Kingsland Hill
Words and music by Roger Marshall
Raking through some old memorabilia,
Things long gone yet somehow familiar
A beer mat from a drunken evening
pictures of rock stars who I once believed in
These souvenirs are almost worthless
And yet they serve a kind of purpose
To remind of squalid kitchens
talking all night on hot summer evenings
And I wondered what became
of my friend who remained
Who we left drinking on
after the lovers, all the lovers had gone
It gave me a feeling, a sense of longing
For a time of being, a time of belonging
We thought a song could cause a revolution
We knew we were right there was no other solution
Who were we, those naive narcissists?
hotheaded potheads, drunken pisswits
Who were we? we're the same old people
Our minds have changed and our frames have gone feeble
I wondered what became
of my friend who remained
Who we left drinking on
after the lovers, all the lovers had gone
Who we left drinking on
after the lovers, all the lovers had gone
So long my son, your plane awaits
It’s time to go to the gate
Have you got all you need, left nothing behind?
So long my son, whispered my mother to me
Be true to yourself wherever you happen to be
I know you won’t disappear, don’t get lost the fray
Now they’re waiting for you, best be on your way
So long my son, there are rogues all about
But I know everything is gonna work itself out
Remember this place it will always be your home
So long my son, godspeed you on
To wherever you go in the great way beyond
May the good times roll, each and every day
Now they’re waiting for you, best be on your way
And may you fly well, safe and secure
Look down on the world, it’s a wonder for sure
Be kind to yourself, may you find inner peace
A place in the sun, your own cosy niche
So long my son this time had to come
It don’t wait for anyone
I can hear them calling you now, so go don’t delay
Because they’re waiting for you, best be on your way
Because they’re waiting for you, best be on your way
From the hotel room I gazed down on the square
People singing and dancing in the warm midnight air
Left me in awe
in the cold of the war
These bullet-holed walls drip the blood of history
From this very room what did the witnesses see?
Left me perplexed
In the East facing West
I went out on the town with the echoes of long long ago
Seeking out my comrades, tracking down my foes
In another time
Behind enemy lines
I crisscrossed the bridge where the armies once rolled
Ghosts of the forgotten their stories yet to be told
Supposed to be my enemy
look like you, they look just like me
I went back to the wall, now you’d never know
People died right here, blood stains left in the snow
In another realm
In a black and white film
The autumn leaves were falling, traffic rolling by
a southerly wind blowing ripping holes in the sky
I felt my way forward, through an empty space
Up against the headwind, blowing in my face
Billboards shouted at me, Oh! to be deaf to the sound
Walls scrawled in graffiti, lone voices being drowned
The words meant nothing to me, tried to focus on keeping warm
Up against the headwind, headlong in a storm
The sky was cold and swirling, rain clouds hanging low
Strangers gathered round me, people who I’ll never know
But I knew one face before me, selling something I didn’t need
I bent into the headwind pushing me down the street
I stumbled down to the harbour, where the sailboats struggled along
Up against the headwind, something felt terribly wrong
I looked up at the buildings, the billboards and the signs
I drew my greatcoat around me, pulled my hat down over
my eyes
drew my greatcoat around me, pulled my hat down over my eyes
One more day in my home in this place of fixed abode
went to sleep, got out of bed, checked the news checked, checked the spread
All is quiet all is still from the top of Kingsland hill
I can’t wait to see you right in front of me instead of zooming on TV
Would that I could hold you from afar, drunk together in a rowdy bar
All is quiet all is still from the top of Kingsland hill
Some people say it’s a war, and the enemy lurks outside your door
you my friend might be my foe, how would I even know?
All is quiet all is still from the top of Kingsland hill
Brave are the souls who nurse the sick
putting their fragile lives at risk
Dressed as ghosts, clad in white
in the fever of a febrile night
One day came, one year went, another birthday non-event
But I don’t mind, I’ve got time in my hands, oh! you lucky man,
All is quiet, almost tranquil from the top of Kingsland hill
I studied the stats, reds on maps, everything running right on track
one more coffee and it’s time to sit in the sun Oh! the days just roll along
All is quiet time standing still from the top of Kingsland hill
You know the man, Big-Oil cee-ee-oh
Making money is all that he knows
Digging down deep into the earth
Milking it for what it is worth
Let it lie
If its deep down, he said it’s been there too long
Needs to come back to where it rightly belongs
If it destroys the very last wilderness
he don’t give a damn, couldn’t care less
Let it lie
If there’s coal in them hills he’ll simply blow their tops
With enough rigs n’ drills he’ll push every last drop
If it’s locked in sand, simply melt it way
If it’s on you land it’s not yours anyway
If it resists, he’s gonna frack it out
Those mad scientists what are they on about?
Got to release anything that’ll burn
What lies beneath must be returned
Let it lie
If it’s under the depths of the deepest sea
He don’t know how to just let it be
If it’s beneath some beautiful desolate place
He says you can’t just let it go to waste
Long time ago I was studying rain
where it went to, from whence it came
I found it was an intermittent phenomenon
Here one day the next its gone
Rain, rain, rain song. Rain, rain on
Old Noah went out and built himself an ark
cos it was raining in the morning, still raining after dark
Got all the animals one - two - three
Escaping some or other catastrophe
Rain, rain, rain song. Rain, rain on
In the monsoon season it don’t ever stop
the Atacama desert never had a drop
Sometimes it’s a flood, sometimes it’s a drought
It ain’t something you can do without
Rain, rain, rain song. Rain, rain on
Some people praying for it to come
Their animals are dying in the sun
Crops don’t grow, ground bone dry
Nothing but the sun raining from the sky
Rain, rain rain song. Rain, rain on
Crying at my windows, chuckling down the pipes
Tapping on my tin roof in the middle of the night
Coming down in cats, coming down in dogs
tears and perspiration of the gods
Rain, rain, rain song. Rain, rain on
I’ll never know what makes romance melt away like flakes of snow
Never understand how it can slip through your fingers like grains of sand
Did you never really care, was it just a casual affair
Just something to do?
I should have known nothing is ever set in stone
I must have misjudged, but my heart won’t ever hold a grudge
Did you never really feel, was is never a big deal?
Just something to do?
I should’ve realized, should have been wise
Should’hv understood, it wasn’t doing either of us any good
Were we never really one, was it just a bit of fun
Just something to do?
Old enough to know better, now what does anything matter?
I should have guessed you were never entirely impressed
did you never feel a thrill? was it just time to kill
Just something to do?
There’s a songbird singing, in my garden tree
I don’t know if it sings for you or singing just for me
But it’s a beautiful song and it makes me smile
Even though I haven't seen you for a long, long while
for a long, long while, for a long, long while
And that song is the echo of a day
when I had everything, but everything got in the way
sometimes I want to talk to you, once more be beguiled
because I haven't seen you for a long, long while
for a long, long while, for a long, long while
It’s a song for the sun , bringing in the day
And I wonder have ever found a better way
It’s a song about living about how to exist
I wonder what you’re doing, wonder who you’re with
Birdsong rings the morning, a song of dignity
about what it is to be alive, flying wild and free
Maybe your heart holds something, you've not gone in denial
And I haven't seen you for a long, long while
for a long, long while, for a long, long while
So! We meet again, it’s been a long, long time
in this place we left so very far behind
It’s good to see you but what can we say
The years have gone their crazy way.
So! We meet again, not much has really changed,
But Look at you! you’re slightly rearranged
and you seem a little bit lost and somewhat compromised.
I hope the dreams you had have all been realized
So! We meet again back in this hallowed hall.
Our childhood ghosts still haunt the walls
This is the place where we used to play,
it feels like it’s still yesterday
So! We meet again the times we knew are gone
To fragment again, leave and carry on
with the lives that we lived that we never planned
with the hopes that we held just once in our
hands.
And so we meet again. And so we meet again
I’m standing on the spot that I stood so long ago
Don’t know what it was that I came back here to know
Looking over my shoulder, gazing back down the river
I put my ear to ground, hearing the mad stampede
Far from the lonely crowd , there is a certain need
Looking in the windows, sleeping under the willow
Stepping on my shadow, stepping on my shadow
Walking through the woods to the chapel on a hill
where Time and I stood perfectly still
Lost in the hedgerows. Skipping over the meadows
Drifting in a day-dream with people I barely recognize
Wandering in between the fields and soft blue skies
Chasing rainbows, seeing the swallows
Stepping on my shadow, stepping on my shadow
One Monday morning, I woke with the sun
Something shattered my dream, in a flash it had gone
Sunrise a wonder to behold
A line of silver, a chunk of gold
And in the dazzle and in the shine
I watched the world unwind
Deep down in the valley, sunlight yet to break through
People going about doing whatever they’ve got to do
And in that early golden glow
One more day to get to know
Well I might as well join them take one step at a time
I watched the world unwind
Well, that lovely ol’ sun couldn’t be bothered to wait
It had to drag the whole wide world wide awake
It’s got nothing but time and space to kill
Thought I had something I needed to fulfill
There was a certain lie to the morning land
Some peoples’ days busy being planned
Birdies were chirping, traffic already building
Twenty four hours got to be filled
Well, I might as well join them get into line,
And watch the world unwind
Well, I might as well join them get into line,
And watch the world unwind