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.
1. |
Beachwalk
03:23
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I was searching for something on the shore
A simple answer, or a clue to tell me what I ought to do
Salty spray flew high beating rhythms on the sky
I walked alone, alone, alone inside my daydream, in my zone.
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
In the gritty world the oyster builds a pearl
Down down inside it's scaly shell, perfection hidden very well
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
The pearl is the calm in the midst of madness, the pearl is a secret I've yet to know
A prize for the eyes of a seaside searcher, the shine of a pearls is a magic glow on a
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
I don't really mind if I never find
The object of my fantasy, it really doesn't bother me.
Every day's the same when you're feeling pain
And searching makes my life complete, just me, the sea and my two feet.
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
Beachwalk, I'm going on a beachwalk
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2. |
All I Want
03:37
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If I could only sweeten your sadness
And wash away your tears
Visit the place you dream of
And chase away your fear
If you could be happy then I could be happy too
Cos all I want is the sun to shine for you.
When your mind leaves the conversation
To travel on it's own
Well, I feel for you my darlings
As the shadows torment your soul
If you could be happy then I could be happy too
Cos all I want is the sun to shine for you.
I can go to where you're low and stay with you until it's through
Try my hardest to undo the darkness that so troubles you
If I could only sweeten your sadness
And wash away your tears
Visit the place you dream of
And chase away your fear
If you could be happy then I could be happy too
Cos all I want is the sun to shine for you.
All I want is the sun to shine for you
All I want is the sun to shine for you
All I want is the sun to shine for you
All I want is the sun to shine for you
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3. |
Wake Up
03:20
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Wake up and smell the coffee
It's coming to the boil
And now we start to hunger
It's time to feed our souls
Wake up and feel the morning
The night has rolled away
We have anew beginning
As we greet a brand new day
Save the child I used to be
From the adult that has strangled me
Equal born and equal bred
That's what the founding fathers said.
Wake up and smell the coffee
It's coming to the boil
And now we start to hunger
It's time to feed our souls
Though we feast and fast at many different dawns
We all break our bread at the table as one
Though we beat our rhythms on many different drums
We all spin our tunes to the same universal hum
Wake up and smell the coffee
It's coming to the boil
And now we start to hunger
It's time to feed our souls
It's time to feed our souls
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4. |
Amazonia
03:36
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In Bangladesh in the land of rain
Ashes settle on the workers' pain
From the burning furnace of the factory fire
Comes the heart of your desire
In children's compounds lined with beds
smartphone dreams ping inside their heads
In China where the infants play
Is assembling phones to dial their lives away
In the deep dark depths of the fulfilment centres
The towers of boxes tell
Of a hidden world of cruel force
and working lives in hell
The bee-like buzzing of the sewing machines
Stitches viral meatworld memes
In western cities the fast-forward fashion
Is cunningly concealed from our compassion
In a million streets in a thousand places
We compete in status races
Liveried vans with guilty parcels
Ferry endless stuff to the rich and powerful
In the deep dark depths of the fulfilment centres
The towers of boxes tell
Of a hidden world of cruel force
and working lives in hell
Amazonia, Amazonia, Amazonia
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5. |
Pandora
03:48
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Here is a box with a sliver lock
Bound in iron and solid as rock
It's wood is dark with the age of time
and carved on it's side is an ancient rhyme
Centuries of female shame
The never-ending woman-blame
The arch destroyer, courtesan
Root of evil, bane of man
Oh Pandora with your key to evil
So decried by so many people, for
Setting free the malicious forces
From underworld and devilish sources
But a shadow flits around this place
It's the shadow of a man with a guilty face
The sin and death that has been unleashed
Also belongs to this vile beast
Oh Pandora with your key to evil
So decried by so many people, for
Setting free the malicious forces
From underworld and devilish sources
So wrap yourself tight in copper clothes
As out of the casket, poison flows
Wear your hats of steel and your boots of lead
All living things will soon be dead.
Oh Pandora with your key to evil
So decried by so many people, for
Setting free the malicious forces
From underworld and devilish sources
The source of life will sizzle and burn
Now evil is here, it can never return.
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6. |
Things Like This
03:33
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I was a quiet girl and no-one noticed me
Until a passing whirlwind blew across my sea
No point in resisting: my protest wasn't heard
Up in the air I flew with the freedom of a bird
We blew into a storm and blew out of it again
We learned to make a plan, A-Z and 1-10
We felt our passions backwards, we flung them in the air
Invented different lives, live to the full, not time to spare.
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Oh yeah yeah I was taken by surprise
Oh yeah yeah if opened up my eyes
Oh yeah yeah, at first it felt so strange
Oh yeah yeah, this crazy world of change
Oh if I'd had the loudest voice you'd ever heard
I'd never have made this journey from my teenage world
I've learned to tame the whirlwind, to ride it's wildest side
To wear my every difference with a sense of pride
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
Things like this don't happen to people like me
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7. |
Coffee and Hope
03:49
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It's too late now to cast off the rope
The knot is bound
Tied fast to a terrible timeline
Sanity has drowned
But I'm still living on coffee and hope
They keep me sane
They stop me dwelling too long
On what's pouring down the drain.
Dried up ahead, our shrivelled horizons
Drift into dust
Behind me bridges have burned away
Fire and water, passion and reason
Love, respect and trust
All sense of order has gone astray
And all around me is insanity
And all that we need is tranquility
Could this be a nightmare that I can wake up from
Could it be a dream?
Will I wake up trapped in a painting
Of a Nordic scream?
Oh I'm still living on coffee and hope
Day by day
Though it seems my sunrise mornings
Are drifting far away
And all around me is insanity
And all that we need is tranquility
And all around me is insanity
And all that we need is tranquility
Panic stricken people,
Pestilence and plague
Override humanity
Nature has its ways
Storms in Australia
Melting ice caps,
International failure
Global collapse....
Yeah, that.
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8. |
Woodwide Web
04:06
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Churning mud and rustling leaves
Rotting to dust beneath the mother trees
Pale fists punch through it all
Woken now by daylight's call
Watch towers with sporeheads
Messages sent to the underspreads
Pulse and rhythm and energy
Passing them on from tree to tree
Messages, messages...
And the trees thrive
Underground lines keep their spirits alive
Station to station, track to track
Burrowing down through the earthen cracks
Messages, messages...
Woodwide web, silent threads beneath the roots
Oh nothing's dead, it all feeds into nature's melting pot.
Every hour of every day
Mycelium brings and takes away
Year on year, the push and pull
Physical and chemical
Wisdom shines in many ways
Often beyond the human gaze
Sharing knowledge, linking fates
Trees transmit and co-operate
Messages, messages...
Woodwide web, silent threads beneath the roots
Oh nothing's dead, it all feeds into nature's melting pot.
Woodwide web, silent threads beneath the roots
Oh nothing's dead, it all feeds into nature's melting pot.
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9. |
Little Egret
03:15
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Oh graceful ghost with airy feathers
Puffed up like Mr Whippy ice cream
Echoing thoughts of once belonging,
The tiny avian drifts by the stream,
And oh, the message of hope and sadness
You carry it as you flit through the shadows deep and green,
deep and green
Little egret you charm me so every night
As you visit my waking dreams
You blew in from France on a breeze of poetry
All wrapped up in a muslin gown
You're shy, protecting your solitude
And you fly, you land like thistledown
And oh the message of hope and sadness
You carry it as you flit through the shadows deep and green,
deep and green
Little egret you charm me so every night
As you visit my waking dreams
I know you're trying to show me something
You've flown so far across land and sea
I wish I could translate the telegram
That you've blown in to bring me.
And oh, the message of hope and sadness
You carry it as you flit through the shadows deep and green,
deep and green
Little egret you charm me so every night
As you visit my waking dreams
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10. |
After the Storm
05:39
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Calm under coloured glass windows
After the storm, after the storm
Safe this time from where the wild wind blows
After the storm, after the storm
So rest and find yourself welcome
Ages of trouble have taken their toll
After centuries of persecution
It's here you'll find a home
After the storm, after the storm,
After the storm, after the storm.
These grey stones, they are weathered and beaten
After the storm, after the storm
Still they stand as a symbol of freedom
After the storm, after the storm.
So rest and find yourself welcome
Ages of trouble have taken their toll
After centuries of persecution
It's here you'll find a home
After the storm, after the storm,
After the storm, after the storm.
For rich and for poor, these walls are a haven
After the storm, after the storm
In troubled times, their sanctuary saves them
After the storm, after the storm.
So rest and find yourself welcome
Ages of trouble have taken their toll
After centuries of persecution
It's here you'll find a home
After the storm, after the storm,
After the storm, after the storm.
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11. |
Dear Life
01:59
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Dear life,
Oh please stop teasing
It isn't funny any more.
I'm tired of tripping over,
Tired of landing on the floor
Oh I know you have to have your fun
But your jokes are wearing rather thin
Yeah fortune's is not the same for everyone
One person's pleasure is another person's pain.
Signed, sealed and shared.
Dear life,
You are uneven.
You can open up an door
But then you go an close it
I can't get through it any more.
Oh I know you have to have your fun
But your jokes are wearing rather thin
Yeah fortune's is not the same for everyone
One person's pleasure is another person's pain.
Signed, sealed and shared.
Dear life
Oh, I've got used to the feeling
Of this bumpy ride
I've had to learn to take it
And forget about my pride
But if you ever change your mind, and
Stop being so unkind
Fortune would be the same for everyone
Pleasure would be shared, there'd be no pain.
Signed, sealed and shared.
Signed, sealed and shared.
Signed, sealed and shared.
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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.
... more
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