1. |
Calloused Hands
03:25
|
|||
2. |
Broken
03:15
|
|||
|
Broken
There are a lot of broken spirits
And a lot of broken hearts
A lot of broken families
That hard times drove apart
When they rolled their dice for leaving
And they took their chance to go
Broken but still breathing
Down the road
In the dust of some refinery
Where the western sun sits high
They’re driven by the memory
Of towns they left behind (ch)
On a tanker up the Seaway
Or north to mine for gold
Or tying steel – they’ll always feel
The longing for back home, for back home...
BREAK
There are a lot of broken spirits
And a lot of broken hearts
A lot of broken families
That hard times drove apart (ch)
|
||||
3. |
Last Ticket Home
03:41
|
|||
|
The Last Ticket
Take off your tool belt – your hard hat - your hammer
Pack up your parka - your Stanfield's - in turn
The last cheque is good – but the boom now it's busted
And your last ticket home is one way – not return
You told all your buddies – you’d felt like you'd made it
Thinking you'd never be broke anymore
Had the job at the Tarsands – you're set – and let's face it
The chances were good – like the many before
Oh but no one predicted the steep drop in prices
Whispers they surfaced what the Comp’ny might do
Markets they tumbled and bosses decided
They'd pare down their payroll and started with you (ch)
I tell you those five years they went by in some hurry
Now you’re married with children, and another is due
And you built the new house – and the mortgage is heavy
You were thinking you’d be getting a big raise in June (ch)
Now the word has come down, the future is iffy
Well you might be recalled – then again you might not
And the word says skilled labour’s in need in Cape Breton
By the time your flight lands – you might have land you a job (ch)
|
||||
4. |
Shine Bright
04:12
|
|||
|
Shine Bright
I see the words upon the page
A distant light that flickers then fades
Faint his music in the wind
It's blowing in, it's blowing in
Just like a storm that's coming on
It rages hard and fast and then calm
Just like a life, then gone
In the end, in the end
Long night, dark night
May your light shine bright
May your light shine bright, tonight
We like to say we understand
Then try to shape the world with our hands
In our image, for we just can't
Let them be, oh let them be
You wring your hands and scratch your heads
"Enough's enough" you cry, but instead
Of giving up, now you stay
Til the end, the bitter end (ch)
So we raise the glasses high
Then raise our voices one time
Shed a tear or two, but don't cry
No need to answer why (ch)
|
||||
5. |
Blood Stays Strong
04:03
|
|||
|
The Blood Stays Strong
Life is hard and blood is all
That keeps us close - when hard times call
When we find ourselves so far removed
From family and the land we knew
But we have faith - we have hope
Have the will that’s all we know
Though the hills seem high and the roads run long
But we have faith - we have hope
Have the will that’s all we know
The heart is true and the blood stays strong
I’ve seen the tears fall from your eyes
Once as bright as summer skies
Now they’re darkened by life’s rain
Storm-front’s moving in again (ch)
I’ve heard the cries when midnight’s chill
Hangs o’er the fields, below the hill
It cuts so deep straight to the bone
Brings the bitter frost back home (ch)
David Stone/Roger Stone 2006
|
||||
6. |
The Old Soldier's Eyes
03:37
|
|||
|
The Old Soldier’s Eyes
It’s Armistice Day, the sky it is grey
The air it is cold and the sun hasn’t showed
The men on parade they are spent for the day
They’re all going home for a beer and a smoke
It’s "handshakes and smiles and hugs for a while"
Kind thanks and regards for doing your part
And where would we be if you boys had been beat
The mess we’d be in if you didn’t win
The glasses are raised and their sacrifice praised
Then the medals go back on a shelf
There’s a tear in the eye for the heroes who died
Who laid down their lives and were left
To the fields where they fell…
But with the dawn of the day it all goes away
The poppies are tossed by and by
The services done and the limos all gone
And all that remains are the tears in the old Soldier’s Eyes
It’s a dinner and dance at the hall in Grand Anse
Where the talk is of June '45
The frail and the few in their blazers of blue
With family and friends at their sides
It’s don’t you look great, are you feeling okay?
We’ll see you next year at this time
And the Last Post still sounds as the lights they go down
And all that remains are the tears in the Old Soldier’s Eyes
David Stone/Roger Stone
|
||||
7. |
The Devil's Seam
04:43
|
|||
|
The Devil’s Seam
The only light I ever see
Shines from this hat in front of me
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
Down at dawn til this day is done
What I’d give to see the morning sun
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
It’s damp and dark beneath the sea
But I’ve a brood of hungry mouths to feed
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
Gas and dust are all I breathe
Until sixty-five when I take my leave
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
No more the rake - I’ll ramble down
No more to work this mining town
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
I’ll toss my gear into the can
Then I'll reap rewards from the Company Plan
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
I’ll tell me own to move far away
For to quit the mines beneath the bay
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
Forty years I sucked it down
Forty years in a mining town
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
And I’ve lost friends clear cross the land
To the cave in crush and the methane brand
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
And I’ve worked hard for all my life
So to take the dole just don’t seem right
With pick and pack and aching back
I work the Devil’s Seam
|
||||
8. |
Streets of Mac Money
03:28
|
|||
|
Streets of MacMoney
They’re speaking in tongues – the old and the young
On the streets of MacMoney tonight
In their Nikes and jeans they struggle between
Homesick and happy – their plight
It’s boomtown they say – these folks far away
From families back in the East
They’re rolling in dough – but yearning ya know
For the smell of the salt and the sea
They’re living the dream – they have to believe
On the streets of MacMoney tonight
The lure of ‘big dollars’ is reeling ‘em in
On the streets of MacMoney tonight
They’re the catch of the day – fresh from away
And the quotas are filling up nice
They’re coming in planes and in cars and in trains
In buses and trucks every day
They’ve taken the bait – the hourly’s great
As they sing out ‘the Mira’ again (ch)
Now there are all types and sizes and ages out here
On the Streets of MacMoney tonight
From Belle Cote to Bras D’Or – Forchu to North Shore
The fresh faced and grey beards alike
|
||||
9. |
At Home
04:18
|
|||
|
At Home
I’m home where the wind sweeps the rough Atlantic Shore
Home where the sun paints her gold on Bras D’or
Home where the blue skies seem to go for ever more
Home in Cape Breton for sure
Now it just seems like yesterday when I first went away
Boarded on a westbound train my fortune I would make
Headed for the city lights my chances I would take
Couldn’t wait to leave behind the quiet of the Cape
For up there in Toronto the streets are paved in gold
Summer lasts for most the year and winter’s never cold
There are lots of jobs – they grow on trees and the money’s good I’m told
I couldn’t wait to leave behind the dampness and the dole here at home… (ch)
Now I found work – it was good and the money wasn’t bad
But I spent it all as quick as they could stuff it in my hand
And late at night I’d sit and think about the rocky strand
Where I could hear a fiddle playing o’er the shore where I did stand at home (ch)
The boom was grand but understand t he bust was hard you know
And concrete skies and scraping by sure made the city cold
I guess it’s time we pack it up and head the road for home
I long to be where fields are green and watch blue waters roll here at home (ch)
Now it’s been bout fifteen years – well give or take – it seems
The city brought some real good times beneath her hazy dreams
Twas there I found my heart’s delight – with her I’ll always be
But I could never call it home – there’s only one place for me – at home (ch)
|
||||
10. |
The Last in a Long Line
04:46
|
|||
|
The Last in the Long Line
One in a line of men that thrived on the sea
One with his dreams - unfulfilled
A little too late - for the life - he’d like to lead
But a little too early - for that spot on the hill
Now he’s heard all the stories of old wooden ships and their sails
He's been weaned on the danger and the thrill
Though a little too late for the ropes - and the riggings and rails
He's a little too early - for that spot on the hill (ch)
The last in a long line – he’s heard it so many times
The first of his family – left to the hand out line
The last in a long line – where long liners once were the king
He's the first of his kind – to be the last in the long, long line
Now the days are the same but the nights are so hard to face
Oh the dark and the dust and the chill
He's a little uneasy being so far away in this place
But a future for ‘little ones’ - means that he’s paying big bills
One in a line of men who thrived on the sea
Who’ll never handle a jig - or a trap or a trawl
A little too late for his father’s long legacy
But a little too early - for his spot on the hill (ch)
DS/2008
|
||||
11. |
Build a House
03:33
|
|||
|
Build a House
Standing by a muddy drive with scattered boards around you
Rusty nails in a tattered pouch - memories surround you
Of days when work was to be found - houses to be built
Growing families – bustling towns – and a promise to fulfill
I will build a house for you
I have hammer, saw and skill
You must make it home for you
With love - your house - to fill
With love – your house - to fill
Now the old days down here on the Island
They were modern pioneers
Built the towns for many miles – as industries thrived here
People moved from all around – to work the coal and steel
Now the homes you built are falling down
And the children slowly leave
I will build a house for you
I have hammer, saw and skill
You must make it home for you
With love - your house - to fill
With love – your house - to fill
I will build a house for you
I have hammer, saw and skill
You must make it home for you
With love - your house - to fill
With love – your house - to fill
|
||||
12. |
||||
|
Road Number Four
Well the road from the Causeway they call number four
Bobs and it weaves on the shores of Bras D’Or
It's rough and it's hilly and would drive you right silly
Put you out of your mind by the time you reach Sydney
It's God awful twisty and narrow for sure
Foggy and misty in spots on the shore
You'll bump and you'll grind as you toe the white line
Put you out of your mind by the time you reach Sydney
Well you go through the small towns where fishermen go
They speak with the French - the accent you know
And the potholes are big they could capsize your rig
And you might find yourself just a hoofin’ for Sydney
And you'll speed right along all the miles you'll face
About forty per hour - your engine will race
And the rocks and the trees are all that you'll see
Til the smoke stacks rise high as you roar into Sydney
Now they say the surveyor who first mapped this out
Was a man for the drinking and without a doubt
He sure made a mistake - must have followed a snake
For about ninety miles just to get into Sydney
So check your eyeballs and your eardrums your rear end and back
Are your headlights still working is the engine intact
For its wild and its wooly and you will agree fully
That you'll take a new route on the next trip to Sydney
Yes it's wild and its wooly and you will agree fully
That you'll take 105 on the next trip to Sydney
|
||||
David Stone Saint Peter'S, Nova Scotia
Born in St Peter's, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, a move to Toronto in 1979 was the start of my writing and performing on a professional level. Irish pubs and folk festivals through the late 1980s and early 1990s lead to a move back to Halifax NS in 1994, and more pubs, clubs and festivals. Began writing songs in 1980 with cousin and friend Roger Stone. Played very steadily through to 2010. ... more
If you like David Stone, you may also like:
Big, emotive pop songs with expansive instrumentation and heartrending vocals.
go to album
featured on Bandcamp Radio Apr 30, 2024
go to album
The Toronto-based sextet make moody, cinematic sounding music that blends psych-folk and post-rock.
go to album
Mind, Man, Medicine
by The Secret Sisters
The Alabama duo's fifth album exults in dusty Americana, showcasing rich vocal harmonies alongside blissful folk instrumentation.
go to album
More contemplative folk from the Minnesota singer-songwriter, sustained by raw full-band arrangements and philosophical lyrics.
go to album
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality.
go to album
Various Artists - Gaza Calling
by Nuovo Canzoniere Partigiano
featured on Bandcamp Radio Mar 15, 2024
go to album
