Get all 11 Lew Bear releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Facebook Bullshit, Rose of the Shires, Revisited, Bubble and Squeak (Rest of Vol 2), Love Light Dark and Death, Beginners Luck, Loose Ends (The Rest of Lew Bear, Volume 1), A Time and a Place, and 3 more.
1. |
Rose of the Shires
03:49
|
|||
Low rolling hills of gold and green
The widest skies east of the sea
With woodland birds most musical
On bluebell carpets beautiful
A finer place to grow there's never been
Chorus
We're the rose of the shires
It's our hearts desire
For the home and the hearth we've grown to love
Northamptonshire
Nothing else inspires
Neither north nor south nor heaven's above
Shoetown cobblers is our name
The winding river Nene our fame
Where northerners see southerners
And southerners see northerners
Our place as England's heart we now reclaim
Chorus x 2
|
||||
2. |
The Rothersthorpe Bullet
03:40
|
|||
Back in 1942 they formed the Rothersthorpe home guard
Didn't think the Nazis would ever get that far
So they gave every man in Rothersthorpe a gun
But as for bullets, well they had only one
Didn't think the Nazis would travel 'cross the land
But they might send a submarine straight up the canal
So they always kept a guard a posted on the lock
But there never was a swastika on the dock
Every man he had a gun but the trigger he can't pull it
Who would ever dare to fire the only Rothersthorpe Bullet
They kept a guard on both day and night
That lonely bullet gave the Nazis quite a fright
For though they attacked in London and the coast
They feared to take on Rothersthorpe's deadly host
Every man...
Then one day movement was spotted on a hill
Joe grabbed his rifle, his blood began to chill
Their defences had been tunnelled past
Joe set his sights, ready to fire at last
Every man...
They never dreamed of Nazis in the ground
As Joe took aim, his heart began to pound
Should he fire, should he trap it?
He pulled the trigger and he killed a Nazi rabbit
Joe took the rabbit down to the local pub
He planned to sell it to pay off his sub
The buyer took his prize and cycled off for home
Fell drunk in a ditch so Joe reclaimed his own
Every man he had a chance but only Joe did grab it
Now only Joe can eat a Nazi Rothersthorpe rabbit
|
||||
3. |
A Northampton Rhyme
03:23
|
|||
Down the local tavern every Friday night
We're packing up the tables, putting out the lights
Davey fetches instruments, the drunks scream out for more
The sober ones all leave, they know what is in store
As...
Chorus
Old Gamble bawls, his daughter squawks, old Bodkin beats the time
We make a noise and fright the boys and spoil the doctors rhyme
Cooper Joe he sings so low, we hate to hear him crow ho ho
Baker Nat he sings so flat, flatter still sings Matt
We'd all sit in the corner and we'd have a real good time
The landlord would be caught between the income and the fine
We tried to keep the djembe out of Ricky's heavy hands
No matter what we did it never went to plan
Chorus
The same old songs would be sung every single week
The landlord would be selling beer, the bobbies turned their cheek
Round and round the songs would go, getting more absurd
Now we've all gotten so drunk we've all forgot the...
Chorus
Finally we'd reach the point, ready to go home
Davey would be getting his ears chewed off on the phone
We'd stumble and we'd stagger, with croaky voices sing
As we'd all fall and laugh, just remembering
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
Merry Tom
04:55
|
|||
Young Tom the stable hand, loved the horses so
He’d always wanted one of his own
But times were hard in the Red Earls employ
From a farming family he was a poor boy
Then one springtime fell a weakling colt
Young Tom rushed to him like a lightning bolt
From that moment the boy loved the beast
But any lame horse became a hounds feast
Tom went to Red Earl, loudly he did beg
“Please sir don’t kill this horse due to it's poorly leg”
Red Earl said “if you can afford the feed, I’ll let you keep this poorly steed”
So Tom thanked Red Earl and went on his way
He could feed him on his family’s hay
And in time, the young colt he grew
His leg was healed and he stood proud and true
Young Tom said a name you shall need
One befitting such a noble steed
His father said he makes you happy
I suggest, the name of Merry
So Tom rode on proud Merry
Who proved himself the fastest of his breed
And in time became the Red Earls envy
Who commanded I’ll have back my steed
Young Tom wept but he gave up Merry
He knew Red Earl could harm his family
Red Earl took the horse who grew yet more strong
Said “I’ll name you for the boy – you shall be Merry Tom”
Merry Tom was ridden in the hunt
Wherever he went he went at the front
Red Earl rode him long and jumped him high
He said this horse could jump into the sky
Then one Autumn in came the heavy rains
The Nene was swollen and flooded in the drains
Red Earl thought he’d try a jump at the brook
Merry Tom broke his neck in the current he was took
Red Earl loved the horse of the jump he did repent
And so built a fitting monument
On it he wrote a simple piece
But young Tom had written underneath
Here lies the body of Merry Tom
Ridden to death by careless Red Earl John
|
||||
5. |
||||
When I was bound apprentice in old Northamptonshire
I served me master truly for seven long year
Then I took up game poaching on this ya now must hear
A shiny night is a mighty light any season of the year
My companion and I we were setting four or five
And when we took them up again we caught a hare alive
A gamekeeper was passing as for him we did not fear
A shiny night is a mighty light any season of the year
We slung him over our shoulders and wandered through the town
We called unto the neighbourhood and sold him for a crown
We sold him for a crown me boys but I dare not tell ye where
A shiny night is a mighty light any season of the year
Now game is banned fae poachers but I do not think tis fare
Good luck to any gamekeeper who's willing to buy a hare
Bad luck to any gamekeeper who would not sell his deer
A shiny night is a mighty light any season of the year
|
||||
6. |
Izzy
06:21
|
|||
Back round the turn of the 20th century
There was a maid by the name of Izzy
Not from nobility but neither was she poor
Now she’s known forever more as
The first girl in Northamptonshire, to love a dark skinned man
The last girl in Northamptonshire, tarred and feathered as she ran
And a labourer on Cank Farm
Both tall and wide, never did any harm
Straight from the new world, descent from slavery
And now he's met the maiden Izzy
The first....
Izzy taught letters to the Cank farm girls
They loved her charm and her long luscious curls
They weren’t the only ones, the labourer too
Izzy looked back, her heart grew
The first...
Illicit love was all they ever knew
But of a strength known to few
They met in the fields and forests of Cank farm
And couldn’t know she would soon come to harm
Soon the Sprattoners, they found out
They cried for shame. Up went a shout
Women plucked chickens while they still flapped
The men burnt pitch and set a trap...for
The first...
They caught Izzy at the top of the Sands
The men poured tar. The women held her hands
Threw on the feathers, such pain she never knew
They let go. Down the sands Izzy flew
The first...
Watching on was Izzy’s youngest niece
Weeping fell to her knees
Kept the secret ‘til her death bed
There to her Great-Granddaughter said....never forget
The first...
|
Streaming and Download help
Lew Bear recommends:
If you like Lew Bear, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp