Michael Marra with Mr Mcfall's Chamber: Recorded Live on Tour 2010

Hamish (The Goalie) (Live)

Intro to Hamish (The Goalie) (Live)

Remember when the city lights go down
Remember when you’re hiding underground
Remember when the signal of democracy is gone
That the world that gave us evil gave us Warne

Remember the uncounted refugee
Remember through the lost humanity
Remember when the bough breaks and a hungry baby’s born
That this world of swords and suffering made Warne
Yes, a world of swords and suffering made Warne

Remember in the night time of the knives
Remember when they steer us into tribes
Remember when the demons in the wicket all come home
That the world that gave us wickedness made Warne
Yes, the world that gave us wickedness made Warne

Remember when they’re jumping on your dreams, oh
Remember when they undermine your schemes, oh
Remember when they claim you’ll never find your unicorn
That the world that shook our faith gave birth to Warne

Remember when they’re jumping on your dreams, oh
Remember when they undermine your schemes, oh
Remember when they say you’ll never find your unicorn
That the world that shook our faith has good in store
And in the winter we’ll do better to remember something warm
And the world that shook our faith has hat-trick maidens and
The world that shook our faith gave us Shane-
Yes, the world that shook our faith gave us Shane Warne

Unicorn

Unicorn (Shane Warne)

Sullivan Ballou was an American lawyer and politician from Rhode Island, and an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He is remembered for an eloquent letter he wrote to his wife Sarah a week before he was mortally wounded in the First Battle of Bull Run. This is my musical adaptation.
-----
My very dear wife, I watch tonight
While many men dream of home
Your memory commands my mind
And soldier’s heart of stone
I long to roll inside your arms
And hold you like before
But when you wake tomorrow morn
I may be with you no more

Fair Edgar’s frolics I fondly see
As campfires flicker and burn
Though Willie can scarcely remember me
I trust I’ll one day return
But evil men with cruel desire
Have sworn to wound us all
And we must counter fire with fire
Lest freedom forever fall

I fear I was not as kind, my love
As ev’ry husband should be
My imperfections are insufficient
Cause for injuring thee 
If I could wash with tears alone
Ev’ry blemish on your bliss
I’d make your dreams come true once more
Just like our very first kiss

If I am stricken by stranger’s hand
And stumble onto my shin
I’ll whisper with my last utterance
Your name into the wind
No cannonball that makes us crawl
No sword which tears my skin
Can e’er lay bare this love we share
And know forever within

If mortal games come between us now
Fear not that I will be gone
In garish days and darkest nights
My spirit motions you on
For I shall watch in sweet reprise
Ev’ry moment of your life
To brush your face with softest breeze
Oh Sarah, my darling wife

The Letter Of Sullivan Ballou

I drove through Antietam
On Thanksgiving Day
With primrose and ribbons
Of calico grey
Pulled up at your house
Walked up to your door
A hug and a smile
It’s a quarter to four

The pregame is on now
We watched with your wife
In come your daughters
My nieces (your life)
The turkey was tender
A fond family day
Yet so much has altered
What words can we say?

It’s safer, skip over
The war in Ukraine
Steer clear of the president
Don’t say his name
Can’t ask about Pfizer
Your views are renowned
Our distance is farther
Than any lockdown

How could it happen
And where do we go?
When brothers can’t mention
The falling of snow
At the game now the anthem
A player takes a knee
I stare at the curtain
You can’t look at me

You don’t listen to reason
And I can’t explain
The poison we’re breathing
Has made us insane
We’re the pawns in a chess  game
The fat cats play well
That takes good intention
And leads us to hell

And something’s been different
Since Barack and Bush
The world got opinion
Instead of the truth
And I’m finally thankful
To walk out your door
It might have been civil
But we are at war

Look away
Look away…

A Civil War

See, any hour it’s coming down, get wise or get away
Boys and girls in every town we meet on a Wednesday
Watching for the warning signs, the Roswell crash, the Nazca lines
Official lies and alibis, beware the common salt
We’re opening your big steel door and going in the vault

And any hour it’s coming down, the day of reckoning
Wearers of  the starry crown, what medicine you bring?
Cure the common cold or try to mend our broken climate
Or take us on a trip across your hyperspatial stargate
Teach us how to live in peace or do away with death
Until that day it’s only us on lonely Planet Earth (so lonely)

Gone the days we wanted proof, just open up your eye
You never knew a foo could move the way these foo can fly
Look out for spies, don’t talk near flies, be careful of your cable guy
My pal Marie, she met a man who heard a colonel say
“The chemicals in cereal will take your breath away”

And any hour it’s coming down, the day of reckoning
Wearers of  the starry crown, what medicine you bring?
And won’t you feed our feeble minds or try to mend our broken climate
Or take us on a trip across your hyperspatial stargate
Show us how to live in peace and harmony on Earth
Unless you’re hostile then we’re walking to our certain death

Any Hour It's Coming Down

Live acoustic cover of one of my favourite Paul Simon tunes

The Only Living Boy In New York - My live version of the Paul Simon song

My live version of a song I have been playing for many years by the great Paul Simon

Feelin' Groovy - My live version of the Paul Simon song

My cover of the Paul Simon classic live at The Old Ship Aground, Minehead

America - My live version of the Paul Simon song

I'm a singer-songwriter with influences from Paul Simon to Neil Young and more.

Any Hour It's Coming Down

Michael John Anthony

Related tracks