We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

In The Shadow Of Christ Church

by Paul Howard

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Observational songs of life, love and friends from Paul's native stomping ground near Spitalfields in East London.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £5 GBP  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD in jewel case with twelve page booklet. Includes other images and lyrics, plus a foreword from Paul Howard.

    Includes unlimited streaming of In The Shadow Of Christ Church via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      £7 GBP or more 

     

1.
IN THE SHADOW OF CHRIST CHURCH The pale moon was rising As we walked through the lane The stars made a dance around A rumour of rain Then out from the city From the cannibal set In the shadow of Christ Church In the night that we met You took hold of my hand As we walked to the stones To the place of the dead To that harvest of bones Put our hands to the ground To the soil rich and wet In the shadow of Christ Church On the night that we met Chorus: Some things are forever life is so brief We'll be together when the time comes to leave All I ever knew about love Was how to live without love The grip of the winter In the gut of the land The tree in the fore court Reaching out like a hand It was begging for mercy It was pleading for light In the shadow of Christ Church On that mercury night The tower was a magnet With foreboding allure It reflected your sickness It suggested a cure We knew straight away We would owe it a debt In the shadow of Christ Church On the night that we met Chorus. The buzz and the static The alchemical hiss The drone of the traffic That divides the abyss Turned in to a music I will never forget In the shadow of Christ Church On the night that we met So deep have I fallen In to this magic spell Like cold Portland stone That's thrown in to a well The book will be written And bound in my skin In the shadow of Christ Church Where all shadows begin Chorus.
2.
HELP TO HIDE THE FUGITIVE I gave the slip to my brutal captor I hit the road with a burning rapture I had to get back home and learn how to live So if you see me on the rocky road If I'm struggling with a heavy load Help to hide the fugitive I've got baton marks across my back I've been down I've been under attack They were sure that something had to give They tried to break me from my lonely vision They made my misery their only mission Help to hide the fugitive I take my refuge in this veil of tears I've been crying for so many years Working out a way to get back home And as I wander I wipe out my track I know I'll die if they get me back With your help I know I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone Another town or another city I don't want money and I don't want pity All I seek is asylum you could give So if you see me in the driving rain Trying to make my way home again Help to hide the fugitive All I have is the hope I carry To find the girl I promised to marry Settle down beyond the danger zone And when I do I will never forget The compassionate stranger I met With your help I know I'm not alone I'm not alone I'm not alone Repeat First Verse
3.
Amen To That 03:20
AMEN TO THAT I was standing at a junction Every road led to despair With a heart that barely functioned And in bad need of repair But then one day just like a ray Of sunshine from the blue The world lit up and filled my cup With a love I never knew Chorus: Amen to that I throw my eyes up to the skies above Amen to that Fates afforded me a stab at love I was looking for salvation Just a light out of the dark You came like a revelation And you struck a tiny spark Then in a trice I felt the ice Of sorrow start to thaw And in what seemed just like a dream Your standing at my door Chorus. And I know It's something I'm sure about And I know It's something you needn't doubt Chorus.
4.
I SHOULD BE USED TO IT BY NOW Summer comes and summer goes Love lies broken like a rose That's thrown in to the wayside A skipping stone that felt just like a landslide The dancing girl has gone away To join the the Cirque de Soleil All poetry in motion And I feel like a teardrop in the Ocean Chorus: I should be used to it by now I should remember how it feels and keep my distance But it happens every time Like a broken 45 I just repeat the same old lines But then Some how I should be used to it by now. So I walk these streets again But I don't need another friend Or lover or whatever I'll take a break and get my head together Eros you elusive imp Rarely seen but often glimpsed Through traffic or a crowd But I would never call his name out loud Chorus X 3
5.
THE NEARNESS OF YOU You're far away from home Fate has dealt a blow We'll be together soon But first I have to know I do not feel alone what is it you do? I feel it everywhere The nearness of you It hurts to be apart It's out of our control You're here in my heart You're here in my soul You're thoughts are raining down You're words are getting through I hear the things you say The nearness of you The ticking of the days 'Til you come home again And working out new ways to alleviate the pain The solace that I find Whenever I am blue Is taking comfort in The nearness of you The nearness of a love I never dreamt of The nearness of something high and new The nearness of someone who could tempt love ...From me I feel the nearness of you The turning of the hands Will slowly torture me But soon it will become The turning of a key The key to my soul The key that holds the clue To touch to have to hold The nearness of you
6.
Silver 04:09
SILVER Staring in to a dress shop window I approached with a glove to give her She said she was after something long and flowing So I asked her to walk down by the river Looking in to those all knowing eyes In the first few moments between us Those fine lines betraying a wild sense of humour Where Lucille Ball meets Venus Chorus: Silver Was the colour of my true loves hair Silver Was the colour of my true loves hair Sometimes I see her standing there I see her everywhere Glancing in to a beautiful future With meaning in my life I seized her hand and then I seized the day And then she became my wife She told me freedom is everything Imagination is sacred And once I'd put my clothes back on She taught me to be naked Chorus. She moved on some time ago To a far far better place I think about her almost every day With a smile upon my face Chorus.
7.
NO LOVE LIKE OUR LOVE From the dawning of time This soul this spirit that is mine Has been making it's way to you Though searching for a thousand years I knew that you'd come through The times I spent with different lovers Are meaningless for now there are no others Happiness has never had a name Since we've been together love my life's not been the same No love like our love No love like ours No love like our love No love like ours In the middle of the night I touch you just to know that you're all right The rise and fall of every breath you take Listening to the silence in the hours before you wake CHORUS I had given up on fate forever But now I've found it's better late than never And after waiting for so long for that someone I know the best is yet to come FIRST VERSE AND CHORUS
8.
WAYS TO MAKE ENDS MEET Tony hawks the headlines to the busy evening crowd He has no cares for shares that rise or fall Inanimate he'll often stare in to the bitter city air Bedlam echoes down on London Wall Cathy tours around the pubs to fleece the fruit machines "It beats working a 9 to 5" she says She's happy in out of the cold among the world of nudge and hold It's just a game that everybody plays CHORUS: We all have to get by Or else we just get beat We all have to get by and make ends meet Gloria has a history in glamorous review A showgirl still but time can be so cruel On Friday she picks up the tips at the city clip joint where she strips On Monday takes the grandchildren to school CHORUS: But we live within our means Or else we face defeat We all of us have ways to make ends meet Basil worked the post run on the Metropolitan line The day the bombers rent London asunder A punter stopped to give him grief he missed the train about to leave It was only fate that stopped him going under CHORUS
9.
Only Myself 03:47
ONLY MYSELF I have loved you In the morning Watched the realisation dawning Across your face And in to a smile I have kissed you Of an evening Wanted to stay even as I was leaving If only I had Just for a while I have only myself to blame As the days grow colder I know I'll never hold you again I remember As your lover that sunny day I said there'd be no other The feeling remains Now it rains every day I have held you I have kissed you With each day I count the days I've missed you The future was ours And I through it away I have only myself to blame As the days grow darker What have I left after the rain ...Only myself
10.
GABRIELLE OF CINNAMON STREET I can see that you're only the lonliest woman in town when the night time comes round The wind blows the curtains away from the windows you're standing there in your night gown I know that they say that the night time's the right time for love but it's not always so Confined to your home you weep and you moan for a love that you lost long ago The house that you live in they say you were given as part of an inheritance But now in that room there is sorrow and gloom but laughter and love lived there once From here where I'm standing alone on my landing and looking across the courtyard You sit and you write by candlestick light the hours before dawn hit you hard CHORUS: You're a legend You're alone An enigma Made of stone You are hidden You're discreet Gabrielle of Cinnamon Street I can tell that you dwell in some cold private hell without warmth and without introspection You live among books with your fading good looks but you weep when you see your reflection I've been told that some times you escape your confines and head out in to the deep night You wait until dark make your way to the park but you're back with the first ray of light CHORUS I stand here and wonder just who could get under your skin and begin on your soul If there's any one who could ever become your confidant as you grow old The cards on your table your able to read like a mirror on some future time But I know that you'll stay a mystery they will never decode or define CHORUS
11.
Liberty Bell 03:38
A LIBERTY BELL Your grandfather Valentino knew a thing or two of life He set the woods on fire then he found himself a wife And he told his loving son who then passed it on to you That love is all that matters when the game is finally through CHORUS: But there has to be tears As well as the love There has to be hope and despair in good measure For the world to revolve The cigarettes help They help you through hell But love rings as clear and as true As a liberty bell As we wander round Whitechapel we are struck by many things The bells bourne of the foundry have a pure and honest ring A well known stranger later gave us water for to drink As we wander round Whitechapel we are struck by many things CHORUS And everything I loved the most was suddenly right there The fading autumn sunlight fell on your face so fair The bells of St George in the East peeled poetry in the air And everything I loved the most was suddenly right there CHORUS
12.
JUST ANOTHER SONG Just another song helps the whole day along When the world's got you down Just a melody just a simple harmony When the blues come around Just another line with a reason and rhyme That might distance the pain Four beats to the bar for a voice and guitar And a lazy refrain CHORUS Something that mentions your eyes Something that mentions your smile Something that mentions the love that I have That makes all the trials worthwhile FIRST VERSE Something that mentions your soul Something that mentions your heart Something that mentions the pain that I feel Whenever we two are apart Just another song

about

Engineered, Produced and Arranged by William Hayter at R2R Music Studio, Ware, Hertfordshire, UK.

Mastered by Rick Clark at Mellowdrama Studio, London.

Artwork and Layout by Rick Clark.

Photography by Steve Philpott, with Tommy as Photography Assistant.

Original Artwork by Military Whale.

All songs written by Paul Howard.

Released by R2R Music 2006

www.last.fm/music/Paul+Howard/In+The+Shadow+Of+Christ+Church

www.facebook.com/r2rmusic
www.twitter.com/r2rmusic

credits

released May 22, 2006

Paul Howard - Guitar, Vocals
Angela Brooks - Violin
Joe Clack - Guitar, 12 String Guitar, Mandolin
Martin Gimson - Keyboards, Piano
William Hayter - Drums, Percussion
Rick Cullen - Bass
Nikki King - Flute
Colm McGonigle - Harp

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

William Hayter Ware, UK

Drummer, Percussionist, Sound Engineer, Producer, Sonic Explorer, Sound Designer and Experimental Musician covering a wide range of styles and genres.

contact / help

Contact William Hayter

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like In The Shadow Of Christ Church, you may also like: