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FAULTLINES

by Karine Polwart

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1.
Only One Way 02:53
Only One Way When you’re looking at life on the brim And trying to figure out if you remember how to swim You only find out if you jump right in That there’s only one way, only one way When the writing on the road says slow And the people in the back seat ask which way to go The truth is they already know That there’s only one way, only one way CHORUS We have to break all the rules they make And take all the risks they say we won’t take We have to make all the trouble we can Only one way Only one way And when every single sound you hear makes no sense And your arse is sore with sitting on the fence And the scale of the problem is larger than immense There’s only one way And when a genocidal maniac talks about grief And you kinda get the feeling that there’s nothing underneath But you can’t believe a man would lie through such nice teeth Only one way CHORUS X 2 And when you’re thinking that there’s nothing you can do But eat what they feed you like a monkey in the zoo Just remember that they want you to believe that’s true And there’s only one way, only one way CHORUS X 3
2.
Faultlines 03:16
Faultlines Have you ever held something until your hands were aching? And then let it go and watched it fall and listened to it breaking? I have held back time and tide when all the world was plenty But now my hands are open wide, open wide and empty For every breath that leaves me now another comes to fill me. And for every death that grieves me now, the next one will surely kill me. For those borders crumble every day, the fault-lines are showing. And all I thought was here to stay slowly is going History abandons us and we’re holding on, holding on to nothing but dirt and dust. We’re holding on, holding on While those borders crumble every day, the fault-lines are showing. And all I thought was here to stay slowly is going. Have you ever held something until your hands were aching? Then let it go and watched it fall and listened to it breaking?
3.
Four Strong Walls You put me back together again just when I thought I was broken forever So broken that nothing on this earth could mend me You out me back together again You out me back together again Just like a puzzle with no pieces missing I see myself as you see me my friend You put me back together again CHORUS When everything else in this world Flickers and falters and falls And the thunder is under our feet You feel like four strong walls You put me back together again Just like the trick with the saw and the lady Everything draws to itself in the end You put me back together again CHORUS X 2
4.
The Sun's Comin' Over The Hill Six rain ridden summers and he still had an eye for me He kissed me each evening and told me he’d die for me And then he ran off the road, full of whisky and irony He always meant what he said So I took to whisky so I could recall The taste of his mouth on my mouth, that’s all I tried the same trick with a truck but it stalled The engine was better off dead CHORUS Oh the nights are long But life is longer still Oh the nights are long But the sun’s coming over the hill The taste never left me and I don’t think it will And it caused me to supplement whisky with pills But there was something inside that I couldn’t kill Believe me, I really did try And there’s some say you get what you deserve but they’re wrong Sometimes you get what you’re given and then it’s all gone And you are lucky if you are sufficiently strong To daily decide not to die CHORUS I can’t say there’s many things I wouldn’t change There are better days gone than those that remain But I can find joy in the sound of the rain You have to find joy where you can CHORUS X 2
5.
Resolution Road Resolution road Who’s your friend and who’s your foe? How do you tell the one from the other? Who’s on the inside, who’s undercover? Who looks like you do? Resolution road Round and round and round we go Who makes the circle and who’s in the middle? Who talks in reasons and who talks in riddles? Who looks like you do? CHORUS Don’t speak without thinking Don’t sleep with a stranger when you’re drinking And don’t jump in a ship when it’s sinking Resolution road Learn to speak your heart in code Try to embody the laws of encryption And try to defy all the laws of description Who looks like you do? Resolution road Buy a ticket for the show Who talks in riddles, who talks in reasons? What kind of endings do you believe in? Who looks like you do? CHORUS X 2 Resolution road Who’s your friend and who’s your foe? How do you tell the one from the other? Who’s on the inside, who’s undercover? Who’ll be your Lazarus? Who’ll be your lover? Who looks like you do? Who looks like you do? Who looks like you do?
6.
Waterlily 04:35
WaterLily Caught between the air and the windless deep (exit bass) You float like a lily flower. And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep And you’re waiting for your waking hour. CHORUS And I swear to God I saw an angel hand attend you But that was just the dancing of the light. No mortal or immortal did deliver or defend you. All hands have forsaken you tonight. Are you dreaming of a lover who will carry you away And keep you from the crying of the crowd? No cradle in the rushes, you are broken like the day, With darkness all around you like a shroud. CHORUS When they finally surrounded you, did any of them face you? Did you curse the silent stars above? Those cruel arms abandoned you for water to embrace you, Won’t you lay your head my waterlily love CHORUS Caught between the air and the windless deep You float like a lily flower And you look just like you fell to earth to sleep And you’re waiting for your waking hour And you’re waiting for your waking hour
7.
What Are You Waiting For? You’ve been waiting for the wind to change direction Waiting for the sun to shine You’ve been waiting for a new connection But you’re walking on the same old line You’ve been waiting so long how can you wait a single minute more? You’ve been waiting so long you just don’t know what you are waiting for You’ve been wishing for a gentle hand to guide you For a heavenly sign You’ve been wishing for a spark to burn inside you For a little bit more time You’ve been wishing so hard how can you now wish for any more? You’ve been wishing so hard you just don’t know what you are wishing for CHORUS Some say the good things come to all those who wait Then again they might not come at all You’ve been looking to what’s just around the corner Living for another day You’ve been looking to the distant skyline Looking like you lost your way You’ve been looking so hard for something Your eyes are getting sore You’ve been looking so hard You just don’t know what you are looking for CHORUS X 2
8.
Skater Of The Surface Skater of the surface Where the ice is thin Without plan or point or purpose You just spin and spin and spin and spin Skater of the surface You never, never cross the line And if it’s true that ignorance is bliss Then you must be laughing all the time You see what’s before your eyes And there’s no lies and no disguise A riptide’s gonna pull you under Skater of the surface You have nothing, nothing to say Without plan or point or purpose You’re just spinning your life away CHORUS
9.
Harder To Walk These Days Than Run I used to think I could live by the law And believe everything that my own two eyes saw But now all the certainties have come undone And it’s harder to walk these days than run I was always impressed with how lassie could tell The good guys from bad guys just by their smell But now they’re all odourless everyone And it’s harder to walk these days than run I read all the books, I thought words could repair And I dreamed of a language that everyone shared But all reason retreats in the face of a gun And it’s harder to walk these days than run And how can I consider what’s wrong and what’s right? When everything moves even faster than light? I’m not even sure I can trust in the sun It’s so much harder to walk these days than run You told me everything in its own time And you waited for yours and I waited for mine And right from the start I knew you were the one Who’d make it easier to walk these days Easier to walk these days Easier to walk these days Than run Easier to walk these days than run Easier to walk these days than run Than run Than run Oh it’s easier to walk these days than run
10.
The Light On The Shore Old as I am, older than The threads of understanding, which we weave between us Old as you are, older by far Than the contours of the love that we leave behind us Bold as I am, bolder than The pioneers who swept their way across the desert Bold as you are, bolder by far The lovers who have swum the tide to be together Are we old enough and bold enough to say goodbye? Old enough and bold enough that we do not need to cry? Well I’m not so old and not so bold I don’t need you more Now the light is slowly beckoning you to the shore Cold is the ground for which you’re bound It’s a place where we can never more be together Cold is the air that takes you there On a passage that will end with your end forever But it’s not so cold I do not feel the warmth of your skin Not so cold I do not know the fires that burn within you Though they are fading now I wish that they would burn once more And keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore If I could sail the seas of time then I would keep you from harm But I am no sailor and I cannot warn you Though there’s nothing in my life I ever wanted more Than to keep you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you Than to shield you from the light that’s slowly beckoning you to the shore
11.
Azalea Flower There’s a whisper at the window And I don’t know what it is Maybe it’s the sound of the wind in the azaleas Matt’s away on business And he calls me on the phone But it’s hard to get to sleep at night when I’m alone I pull the sheets around me And I hear that sound again Maybe it’s the sound of the wind in the azaleas And when I was young I used to leave a note upon my bed And it said “Dear Mister Robber Man Don’t shoot me and my sister dead” I double locked the door downstairs I do the same each night And I turned out the light I turned out the light I’m sure I turned out the light All the lights are on at number 5 They’ve been on for days and days It’s the middle of the afternoon in August Billy Marshall checks the porch Sees the mail has not been read And someone’s cut off all the azalea heads Matt’s on television and he’s looking quite distressed He says he cannot understand The kind of man who would’ve done this He says he didn’t call on Tuesday ‘Cause he was working long hours And now she’s lying Now she’s lying Now she’s lying like the azalea flowers

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released November 22, 2004

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Karine Polwart UK

One of the finest singer-songwriters in Britain" The Guardian

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