision like some holy apparition
To the sound, the sound of distant drums
My eyes they wont believe me but my ears they don’t deceive me
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes

As the fog it clears, I wake up in Ikea
With a bag and a bucket and a basket and a buggy and a bucket and a bin
And they rifle my possessions and start to ask me questions
Like who am I and where have I been?
Who am I and where have I been?
I traded beads for deeds of honour, she kept a bracelet on her
And there’s rings on all her fingers and her thumbs
Like the ghost of Poccahantas I swear she walks among us
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes

I have been a thousand places, I have seen a thousand faces
But there’s only one, one that I hold dear
She has brought me to my senses, bust down walls, broke down fences
Now I see so brightly, now I see so clear
Now I see so brightly, now I see so clear
She speaks with the Orishas, she swims among the fishes
She feeds me figs and dates and oranges and plums
I’ve smoked her chillum, drunk her gourd
I’ve held her plastic sword
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes
Here she comes, here she comes, here she comes

James Brute: Vocals & Guitar
Mat Martin: Guitar & Vocals
Dave Ferrett: Bass & Vocals
Johnny Manning: Keyboard & Percussion
Fin Brown: Drums & Vocals

Here She Comes

Danielle, Danielle
How did you know?
How could you tell?
In the darkness and the gloom
Danielle, Danielle
Inside my room

Danielle, Angel
Ghost with a silver key
I think I must be dreaming
But I’m awake
And it’s you leaning
Over me

Danielle, Danielle
Welcome back again
This is the lion’s den
You’re walking in
Danielle, Danielle
While the others are asleep
Pull the thorns out of my feet
And lead me away
Lead me away

Danielle, Danielle
I think this must be love
But I’ve been wrong before
Danielle
Don’t wanna be wrong anymore

Danielle, Danielle
Do you feel it as well?
The hot breath of their breathing
On our heels as we’re leaving
Danielle

Danielle, Danielle
Welcome back again
This is the lion’s den
You’re walking in
Danielle, Danielle
While the others are asleep
Pull the thorns out of my feet
And lead me away
Lead me away
Lead me away

James Brute: Vocals & Guitar
Mat Martin: Guitar
David Ferrett: Bass & Percussion
Johnny Manning: Keyboard & Percussion
Fin Brown: Drums & Percussion

Danielle

Down at the bottom of the cave of hidden wonders
Scratching on the walls with the needle from my compass
Signs and symbols for the beasts and the birds
Too dead for sound
Too lost for words

I have to ask myself
How does it feel?
Then I tell myself
I don’t know but I really feel it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it

Gimme one second I will try…!

Everyday I wake up like the soul survivor of a
Crash landing or a deep-sea diver 
Coming up for air from the bottom of the ocean
On a desert island all lost and alone
Cutting up a rug with an old broom handle
To some lost soul music and the light of a candle
I don’t know but I really feel it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it


Deep in my cups and heading to the bottom
Can’t shake the feeling there’s something I’ve forgotten
Dancing around in the dust and the bones
Like Time Team or Indiana Jones
Everything I’ve done I’ve always kept with me
I’ve got a head full of ancient history
I don’t know but I really feel it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it

Gimme one second I will try…!

I traded honey for the bees sting
Braved the thorns of roses but what beauty did they bring?
Beauty ain’t permanent and sweetness turns sour
Day after day, hour after hour
Cutting up a rug like some guy from Strictly
Who’s moment’s come and gone much too quickly
I don’t know but I really feel it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it
Gimme one second I will try to reveal it

Gimme one second I will try…!

James Brute: Vocals & Guitar
Mat Martin: Guitar & Vocals
Dave Ferrett: Bass, Vocals & Percussion
Johnny Manning: Keyboard & Percussion
Fin Brown: Drums, Vocals & Percussion

Archeologist Blues

James Brute biography


James Brute is the alter ego of James Steel, songwriter and frontman of 2000s East London darlings, The Brute Chorus. Since the release of Bury Yourself—his debut solo single in 2014—his musical tales of love, loss, and lust have ventured into ever darker and more mysterious waters. The warp and weft of his songwriting speak to our basest human instincts, weaving together themes and characters that are at once ancient and modern, arcane and mundane.
In 2025 he began playing some of the most intimate shows of his career: unaccompanied, often completely unplugged, standing alone in the middle of a room among those who had gathered to listen. Stripped of all adornment, his songs emerged raw and unguarded - sung out, slung out and strung out for all to hear. And in that vulnerability, a new path began to emerge, the darkness pricked with the light of hope. 


“…a must see for anyone with a hankering for bleak-abilly blues.” – NME

James Brute

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