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Camden Diary

by Brendan Quinn

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1.
The words of the poets lie scattered and broken And all of our idols have crumbled and fallen Where will you run to? While cities are burning? While leaders are hiding? Will you try to find something to follow? The sound of the drumbeats, it echoes like thunder Pride and ambition will suck us all under Have we learned nothing? Since Rome's walls were crumbling? As Nero is fiddling Have you got some truth we can borrow? Laugh as we dance in our mad melancholy Scorn our own wisdom, embrace all our folly When the Dow crashes We'll line up by classes In sackcloth and ashes And bleed for a better tomorrow.
2.
Here I sit on Primrose Hill Who could blame me,cry my fill And every tear would turn a mill Jenny has gone for a soldier I sold my rod, I sold my reel My plow-share and my potter's wheel To buy my love a sword of steel Jenny has gone for a soldier Me, oh my, I loved her so It broke my heart to see her go Now only time can heal my woe Jenny has gone for a soldier I'll dye my hair, I'll dye it black A coat of mourning, on my back For the lady-love I lack Jenny has gone for a soldier
3.
Clear 03:53
Come on, come on, and take a look outside There's a poppy blooming in the corner of the garden There is something hiding in the back of the weeds It tries to hide from the light of my eyes Then into a deeper darkness flew The sky is so clear Clouds go by Come up, come up, to the top of the hill Watch the sun go down over Camden Town The longboats are drifting on the Regent's Canal A quiet notion in relentless motion The mind is so clear Thoughts go by Come down, come down, where the church bell chimes As the moon arises in a stardust heaven The wind is a-blowing through the leaves on the trees They sign and wave to a silent gravestone A conclave we can but preview The path is so clear Years go by
4.
Passion 03:23
Broken windows Shattered glass I call the northern wind Scent of violets New mown grass I call the southern stone Salty tear In crystal flask I call the western seas Red hot iron Furnace blast I call the eastern flame Guide my steps Protect my path I seek the inner light
5.
Horizon 03:36
And that's when I hear you voice Soft as a shadow In tones of infinite glee "I am free" I call to you in dark of night By candle-light incense is burning Perfuming the air Are you there? I've drunk my fill from the flagon of sorrow I've drunk my fill from the phial of dreams I've swallowed my pride and your omens I follow And all for the sake of thee Your words send my soul into flight And lost in the echoes The world shows its secrets to me You are the key I've drunk my fill from the flagon of sorrow I've drunk my fill from the phial of dreams I've swallowed my pride and your omens I follow And all for the sake of thee
6.
Ghost Story 04:17
Can you feel them calling you home The ghosts of days gone by? Can you tell its nature When it fills your mind? Or do you think of heaven and hell When you hear their cry? Heaven is all of the joy in the world All at once defined Hell is all of the pain we have known And all our words unkind And though your thoughts be all of this world You can see the signs When your heartbeat pounds in your ears Awake and terrified Do you count out your sins and your fears As into sleep you cry? Or do you dream of innocent days When you still knew how to fly?
7.
Standing in a restless moonrise In a coat of navy blue I can see it in my mind's eye With a passion that cuts through Through (x2) Through the falling crimson leaves That spiral in the autumn breeze Falling earthwards in their flight I walk to you in the moonlight Moving in the glow of streetlights Underneath a starry sky Speeding through a Massachusetts night As we watch the world go by By (x2) By the glow of dashboard dials I enumerate the miles Snow blowing over the white lines While your laughter breaks the silence Standing in a hazy sunrise With a kiss to keep my warm You are my cloak around my shoulders You are my shelter from the storm
8.
Falling 04:43
Look at me, I'm falling for you Every day, a little more Look at me, I'm falling under your charm Look at me, I'm falling into something that I always dreamed of Look at me, I'm falling over you Sometimes it seems to be so easy I can do no wrong Sometimes it seems to be so damn hard I can't do nothing at all Nothing's ever been quite like this feeling that I have with you Things have never been so good and pure Nothing's ever been so star-like Brighter than a thousand day-breaks Things have never been till there was you And in the hour just past midnight I still see your face And under sunlight dappled branches The wind whispers your name Every time I kiss your lips Well, the world seems like a brighter place Every time you touch my face I melt Every time I slip inside you It all shrinks down to you and I Every time I hear your cries I die And in the peace of your embrace I am home at last With whispered words of love so tender Until the dark is past
9.
The iron tower of Union Is riddled with decay The emperor in his palace Turns his face away The brightest souls of labour Have found their final rest And I who sweat and toil Remember them in death Wherever workers suffered A scarlet flag would fly They would come to help us They heard our mournful cry Out front with the strikers On them we did rely They would keep us going Always at our side Our leaders are corrupted Their greed they do not hide While men in high positions Eat lobster and sip wine The red flag hangs in tatters But there, in the promised land The angels are out striking Against their master's hand Who will raise our standard? Who will sound the drum? Oh brothers, and my sisters The fight is not yet won And though they may lie fallow The dreams which have been sown Will never be forgotten In any working home
10.
Swapping stories in your attic room A manic pace pervades the afternoon You light a cigarette, and crack a joke Shattered sunlight dances in the smoke The universe is in a grain of sand And in each speck of dust that makes a man Infinity is inside all we see And you and me (see?) Step outside to watch the sun go down Shifting skies above the stony ground Dying light, it gives the shadows life They flit around the corner of my eye The universe is in a grain of sand And in each speck of dust that makes a man Infinity is inside all we see And you and me (see?) Greying skies above the reservoir Cast a wish upon the morning star A new day's coming, just around the bend A night like this, we'll not soon see again The universe is in a grain of sand And in each speck of dust that makes a man Infinity is inside all we see And you and me (see?)
11.
She 05:50
She Was a girl from the highlands Lowell, Massachusetts She Was raised on bitter Flowing cups of uselessness She was sure That she was gonna make it out She would smile And talk about the light beneath the snow And I Had a car and a driving Need to find my demons And She Had a way about her That made me want her secrets I would try To tell her that I cared about her But She would smile And say, "You're just a fickle boy like all the others" Years No doubt have left their Needle tracks upon her Nights Like this I sit and Lie awake and wonder If She Got it right after all With secret smile She knows about the life beneath the snow

about

Mount Watatic Records Stands in Solidarity with the NAACP and Bandcamp to Support Racial Justice, Equality, and Change. Because #BlackLivesMatter.

On 5-7 June and 19 June, MWR will donate sales from DIVISIONISTS and Brendan Quinn's solo records to support the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (America's premier legal organisation fighting for racial justice)

All DIGITAL RELEASES are NAME YOUR PRICE. Please be generous if you can as ALL PROCEEDS will be donated to the NAACP LDF. For VINYL purchases, we will donate 50% of the cost (the rest is shipping).

Please also feel free to DONATE DIRECTLY to the NAACP LDF: www.naacpldf.org.

Because music is one way to help heal this broken world.
And because #BlackLivesMatter.

*****************************************************************************************

Untitled Protest Song is under copyright, and "anyone caught singin it without our permission will be mighy good friends of ours, cause we don't give a darn. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that's all we wanted to do."

The following statement accompanied the original release:
"In celebration of the Inauguration of President Obama, I've decided to release this, my long in-progress solo album, Camden Diary. It is, as much as anything, a journal of the Bush years, as seen through the eyes of an expatriate. Songwriting for this project began in 2002, and I moved to London, England, in February 2003. Writing and recording work took place on and off between then and now, with principal mixing complete by the end of 2007. Recording methods were often ad-hoc, as I used what equipment and space was available to me at any given time. The final few decisions about the last mix happened during 2008, and the final mix was completed last night, literally on the eve of the inauguration. It is made available here for free, and I hope that you enjoy it. If you feel so moved, please feel free to make a donation. --Brendan Quinn 20 January, 2009"

credits

released January 20, 2009

Adrian Shaw, bass, Protest Song and Ghost Story
Nick Saloman, lead guitar, Protest Song
Stuart Barton, bass, Falling, In A Grain Of Sand, Clear, and Horizon
Scott Campanella, acoustic guitar, Protest Song and Ghost Story
Niall King, keyboards, Ghost, rhythm guitar, In My Mind's Eye
Liz Zitzow, backing vocals, Primrose Hill, Clear, and Falling
Joe Turner, drums
Pam Williams, hand drums and percussion, Horizon
Joel Simches, keyboards, She, backing vocals, She, In My Mind's Eye
Dr. Matthew S. Malek, Spoken word, In A Grain Of Sand (on original release)
Dan Parmenter, bass, Primrose Hill, In My Mind's Eye, In A Grain Of Sand
Michael Braga, additional guitar, In A Grain Of Sand
Brendan Quinn, all other instruments and vocals

Recorded and mixed by Brendan Quinn
Joe Turner, Additional recording (Boston)
Joel Simches, engineering assistance, additional mixing, and mastering
All songs copyright 2003-2009 Brendan Quinn, except "The Death of Mother Jones", Trad. Arr. Brendan Quinn and Pam Williams, and "Clear", Copyright 2007 Brendan Quinn and Scott Campanella
Photograph: James Broad

license

Some rights reserved. Please refer to individual track pages for license info.

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about

Brendan Quinn London, UK

Guitarist, singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Brendan lives and works in London.

He is the driving force behind London's Divisionists, and their 2017 album, "Daybreak".

Brendan is also known as a guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for Abunai!, the Boston-based, cult psychedelic, space-rock pranksters and
Terrastock regulars.

Please see his full bio and other useful links below!
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