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Banishment

by Tom Fairnie

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  • Full Digital Discography

    6
    releases

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1.
The Last Sailor Man 03:48
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The Last Sailor Man Under a tropical sky Where old hurricanes die She waved a last goodbye Rolled a cigar on her thigh Mix it in a salty glass Two parts rum and a bitter past; out there And what I am is the last sailor man out there Lay in the palm of the bay Watching the fishtails sway I was gonna drift all day ‘til the wind she come blow me away Take it with a bite of spice Molasses wine and some bad advice; out there And what I am is the last sailor man out there And what I am is the last sailor man What I am is the last sailor man What I am is the last sailor man out there I would go where I please Smuggling into the Keys Running rum on the breeze A lowlife on the high seas Havana Joe’s the real McCoy There’s amberjack, man and bhoy; out there And what I am is the last sailor man out there Every devil got a name Senoirita hurricane An’ every woman’s the same Blow you a kiss in the rain Wild Bonita and Gabrielle Curse them bella donnas down to hell; out there And what I am is the last sailor man out there And what I am is the last sailor man… © The Last Sailor Man music by Tom Fairnie, words by Tom Fairnie & Bob Shields July 2007
2.
Approaching Horizontal 04:15
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Approaching Horizontal We’re still inside this bar room And it’s almost opening time We’ve drunk up all the good stuff Now we’re on to the Ripple Wine The other guys have fallen They’re drinking off the floor I think that I’m still standing Guess I can drink some more But I’m approaching horizontal Where lines are always true Remembering tangential To every curve of you Seeing through this bottle clearly Half way to Kalamazoo Just give me one more glass of nearly Getting over you It was July twenty seven And it was in the afternoon I was planning my escape route But I’m escaping no time soon I ain’t looking for a pardon, A princess or a whore I’m just looking for Tequila ‘til I just can’t drink no more ‘cause I’m approaching horizontal… There ain’t no bar can hold me But this one holds me close It’s the one where I first met you The one I love the most Where we used to drink together Gold Rum and Piat d’Or But that mix turned melancholy Now I just can’t drink no more ‘cause I’m approaching horizontal… t would take a thousand cups of coffee To help me walk the line And meet you on the corner Of Heartbreak and cold Vine Where the old stars wait and wonder If there’s a bar on heaven’s door But I know that time’s long over Now I just can’t drink no more ‘cause I’m approaching horizontal… © Approaching Horizontal music by Tom Fairnie; words by Bob Shields and Tom Fairnie 25th July 2010
3.
Without Tears 04:05
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Without Tears The road is just a memory Where sunsets disappear In the silence of a photograph That’s faded by the years To the colour of the old days The darkness that we drew In the dust on the horizon When the sky was blood and blue Headlights stretch before you As a thousand falling stars Drawn down from Heaven Into midnight’s battle scars And the emptiness inside you Is a cancer of the heart A symptom of pretending That you’ve never been apart But it’s a road that you’ll remember until it disappears A song that you’d forgotten, ringing down the years A Mardi Gras parade A silent masquerade The river where you played That said there’s no journey here without tears Fourteen miles to the border And three days out from home The neon at the crossroads Is the promise to my bones The radio’s a highway Through this desert of the lost Where Mescal dreams and thorns might lead you On to Pentecost Broken billboards beckon Like thieves upon the hill To lead you where temptation Is meant to test your will You’ve got one less tomorrow And one more yesterday But you hope there’s more behind you Than tears along the way But it’s a road that you’ll remember… © Without Tears words & music by Tom Fairnie, Bob Shields, Jane Fairnie & Martin Boland 7th November 2005 With acknowledgement to the song Via Dolorosa © Martin Boland, Tom Fairnie & Robin Horn 26th February 2005
4.
Runaway Blues 03:06
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Runaway Blues It was down in Lynchburg Tennessee There was Jack, her and me Stole a rental pick-up truck Just to see, the deserts of Nevada Times don’t get much harder In San Juan, New Mexico At the all-night Last Picture Show Two runaways make a name That grows, into Barrow and Parker Life don’t get much darker We got the blues baby We got the blues baby We got them runaway blues We got the blues baby We got the blues baby We got them runaway blues There’s a dead man in Montgomery If he’d only listened to me He’d still have his liquor store And we’d walk, the streets of Alabama Now that don’t matter ‘cause in Arkansas that line was crossed It was Little Rock and we were lost The dollars trailed in blood and tears The cost, of being most wanted America’s most wanted We got the blues baby… Turned back to where we used to be Traded that truck in Tennessee Got a ’98 Dodge and a bullet for free From an old, Angel Town moonshiner In back of Black Jack’s Diner We were on the lam, set to kill From Antioch to Andersonville And on that road they speak of us still Warning, sons and daughters Run away like water We got the blues baby… © Runaway Blues music by Tom Fairnie, words by Tom Fairnie & Bob Shields 30th May 2007
5.
Boston 04:36
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Boston I’ve never been to Boston But I’m flying there tonight Crossing Martha’s Vineyard On a transatlantic flight Looking for the runway Through a glass of dry Merlot And Boston sparkles pretty When there’s nowhere else to go I’ve been drinking hard since Dublin But not nearly hard enough There are things in flight forgotten But none of them is love There’s only one above me And a thousand lights below And Boston sparkles pretty When there’s nowhere else to go Boston sparkles pretty As pretty as her face It’s just the kind of city Where a loser finds his place And Boston sparkles pretty As pretty as her eyes It’s the kind of place A drowning heart will rise She’ll be waking in Cordoba On her way to by his side If the truth of her “Goodbye love” Saw the “Please stay” that I lied And the Queen of Hearts is bleeding But she will not let it show And Boston sparkles pretty When there’s nowhere else to go Boston sparkles pretty... I’m crossing the Charles River now In the early morning sun With a rhyme in every footstep Like I’m going to meet someone And I know that she’ll be waiting We made a promise long ago And Boston sparkles pretty When there’s nowhere else to go © Boston music by Tom Fairnie; words by Bob Shields & Tom Fairnie 7th Feb 2010
6.
The Rose Of Morelos 04:36
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The Rose Of Morelos Her room was dark with dead roses And the scent of her body’s perfume Eyeless and dreaming of lovers In moonlight‘s breathless costume Christ on the cross gone before her Looks like he’s gone for good Gone as the last but one moment His sacrifice misunderstood And the roses grew in Morelos Each thorn a theatre of blood As her dress torn into petals Falls, and is lost in the flood And his hands were warm on her body His tongue upon her cold skin The salt of the wound that he tasted She dreamt of the sea and first sin And it was only a Mexican story Only the night and the smoke Only the rose of Morelos She was only alone Only alone when she woke It was always the rose of Morelos Always the smoke and the night Always her lovers and secrets And the darkness of her The darkness into the light As the dawn arose she was sleeping But somewhere deep in her heart A knife found its salvation And the colour that bled them apart But to live one night and a thousand Forever recalling her name In the smoke, the night and the passion The blood and no one to blame And his dreams were laid on the altar A gift for her and the moon And the darkness weary and wanting Was the edge of woman and wound So he offered her herbs and water On this night of the dead and the lost He bled again for her memory Bringing petals and thorns to her ghost And it was only a Mexican story… © The Rose Of Morelos music by Tom Fairnie, words by Tom Fairnie & Bob Shields 4th November 2010
7.
Little Lucifer 06:56
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Little Lucifer We let little Lucifer out of his box And made him dance at our feet He kept time with the old tick tock Never skipped a beat He spoke in Spanish that old loving tongue Danced till his little hooves bled We were just devils out on the town Trying to taint it red And it’s hard being good and it’s easy to be bad Ask any sinner you meet Going straight will drive you crooked and mad Best walk on the wild side of the street I saw a little stuntman hitting on a blonde It was Labour Day in the rain He was trying to buy back the ring that he pawned Got a firecracker for his pain The sky was twisting round the chimneystacks I was choking on the velvet air I saw a little sweat trickle down her back You could tell she just didn’t care Well it’s hard being good and it’s easy to be bad… Heard a ghost bell ringing ‘cross the lake I guess they drowned that town I was just sleepwalking, trying not to wake When I heard that rusted sound It rang for the dead in the dead, dead of night For the nighthawks at the cross Little drunken devils in the diner’s dim light Licking habanero FireGirl Sauce Well it’s hard being good and it’s easy to be bad… Saw a little red haired boy drinking Louisiana Cane The devil knows how he feels He’d lightning forking out from his veins Thunder rolling off his heels He was watching a little old dancing bear And the bear was watching him Looked like they were kind of connected there Like the sleeper and the sin Well it’s hard being good and it’s easy to be bad... © Little Lucifer words and music by Tom Fairnie 11th June 2005
8.
If I Could Hold Her In My Arms 05:03
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If I Could Hold Her In My Arms If I could hold her in my arms In the bar of my choice Then sip malt whisky And sail upon her voice The crac in the mirror Becomes a background noise As she and I together Sing another song with all the bhoys The Londonderry Air As She Moved Through The Fair She’s all I want to hear She’s all I want to hear If life could turn upon its head And we were back in time A young man and his fancy And we were in our prime Brass buttons shining And the devil for a rhyme She and I together At the first and one last time Scarborough Fair Upon A Midnight Clear She’s all I want to hear She’s all I want to hear If I could hold her in my arms © If I Could Hold Her In My Arms words by Tom Fairnie, music by Tom Fairnie & Jane Fairnie May 21st 2006
9.
The Love Of Columbine 03:12
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The Love Of Columbine In the darkness of the morning, he recalled her name Between a teardrop of Pierrot, and the damsel minstrel game Would they bind together perfectly, like shadows intertwined Into the mantle of that morning, cruelly redefined If it hadn’t been for Harlequin And the love of Columbine It’s another day, another dollar, on this factory floor He’d wash away all of the dirt, if he wasn’t coming back for more And the woman he remembers, was sweet as closing time And the way she used to make him feel, was once upon a rhyme If it hadn’t been for Harlequin And the love of Columbine If there’s a princess, she’s a temptress, and he the hunter’s moon Obeying madness, ever after, dancing to her tune A stumbling, tumbling acrobat, bridled by her line And poor Pierrot is weeping tears, of diamonds and design If it hadn’t been for Harlequin And the love of Columbine So now our hero, stood in silence, a fool upon this stage Wonders if his fate was set, by words cast on a page He’d sung them all for cowboys there, beneath the neon sign Now the rhinestones on his boot heels spell, Farewell Columbine If it hadn’t been for Harlequin If it hadn’t been for Harlequin If it hadn’t been for Harlequin And the love of Columbine ©The Love Of Columbine music by Tom Fairnie words by Bob Shields & Tom Fairnie March 28th 2010
10.
The Woman 05:04
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The Woman A woman like her only ever wears black It flatters her figure and narrows her back With dresses designed in some secret code Deciphered by lovers in a game she adored She dances to music only some of us hear Her heart once beat to the fall of a tear She learned to forgive you a lifetime ago And learned to hold it and never let go, never let go, she never let go She wore the look of a woman in love Who wanted much more than all she could have Though her smile was assured and her confidence high Every man she met saw the fear in her eyes Her lies were all dressed in the sound of her voice You could take her for pleasure if she gave you the choice She learned to deceive you a lifetime ago And learned to hold it and never let go, never let go, she never let go She dazzled her new friends with old repartee Accustomed to men but never too free I saw her once sleeping deep in your arms But she saved all her dreams for some other man She loved the scent he brought back from Rome That she only wore knowing he’d come She captured that moment a lifetime ago And learned to hold it and never let go, never let go, she never let go She slept in his bed and gave all that she could She was a mystery, half understood Guarded with strangers and open with friends Never betrayed indiscretions she heard She looked in the mirror and saw so much less Than all of the women she longed to impress She mastered that look a lifetime ago And learned to hold it and never let go, never let go, she never let go She was the woman, the one that we knew If we took her for granted then we’d only lose She never stayed long if the moment had gone She followed her heart and her heart carried on Looking for someone to love and admire Someone to sleep with, to wake her desire She dreamed that dream a lifetime ago And learned to hold it and never let go, never let go, she never let go © The Woman words & music by Tom Fairnie 26th April 2004
11.
I Want To Be Kissed 04:21
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I Want To Be Kissed If I’ve been a bad boy (ooh wah ooh) If I have been remiss (you naughty boy) If I’m in the doghouse (bow wow wow) I can promise you this (promises promises) I will do my level best babe (ooh wah ooh) To make it all up to you (ooh wah ooh) ‘Cause there ain’t anything better (ooh wah ooh) Than to kiss and make up the way that we do I don’t want a peck on the cheek I want it full on the lips Don’t want a mmwa, mmwa, air kiss The kind that miss I wanna be kissed, I wanna be kissed I’ve got to insist, I wanna be kissed If I’m ever in pain babe (ooh wah ooh) Had a fall and cut my lip (diddums) And if I’m being a baby (wah wah wah) Well baby, here’s a little tip (tell us Tom) I need much more than a squeeze babe (ooh wah ooh) I need some of your t.l.c. (ci ci ci) I need you to be my nursemaid (ooh la la) And kiss it all better for me I don’t want a peck on the cheek I want it full on the lips Don’t want a mmwa, mmwa, air kiss The kind that miss I wanna be kissed, I wanna be kissed I’ve got to insist, you put a cross against this, I wanna be kissed And if I was a winner (ooh wah ooh) Scored the goal that won the prize (you’re number one) I don’t want to be surrounded (no no no) By a team of ugly guys (ooh ooh ooh) It can wait till we’re together (ooh wah ooh) I’ll be home in a little while (make it soon) And maybe I can score again babe (make it now) And we can celebrate in style (now now now) I don’t want a peck on the cheek… …I wanna be kissed, I wanna be kissed I’ve got to insist, you put a cross against this, I’m a lover not a pugilist I wanna be kissed © I Want To Be Kissed words & music by Thomas Yule Fairnie 13th June 2001
12.
The Bells Of San Giulio 03:28
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The Bells Of San Giulio See them swallows Flown a thousand miles To skim upon this water That rises to meet their dives Through the bell tower Of San Giulio’s skies Their calls ring out Where the isle of silence lies Pay the boatman To leave the world behind All our sorrows On that far shoreline You and me together again Again we swoop and dive Into the water Surrounded by our lives We cry these tears of freedom There’s something she denies Didn’t think that we could ever feel the same Or that we could ever rise Into San Giulio’s skies San Giulio’s skies We walk this road of silence In the evening light Where pilgrims stoop and pray And swallows turn to flight The darkness closing The island’s lost from sight Vesper bells and Matins That ring around the night We cry these tears of freedom There’s something she denies Didn’t think that we could ever feel the same Or that we could ever rise Into San Giulio’s skies San Giulio’s skies © The Bells Of San Giulio words & music by Mark Barnett & Thomas Yule Fairnie 26th April 2004
13.
The Glen Of Amalancier 04:06
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The Glen of Amelanchier Come from far away to rest quietly here Here in the Glen of Amelanchier Each single flake of a snowbound hill A frosted star that once was a tear All the winds that rage in this world Storms that reel and tempest’s skirl Carried me here to lay at your feet A fallen life, a flower unfurled You find your place in the heart of a friend Held in the prayer of her hands again A life returned may start o’er again To blossom evermore on the wind Weather life’s storms and go where we will A refugee at the door of the inn The way ahead lies open and clear As burning runs the dancing deer The hills that once again call us home To the Glen of Amelanchier You find your place in the heart of a friend Held in the prayer of her hands again The way ahead lies open and clear As burning runs the dancing deer The hills that once again call us home To the Glen of Amelanchier © The Glen Of Amelanchier music by Bernard Brogue; words by Thomas Yule Fairnie, Robert McGregor Shields & Bernard Brogue 19th April 2009. Based on an earlier melody by Bernard Brogue
14.
We All Want To Go Home Now 04:01
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We All Want To Go Home Now We all want to go home now We’ve all had a great time Sang songs and drank wine Played tunes in the old time Delta blues and ragtime And You Are My Sunshine But we want to go home now We’re all going home We all want to go home now It’s getting late and we’re worn out Talked into the wee hours We watched the fire go out Drunk too much no doubt We’d sleep on this cold ground But we want to go home now We’re all going home We all want to go home now We’ve watched the moon fall Brought down by a bird’s call A dawn chorus caterwaul Now the whole world’s starting to crawl Just want to remember it all We want to go home now We’re all going home We all want to go home now We’ve all had a great time Sang songs and drank wine Played tunes in the old time Delta blues and ragtime And You Are My Sunshine But we want to go home now We’re all going home © We All Want To Go Home Now words and music by Thomas Yule Fairnie 99h December 2004

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released December 10, 2022

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Tom Fairnie Edinburgh, UK

I live in Edinburgh and I'm a singer songwriter. My style of writing cuts across Americana, folk, country and blues and I try to write melodic, accessible songs that make the best use of my guitar skills to provide sensitive uncluttered arrangements.

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