Water of Europe
One of 12 new English chansons and three covers on this 1999 solo album.
More details.
Des de Moor
voice, acoustic guitars
Julia Doyle
double bass
Dave Keech
trombone
John Piper
drums
A song that I discovered while the plans for the Water of Europe project were well advanced, and I just had to redraw them to accommodate it. This is a 1972 piece associated especially with the idiosyncratic Chicago singer-songwriter Terry Callier (b1942), and is one of the great offbeat anthems, a literate and whimsical celebration of the human imagination. I love soul but have never had a soul voice, so I hope this folk-soul oddity is quirky enough for me to get away with!
I'm not trying to indicate my state of mind.
I turn you on,
I tell you that I'm laughing just to keep from crying
And bringing music when you hear it,
Keep on trying to get near it.
A little rhythm for your spirit
Oh but that's what it's for
Come on in, here's the door
And I've seen a sparrow get high
And waste his time in the sky
He thinks it's easy to fly
He's just a little bit freer than I
Now here's a mystery
And maybe you can help to make it clear to me
When you're fast asleep
Then what is it that's lighting up the dreams you see
Only your tears can't conceal it
And only your prayers may not reveal it
You've got soul so you can feel it
And when you make the scene
Well you know what I mean
Hey I've seen a sparrow get high
And waste his time in the sky
He thinks it's easy to fly
He's just a little bit freer than I
Down here on the ground
When you find folks are giving you the runaround
Keep your game uptight
And if you must just take your secrets underground
Now politicians are trying to speech you
Mad colour watchers are trying to teach you
Very few will really try to reach you
If you're lost in a stack
That's OK, come all black
Now I'd be the last to deny
That I'm just an average guy
And don't you know each little bird in the sky
Is just a little bit freer than I
Hey ordinary Joe
Although they say you're just a lazy so-and-so
What they think is real
Is nothing but an animated puppet show
So don't let time and space confuse you
And don't let name and form abuse you
Let that Big Joe Williams blues you
In the light of the sun you can see how they burn
Oh I've seen a sparrow get high
And waste his time in the sky
He thinks it's easy to fly
He's just a little bit freer than I
Words and music |
Michael Hodges
Arrangement |
© Copyright Chrysalis Music Ltd, London, 1972.
As famously recorded by Terry Callier (available on his MCA Greatest Hits CD). This version from Des de Moor's album Water of Europe (see left).
All rights reserved. No material on these pages can be reproduced in whole or in part in any form, except for short passages for the purpose of quotation or review, without prior written permission of the copyright owner.
More lyrics |
Heart of a Heartless World
To Those Born After (Bertolt Brecht; Hanns Eisler)
Joey's Dreams
Margins
Water of Europe
Big Sister
Sleaze City
Sharp Contradictions
Ordinary Joe (Andrew Brooks/Michael Hodges)
My Father Said (Jacques Brel)
Grandmother was a Hero
Avocado
Last Orders Please
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