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Suburban Pastoral

by Helen McCookerybook

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    14 track CD featuring the first songs I'd recorded for more than 20 years. Cover art by Ben Wilson, the chewing gum painter. Featuring guest appearances by Lester Square (Monochrome Set), Dan Whitehouse (vocals), Paul Davey (sax), Paul Taylor (trombone), John Eacott (trumpet), Tash Bryant (cello), Jon Bond (cello), Allan Bradbury (cello), Spence Brown (double bass), Anja Hagge (accordion), and BJ Cole (pedal steel guitar). Recorded by Tom Greenwood. design by Emerald Moseley, photo by Mike Slocombe.

    Big Song Records, HMcC01

    Includes unlimited streaming of Suburban Pastoral via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      £10 GBP or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP  or more

     

  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 15 Helen McCookerybook releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Drawing on my Dreams, Feminist Jingles, Daisychain, The Cutty Wren, Equal Parts, Helen and the Horns etc., Pea Soup, Green, and 7 more. , and , .

    Purchasable with gift card

      £46.80 GBP or more (35% OFF)

     

1.
Dreaming of you I'm dreaming of you, I'm dreaming of you Every second every minute every hour of every day I'm dreaming of you It's easy to see that you don't want me But my my magic is strong and I'm gonna hang on cos I'm dreaming of you My mind goes round in circles You're holding me in your orbit Please set me free I'm dreaming of you, I'm dreaming of you Every second every minute every hour of every day I'm dreaming of you Just picture my wallpaper Multiple images of you From my point of view I've fallen in love with the idea of you And nobody real will do I've circled around and all that I've found is that I'm still dreaming of you My endless fascination is constantly renewed with my mad feelings I know I'm stalking you It's easy to see that you don't want me But my my magic is strong and I'm gona hang on I'm dreaming of you I'm dreaming of you, I'm dreaming of you Every second every minute every hour of every day I'm dreaming of you, Im dreaming of you I'm dreaming of you
2.
Heaven Avenue Heaven Avenue, a door a dream a key Heaven Avenue, the road to reverie It can lead us to, to the space between the sea The land the sky and me So walk it carefully Heaven Avenue, we'll watch the trees bleed into the sky Heaven Avenue, listen as the streets begin to cry It can lead us to, to the best place that we've ever been To the land of pink and green or more horror than we've ever seen Heaven, no matter what they say, you'll never find a way There's no paradise on Earth Happy parties in the high sky, burn the devil's coal Cherub's chorus on the hi-fi, sing away your soul, sing away your soul Heaven Avenue, when you've blown your mind away Heaven Avenue, and there is nothing in the world left to say in your head it has led you through A maze of dreads and fears, with demons screaming in your ears and your hidden hell's right here! Heaven, no matter what they say, you'll never find a way There's no paradise on Earth Happy parties in the high sky, burn the devil's coal Cherubs chorus on the hi-fi, sing away your soul, sing away your soul Sing away your soul……… till fade
3.
Temptation 03:08
Temptation This was the apple I gave him to eat, a lovely green apple so round and so sweet He took a big bite and he yelped with a crack For the worm in the apple had bitten him back Oh who was the evilest one of the three, the man or the worm in the apple or me? Did I know it was hiding neath crunchy green skin Or was my back turned when the worm burrowed in Temptation, the original sin, that one little bite caused it all to begin Temptation, the original sin, they both wore no clothes when the worm burrowed in Here comes the death man his hammer to blow Cares he or cares she the plain person won't know Turn away turn away put your fingers to face Lay out on your body-nests and line them with lace The bitter sweet taste of the blood on his tongue Let this be a lesson to everyone Before you commence on a gluttonous attack Remember this tale of the biter bit back Temptation, the original sin, that one little bite caused it all to begin Temptation, the original sin, they both wore no clothes when the worm burrowed in Temptation, the original sin, that one little bite caused it all to begin Temptation, the original sin, they both wore no clothes when the worm burrowed in
4.
Don't know why Don't know why Im telling you that I love you It's wise to hide the pain and cure it myself It's my heart and know that it's hurting I know you Would like to add another prize to the shelf Down and down I've fallen so low Im trying to hang on to my pride It's slipping away it's going to go I can't hide Don't know why Im telling you that I need you You don't want to know how I feel about you The world keeps turning like it was when I met you It's only me it stopped for isn't that true? Down and down I've fallen so low I'm trying to hang on to my pride It's slipping away it's going to go I can't hide Far away in a distant life the past is laughing at me Cut the tie and break the knife All I want is to be free from this pain in my soul Don't know why Im telling you that I want you I saw the end before it even began And even though my arms are aching to hold you I'll disguise that pain the best that I can Down and down I've fallen so low Im trying to hang on to my pride It's slipping away it's going to go I can't hide
5.
Hill of fools Been so long, I can't break free From the shadow hanging over me Hill of fools on which you stand Do you hold my future in your hands? I can change things if I try I can live life in a different way When the mountain towers over me I can find my own way to break free! Hill of fools on which you stand Do you hold my future in your hands Hill of fools Im on my own Can I this all alone? Can I change things if I try Can I live life in a different way? From the darkness hanging over me Can I find my own way to break free? I can change things if I try I can live life in a different way From the darkness hanging over me I have found my own way to break free! I have found my own way to break free! I have found my own way to break free!
6.
Running Away 02:35
Running away I'm running away, don't know where my feet will take me The reasons to stay are fading and you will hate me But I have snapped the thread that bound me closely to your soul I'm running away I'm running away, though shadows will try to chase me There's nothing to say, no trail if you try to trace me You will follow you won't find me, fate has closed the door I'm running away I don't know when my velvet nest, turned into a velvet prison Just one day I turned around and found that I am half a person now I'm running away, don't know where my feet will take me The reasons to stay are fading and you will hate me But I have snapped the thread that bound me closely to your soul I'm running away I'm running away, I'm running away
7.
Colour my day In my life shades of grey, mimic a sunny day Every clouds just a cloud and there's no blue sky And the blues that I sing seem to paint everything With no colour at all and I don't know why As the world that I see, that I know is true Can you colour my day, can you paint me with crayons Can you fill me with joy like you used to do Colour my day, colour my day and watch me shine Colour my day, this is the way to fix our time Colour my day, Don't let me fade and die away Colour my day, light up my life and watch me play I don't want to be grey, let my life drift away In the shadow of what I once used to be I have colours to share that I'll paint everywhere And I'll share them with you if you mix with me Colour my day, colour my day and watch me shine Colour my day, this is the way to fix our time Colour my day, Don't let me fade and die away Colour my day, light up my life and watch me play In my life shades of grey, mimicking sunny day Every clouds just a cloud and the there's no blue sky And the blues that I sing seem to paint everything With no colour at all and I don't know why Just remember if you colour my day It will stop you from feeling dull
8.
Swan 02:50
Swan Oh Mufty says a Swan's a feathered vessel full of secrets Don't get too near For all the beauty that you see the Swan is really fierce It's mad with fear Swan Swan Swan Swan With your icy glide Swan Swan Swan Swan With your evil eye Mufty seen the Swans collecting on the river surface As hard as glass Statues poised above reflections on the metal river A snowy mass Swan Swan Swan Swan With your icy glide Swan Swan Swan Swan With your evil eye Once I was a water baby bubbling underneath And still I lay With only silent Swans above presiding over sleep That dark dark day Swan Swan Swan Swan With your icy glide Swan Swan Swan Swan With your evil eye Swan Swan Swan Swan With your icy glide Swan Swan Swan Swan With your evil eye I call call call call and I know you hear Swan Swan Swan Swan I am dying here!
9.
Britainnia Great The voice of reason speaks to me in tones quite stern and grey And calls upon my conscience to respond Please recognise the anti-social way that you behave Obey the rules your duty will command I don't care about your conscience duty calls in vain Life's more fun outside the system virtue is a pain Oh I was made to suit myself and suit myself I do If only you could think like me you'd have your freedom too Have your freedom too Have your freedom too Have your freedom too Oh you can be too studious you like to do things right What harm is there in trying something new I'd like to teach you other ways to live and how to fight This passion to conform that's inside you You care for your Queen and country where's the life in that Uniform in mind and body dead to good or bad You wanna make Britannia great just like she used to be It's time to change your attitude it's down to you and me Down to you and me Down to you and me Down to you and me There's something in the things you say that I can understand Though I do things a different way to you Perhaps if we approach the future like this hand in hand We'd understand each other's point of view Other point of view Other point of view Other point of view
10.
Hymn to Kent 03:22
Hymn to Kent Lets take a trip to the garden of England Watch how the roses twine round the doors Beautiful roses that smell so enticing Thorns on their stems that can cut you like claws There's blood on our hands in the white land of righteousness Where are the roses now Autumn has come Beautiful roses that smelled so enticing Blossoms have perished now summer has gone Lets drift away from the dust and the grime Travel south easterly far back in time Rose tinted glasses and bile bitter wine Drunk in the evening cut down in their prime Shall we remember the garden of Eden Or shall we remember this mud trampled plain With dry blooms laid out on the graves of our ancestors Thorns on their stems to remind us of pain End of the line for museums of memories and End of the line for the past and it's lies Truth is as bitter as roses are beautiful Hatred's the last of our passions to die
11.
The word is goodbye Now your echo's here but you are gone and I still drive my life along Couldn't wait around for for shadows in the sky Everything's the same, but everything has changed The word is…. goodbye There's a million times you've lied to me When you won't meet eye to eye with me There's a million times I have sat and wondered why I don't know what's real, but I do know what I feel The word is… goodbye Empty road ahead, empty bed, future's dead If I looked around me I could find all the reasons you left me behind All the times I should have read the warning signs The writing on the wall, that I didn't see at all Th word is…. goodbye Empty road ahead, empty bed, future's dead Now your echo's here but you are gone and I still drive my life along Couldn't wait around for for shadows in the sky Everything's the same, but everything has changed The word is…. goodbye, goodbye!
12.
London 03:24
London London, Where the streets are paved with gold Its where we came to find ourselves, alone London, where we live and where we sleep, with it's heart of stone The river Thames, the ever present camera lens to fix your smile The clouds of grey, birds drift away across the cityscape for miles London, Where the streets are paved with gold Is where we came to find ourselves, alone London, where we live and where we sleep, with it's heart of stone Oh the rumbling snore dark's distant roar, the dying dawn, the tunnel spawn We'll ride their fear and give a cheer, they'll sing hip hip hip hooray! The river Thames, the ever present camera lens to fix your smile The clouds of grey, birds drift away across the city-scape for miles The cabbie's gags the roll up fags the sleeping bags don't breathe a word The rodent crew that rules the sewers, shadows you a broken bird London, Where the streets are paved with gold Its where we came to find ourselves, alone London, where we live and where we sleep, with it's heart of stone With it's heart of stone
13.
Once in a blue moon Once in a blue moon, will I feel this way First you swing to me, then you swing away Where's the steady love, that I need to feel This is not true love, show me something real I am made of iron, I am made of steel Hard to break me down, hard to make me feel Why did I give in, let you get so near Weakness is a sin, love is what I fear Once in a blue moon, will I feel this way First you swing to me, then you swing away Where's the steady love, that I need to feel This is not true love, show me something real
14.
Songbird 03:44
Songbird Underneath the carpet on the forest floor Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Buried there forever like a Squirrel's store Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Visited by Ants and the Badger's claw Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm This is woodland treasure that you can't ignore Guarded by an Owl with blinking yellow eyes Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Covered by the leaf mould in a dry disguise Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Hidden by the treetops from the cotton skies Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Time to catch the pleasure of this nature's cry Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Who will be singing when the East wind blows Who'll still be smiling when the moonbeam glows Who throws a party on a Songbird's wing Who grows a blossom out of anything Instrumental Who will be singing when the East wind blows Who'll still be smiling when the moonbeam glows Who throws a party on a Songbird's wing Who grows a blossom out of anything Diana is the hunter and she's on the run Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm She's lighting up the city with the Norfolk sun Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm Bringing fresh the air to town for everyone Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm What a germination what a world of fun Oak Ash Sycamore Holly Elm

about

Written, arranged and produced by Helen McCookerybook
Recorded mixed & polished by Tom Greenwood, Oct 2004 - Sept 2006

CD, Big Song Records, HMc001

credits

released January 2, 2013

Cover painting: Ben Wilson (The chewing gum painter)
Cover design: Helen McCookerybook/Emerald Mosley - gold top.org
Helen McCookerybook: Guitar, Vocals, Piano & Melodica & add Bass
Pedal Steel: BJ Cole
Alto Sax: Paul Davey Trumpet: John Eacott Trombone: Paul Taylor
Cello's: Jon Bond - Tash Bryant & Allan Bradbury
Double Bass: Spencer Brown
Backing Vocals: Dan Whitehouse
Accordian: Anja Hagge
Add Gtr samples: Leicester Square

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Helen McCookerybook UK

Helen McCookerybook is an outstanding songwriter who's beginnings formed in the punk era, old associates The Monochrome Set/The Pirhanas her first band was The Chefs (John Peel fave) She later signed to RCA with her band The Horns and had a couple of minor hits
Helen took 20 years out to become a Mum and PHD, taking up her songwriting again in 2003. Suburban Pastoral was her 1st solo record.
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