Songs of Sandy Denny at the Barbican

# Feel how the wind blows

# December despair

# Bring me a ribbon

# To tie up my hair

# I'll be your bride

# Go where you go

# All of my life

# You'll be my beau...#

There's no doubt that Sandy Denny was a trailblazer.

Certainly people who are interested in acoustic music look to Sandy

and think she was one of the originals.

She did so much work,

she played with so many people in such little time

and then she went out on her own.

It's really an amazing life for the time she had here.

Although her fame really emerged

with Fairport Convention and the folk rock movement,

whilst that angle of her career was appreciated,

what was less appreciated

was her work as a songwriter, particularly on her solo albums.

The whole purpose of this gig

is to show how accessible Sandy's wonderful music is.

You've got all these singers from different genres,

all doing a great job with Sandy's music.

Sandy wrote beautiful, beautiful lyrics. Poetry, really.

# You tell me things

# No-one else did. #

Running alongside that were wonderful tunes with great chords.

If people take anything away from this,

it's that Sandy had a great songbook.

So even though Sandy's voice carries all before it,

actually, the songs work with other people.

APPLAUSE

# The wine, it was drunk

# The ship, it was sunk

# The shot, it was dead

# All the sorrows were drowned

# The birds, they were clouds

# The brides and the shrouds

# And as we moved south

# The mist, it came down

# The wooded ravine

# To the wandering stream

# The serpent, he moved

# But no-one could say

# The depths of the waters

# The bridge which distraught us

# And brought to me thoughts

# Of the ill-fated day-y-y-y

# The temples were filled

# With the strangest of creatures

# One played it by ear

# On the banks of the sea

# One of them was found

# But the others, they went under

# Oh, the tears which are shed

# They won't come from me

# The methods of madness

# The pathos and the sadness

# God help you all

# The insane and wise

# The black and the white

# And the darkness of the night

# I see only smoke

# From the chimneys arise

# The pilot, he flew

# All across the sky and woke me

# He flew so low

# On the mercury sea

# The dream it came back

# All about the tall brown people

# The sacred young herd

# On the phosphorus sand. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you.

# Good morning

# Good afternoon

# And what have you got to say?

# Well, I'm waiting but I can't stay long

# It's such a lovely day

# There's a time to be talking

# And a time when it's no use

# Right now I think, the things you say

# Are liable to confuse

# We've just gone solo

# Do you play solo?

# Ain't life

# A solo?

# What a wonderful way to live

# She's travelled all over the world

# Why, the fame and all the golden opportunities unfurled

# No time for the gent with the Mulliner Bentley

# And heaven knows what else

# Why, he wouldn't even stand a chance

# With all his oil wells

# She's just gone solo

# Can you play solo?

# Ain't life

# A solo?

# She always lived in a mansion

# On the other side of the moon

# And she always kept a unicorn

# And she never sang out of tune

# She can tell you that the grass is really greener

# On the other side of that hill

# And now her songs communicate with us

# And I guess they always will

# Now she's gone solo

# We all play solo

# Ain't life

# A solo?

# And she's gone solo

# We all play solo

# Ain't life

# A solo? #

APPLAUSE

I was a friend of Sandy's

and I liked her songs.

I didn't know them well, because we were all busy doing our own thing.

# And everything is lost

I've learned through this how much I like a lot of her other material.

# And the fretful sailors

# Calling out their woes

The thing about her songs which makes them timeless

is the arrangements and harmonies that she comes up with.

Because they're not standard. They're quite unusual.

And they, kind of, grow on you, the more you listen to them.

I was hugely influenced by Fairport and adored them.

Subsequently, I got interested in Sandy's solo stuff.

I actually started singing in folk clubs when I was about 15.

And until punk came along,

then that kind of music was the music that meant most to me. I mean, I still love it now.

# All upon the shore for

# To wonder why the sailor goes

# All to close their eyes

# And wonder what the sailor...

What I liked about her lyrics, there was an awful lot of nautical imagery.

I don't know if it's possible to get through a Sandy song without

a mention of a sailor or the sea or a bit of seaweed or something.

But apart from that, there's some really mysterious stuff

in her lyrics, which I particularly like.

# Sailing by the North Star. #

The North Star Grassman And The Ravens,

it's full of that nautical stuff.

It is a mysterious song. It's mysterious to me, and, er...

and a little tricky to sing.

NAUTICAL PERCUSSION

# They stood upon the deck

# As the ship went out to sea

# The wind it took the sails

# And left the land

# A memory

# All upon the shore for

# To wonder why the sailor goes

# All to close their eyes

# And wonder what the sailor knows

# That is you to them

# That is how they think you are

# Never on the land

# But gone to find the North Star

# That is you to them

# That is how they think you are

# Never on the land

# But gone to find the North Star

# To the tower and to the ravens and

# The tale that hopes they'll never leave

# What if they should go?

# We always dread to think of them

# I wonder if they flew one day

# And no-one ever knew they'd gone

# To circle over ships at sea

# Claiming yet another son

# That is you to them

# That is how they think you are

# Never on the land

# But gone to find the North Star. #

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you very much.

So, Sandy was only, um...31 when she died.

And she left behind a number of unfinished lyrical ideas.

And thankfully for us,

those ideas made their way into the hands of our next singer.

Please, a round of applause for Thea Gilmore.

APPLAUSE

Thank you.

I was contacted last year by Sandy Denny's estate

and by Island Records.

And they'd gathered this portfolio of unfinished Sandy songs -

a load of lyrics that had been found over the years.

And they said, "We want these out into the world,

"but they've got no music to go with them.

"And would you be up for writing the music to them?"

And I kind of thought, "Well, that's either the best thing

"I've ever been asked to do in my life,

"or it's a real poisoned chalice. And I'm not sure which yet."

Because it's a scary thing taking on someone else's lyrics.

I opened this portfolio up and I looked at these words

and I thought, "These are amazing. Beautiful lyrics."

And the tunes kind of just fell out.

And I thought, "Well, they must be meant to be out there."

So I hope that, wherever she is now, Sandy approves.

I guess we'll never know.

One, two, three, four!

# I'm going to call that number

# Though I don't really mean

# To wake you from your slumber

# While England is asleep

# The hotel is just like yesterday

# And the city has no name

# It just stands there in a grey haze

# My room is the same

# Well, I'm going to call that number

# So far across the sea

# I wish I was in London

# That's where I want to be

# That's where I want to be

# I love it when you miss me Well, I'm unhappy, too

# Oh, please don't you forget me I am so in love with you

# Yeah, it won't be long now And even though I know

# I seem to leave my heart behind me every time I go

# Well, I'm going to call that number

# So far across the sea

# I wish I was in London

# That's where I want to be

# Well, I'm going to call that number

# So far across the sea

# I wish I was in London

# That's where I want to be

# That's where I want to be

# Yeah, I feel so tired and lonely

# And I'm thinking of you, lover

# I wish you could console me

# But maybe when it's over

# I'm going to call that number

# Though I don't really mean

# To wake you from your slumber

# While England is asleep

# And the hotel is just like yesterday

# And the city has no name

# It just stands there in a grey haze

# And my room is, my room is the same

# I'm going to call that number

# So far across the sea

# I wish I was in London

# That's where I want to be

# I'm going the call that number

# So far across the sea

# I wish I was in London

# That's where I want to be

# That's where I want to be. #

APPLAUSE

'Being on stage with all these musicians,'

it kind of feels strangely natural.

I thought that I would be a bit overwhelmed,

I mean, somebody like Dave Swarbrick.

My father, I cannot tell you how big a fan of Dave Swarbrick's he was.

Now I'm walking around backstage

and my five-year-old little boy is jamming with Dave Swarbrick.

And it's just a wonderful thing.

It's brilliant being on stage with Swarb.

He likes to be called Swarb. He's really funny.

And, er...he's just got a brilliant sense of humour.

When he plays, it's like...with Baroque music,

people are always doing ornamentation.

Or like jazz or something. He's constantly improvising

so that the tune is hidden within the depths of what he's doing.

But you kind of hear it in...

He just totally weaves around it, but he gets to the end eventually.

During the Quiet Joys of Brotherhood,

the song itself is a traditional melody from Blackwaterside

and the words are put on by a man called Dick Farina, Richard Farina,

which I did with Sandy.

She overlaid all the tracks, I just did it with Sandy on her own.

There are fiddle players...

and then there's this guy.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The legend, Dave Swarbrick!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# As gentle tides go rolling by

# Along the salt sea strand

# The colours blend and melt as one

# Together in the sand

# And often do the winds entwine

# Do send their distant call

# The quiet joys of brotherhood

# And love is lord of all

# The oak and weed together rise

# Along the common ground

# The mare and stallion light and dark

# Have thunder in their sound

# The rainbow sign the blended flower

# Still have my heart in thrall

# The quiet joys of brotherhood

# And love is lord of all

# But man has come to plough the tide

# The oak lies on the ground

# I hear their tires in the fields

# They drive the stallion down

# The roses bleed both light and dark

# The winds do seldom call

# The running sands recall the time

# When love was lord of all

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Sam Carter.

One, two, one, two...

# My name is Jan the gypsy

# I travel the land

# There are no chains about me

# I am me own man

# And I tell a fair old story

# Which I'm sure ain't no surprise

# Of the places I have been

# Oh, and they ain't no lies

# I've never had a proper home

# Not one like yours is

# I've nearly always had a caravan with horses

# I know that you won't believe me Though it is the truth to tell

# That the living it is hard Oh, but it suits me well

# I'm a traveller of the seas

# I am a sailor

# The ocean has been good to me

# She ain't no jailer

# And I tell a fair old story Which I'm sure ain't no surprise

# Of the places I have sailed Oh, and they ain't no lies

# I've never had a garden or a place with windows

# I stand upon the salty deck and watch the wind blow

# And I know you won't believe me Though it is the truth to tell

# That the living it is hard Oh, but it suits me well

# Well, my mother was a fire-eater 'Fore she desert us

# When I was only seven I joined the circus

# And I tell you a fair old story Which I'm sure ain't no surprise

# Of the places I have played Oh, and they ain't no lies

# I've never had no money

# No hope to get none

# But I can always find a penny When there is good reason

# And I know you won't believe me Though it is the truth to tell

# That the living it is hard Oh, but it suits me well

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Dave Swarbrick, ladies and gentlemen!

APPLAUSE

It feels really good to be onstage with a bunch of musicians,

both those that played with Sandy, like Dave Swarbrick

and Jerry Donahue, but also younger generation like Joan and Lavinia.

It's great to have the mix.

It's not about trying to recreate something and do a lesser job,

cos first of all, we don't have Sandy,

so it's best to try to find another way of doing it that's fresh.

It is amazing how it opens up when other people sing it too.

I almost burst into tears when I heard PP Arnold

singing the songs, simply because she's such an amazing soul singer

and every time she performs she does something different with it

and you just think she's taken it to the final stage

and then she takes it one step further.

Also to hear Maddy sing the songs is really beautiful as well,

because she's got such an English style.

They're so diametrically opposed but they work so well.

# My shadow follows me

# Wherever I should chance to go

# John the Gun did say

# And if you should chance to meet me

# As I wander to and fro

# Sad would be your day

# My life is mine and the guns, they shine

# To take what goes before me

# Never shall I never fall

# Ideals of peace are gold

# Which fools have found Upon the plains of war

# I shall destroy them all

# Put away your guns of steel

# Death comes too soon for all

# Your master, he may need you soon

# And you must heed his call

# I am the master of the games

# That you will hardly ever play

# So I will teach your sons

# And if they should die

# Before the evening of their span of days

# Why, then they will die young

# So put away your guns of steel

# Death comes too soon for all

# Your master, he may need you soon

# And you must heed his call

# Heed his call

# I am condemned for always

# I will play the game of war

# In moonshine or in sun

# And if you should cross the path I choose to tread

# Your chances, they are poor

# My name is John the Gun!

# Put away your guns of steel

# Death comes too soon for all

# Your master, he may need you soon

# And you must heed his call. #

APPLAUSE

Mary, Queen of Scots.

She threw herself on the mercy of Elizabeth I of England

while she was fleeing her enemies

and it turned out to be a bit of a mistake.

She was 18 years in prison

before Elizabeth finally signed the death warrant,

and Sandy wrote this piece about the evening before the execution.

We like cheerful subjects.

LAUGHTER

# How often she has gazed

# From castle windows o'er

# To see the daylight passing

# Within her captive walls

# And no-one

# To heed her call

# The evening light is fading

# Within the dwindling sun

# And in a lonely moment

# Those embers will be gone

# And the last of all the young birds flown

# Her days of precious freedom

# Forfeited long before

# To live such fruitless years

# Behind a guarded door

# But those days will last no more

# Tomorrow at this hour

# She will be far away

# Much further than these islands...

# Or the lonely Fotheringay. #

APPLAUSE

Now we've got a special, extra, wonderful moment.

Someone who worked with Ike and Tina Turner,

did the first recording of First Cut Is The Deepest from Cat Stevens,

worked with Nick Drake and Roger Waters, loads of other people.

Please welcome to the stage the wonderful, talented PP Arnold.

Thank you.

APPLAUSE

Good evening, London.

CHEERING

My first song is going to be I'm A Dreamer.

# You make me nervous

# When I see you

# I can't imagine what it's like to be you

# It's a mystery to me every day

# And I've got to get away

# I put a bet on

# With a bookie

# For the race they put on over in Kentucky

# It's lovely at this time of year

# So they say

# And I've got to get away

# I'm a dreamer and you know

# I'm a schemer with an eye for a show

# It's my imagination

# When I get low

# And the truth is I don't think I'll ever go

# When the music's playing

# That's when it changes

# And no longer do we seem like total strangers

# It's all those words which always get in the way

# Of what you want to say

# Yeah

# And when I wake up

# In the morning

# I think it only fair to give you warning

# I probably won't go away

# I'll more than likely stay

# Yeah

# Cos I'm a dreamer and you know

# I'm a schemer with an eye for a show

# It's my imagination

# When I get low

# And the truth is I don't think I'll ever go

# Oh-hooo!

# I'm a dreamer and you know

# That I'm a schemer with an eye for a show

# It's my imagination

# When I get low

# And the truth is I don't think I'll ever go

# Ay-ay, yeah

# Uh!

# Oh, yeaaah!

# I'm a dreamer

# Hey!

# And you know it

# It's my imagination

# When I get low. #

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

Thank you so much.

So, the very first record I bought with my own pocket money

was an Island Records sampler called Nice Enough To Eat.

CHEERING

It was good, wasn't it?

It cost 15 shillings and sixpence, one or two of you may remember.

I was 14 years old.

I can't remember how many times I had to wash my dad's car

or go to the off licence for my mum to earn 15 and six.

LAUGHTER

But the first track on that album was a Fairport track,

and I adored it from the very beginning.

Later that same year, Liege & Lief was released, which changed my life.

So it's a very exciting and scary thing to be up here tonight.

# My friend, I know you've suffered

# Even though you are still young

# Why was it you who would not take help

# From anyone?

# Oh, it's true It's very true, he said

# Some hard times I have known

# But I have always overcome them

# On my own

# Oh, the pearls that you hold in your hand

# They are beautiful to see

# But you show them not to anyone

# Not even me

# Oh, you're like the others, he said

# I never can be sure

# That you wish just to see the pearls

# And nothing more

# Why can you not see reason?

# Our lives, they are not long

# Why can you take no time

# To tell us all we're wrong?

# My tune, it does not change He said

# And neither does your song

# And words, I use them rarely

# When I'm all alone. #

Thank you very much. APPLAUSE

I was a huge Fotheringay fan too, so, you know,

Jerry playing guitar next to me, it's scary.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself - break for a solo, Jerry Donahue.

Like, what's going on?

'It's really a great vibe to revisit those songs.'

I really had to relearn them again, reacquaint myself with the tunes,

but it is a very special feeling.

It's one of the happiest moments of my career, working with Sandy.

# Oh, I can't get up I won't get up

# I can't get up for my life... #

I was never around to see Sandy, cos Sandy died in the '70s.

But I grew up with her music, cos my dad was in Fairport with Sandy,

so I grew up with Sandy's voice.

# But you will have the better of them

# And I will have the worse. #

It's kind of poignant for it to come full-circle in the sense that

if Sandy could see what we're doing now,

she'd find it weird that Ashley's son was doing her music, I suppose.

# Do I ever wonder?

# You don't know

# You'll never follow

# And I'll never show

# Do you see the water

# And watch it flow and float an empty shell?

# And do you think that I'm hiding

# From the island?

# You've a fault in your senses

# Can you feel it now?

# Time, what is that?

# I have no time to care

# I've lived for a long while

# Nearly everywhere

# You will be taken

# Everyone

# You ladies and you gentlemen

# Fall and listen with your ears

# On the paving stone

# Is that what you hear?

# The coming of the sea?

# The sea flows under your doors in London Town

# And all your defences are all broken down

# You laugh at me on funny days

# But mine's the sleight of hand

# Don't you know I am a joker

# A deceiver?

# And I'm waiting

# For the la-a-and. #

-APPLAUSE

-Thank you.

Now it's my great honour to introduce you

to my friend from New York City.

She's so rad, you're going to love her. Joan As Police Woman.

APPLAUSE

# The lady, she had a silver tongue

# For to sing, she said

# And maybe that's all

# Wait for the dawn

# We will have that song

# When it ends, it will seem that we hear silence fall

# The lady, she had a golden heart

# For to love, she said

# And she did not lie

# Wait for the dawn

# And we'll watch for the sun

# As we turn

# It will seem to rise in the sky

# We heard that song

# While watching the skies

# Oh, the sound, it rang

# So clear through the cold

# Then silence fell

# And the sun did arise

# On a beautiful morning

# Of silver and go-o-old. #

APPLAUSE

'One of the songs that I'm doing is No More Sad Refrains,'

and when I was practising this song at my house on my piano,

I had to work to not start crying in the middle of singing it,

because even though the lyric is quite...

If you just read it, it sounds positive, but with the music,

oh, God, it's just heart-wrenching.

# Here comes the morning

# How it pleases

# It always brings me something new

# The golden light will wash away

# The dust of yesterday

# And if I try

# It may let me forget you

# And when these winter days are over

# I mean to set myself upon my feet

# I see me as something

# That I have never been

# And I'll pick up the pieces

# That will make

# The girl complete

# I'll be smiling all the time

# At everybody

# My friends will tell me I'm just not the same

# I won't linger over

# Any tragedies that were

# And I won't be singing any more

# Sad refrains. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you.

One of the things that I love the most about Sandy Denny's music

is its ability to transcend generations.

And, erm...

APPLAUSE

I'd like to introduce you to my son on second violin.

Egan Stonier, age five.

APPLAUSE

So this, to me, this song really sums up what Sandy means to me, at least.

It's called Don't Stop Singing.

OK, one, two, one, two, three.

# It's so late it's tomorrow

# There's nothing new hidden in my eyes

# In a light frosty cover

# It's the first day that's so hard

# It's the first day that's so hard

# So don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing till you drop

# The central heating pipes are banging

# I kept thinking it's the car

# But if I keep up with my singing

# I won't be wondering where you are

# I won't be wondering where you are

# So don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing till you drop

# Now don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing till you drop

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing

# Don't stop singing till you drop

# Don't stop singing till you drop. #

APPLAUSE

Egan Stonier.

I've got a sad song for you. Are you surprised about that?

You know, there's some sad songs kicking around

in Sandy's back catalogue but, erm,

they're also great songs, a lot of them.

So, erm, this is called Bushes And Briars.

# I can't believe that it's so cold

# And there ain't been no snow

# The sound of music, it comes to me

# From every place I go

# Sunday morning there's no-one in church

# But the clergy's chosen man

# And he is fine I won't worry about him

# He's got the book in his hand

# Well, there's a bitter east wind

# And the fields are swaying

# The crows around their nests

# And I wonder what he's in there saying

# To all those souls at rest

# I see the path and the key to the door

# And the clergy's chosen man

# Where are they now?

# Thistles and thorns

# Among the sand

# Well, I wonder if he knows I'm here

# Watching the briars grow

# And all these people beneath my shoes

# I wonder if they know

# There was a time when every last one

# Knew a clergy's chosen man

# Where are they now?

# Thistles and thorns

# Among the sand

# I can't believe that it's so cold

# And there ain't been no snow

# The sound of music it comes to me

# From every place I go

# Sunday morning there's no-one in church

# But the clergy's chosen man

# Bushes and briars

# Thistles and thorns

# Among the sand. #

APPLAUSE

Who Knows Where The Time Goes is such a well-known song, that had a life

of its own and ended up being covered by an extraordinary amount of people.

It's just a fantastically shaped... From a songwriter's point of view,

that's a pretty stunning piece of work.

It's definitely a landmark song. The song that in some ways defines her.

She wrote that when she was very young,

amongst the first batch of songs that she ever wrote.

I think it's one of the greatest songs that there is.

# Across the evening sky

# All the birds are leaving

# But how can they know

# It's time for them to go?

# Before the winter fire

# I will still be dreaming

# I have no thought of time

ALL: # For who knows where the time goes?

# Who knows where the time goes?

# Sad, deserted shore

# Your fickle friends are leaving

# Ah, but then they know

# It's time for them to go

# But I will still be here

# I have no thought of leaving

# No, no, no, no, no, no, no

# I do not count the time

ALL: # For who knows where the time goes?

# Who knows where the time goes?

# And I am not alone

# While my love is near me

# I know it will be so until it's time to go

# So come the storms of winter

# And then the birds in spring again

# I have no fear of time

ALL: # Who knows where the time goes?

# Who knows where the time goes? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Who knows where the time goes?

# Who knows where the time goes? #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'I think the idea was to get different approaches on the songs.'

You have to strip the song back to the bones to reinterpret

and I think that's what everybody's done.

Joan's version of No More Sad Refrains is very touching

and then at the other end you've got PP Arnold doing Take Me Away

in a completely different style.

It's really nice that the songs are being looked at

from a different perspective.

# There'll be rain clouds

# For harvest to grow... #

Sandy certainly will be remembered and I think,

as far as I can tell, respect for her is growing.

Her singing is so tender but she's got balls, she's totally got balls.

She's special today and will be for a lot more days to come.

She was a very funny person, you know,

very bright, very quick witted. Very funny.

Most of the stuff I couldn't possibly tell you.

# Such sweet love is so hard to find

# Look around These are troublesome times

# The sun beats down on our hunger and thirst

# It would soon all be over if we let it be worse

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# If not for you, baby

# How would I keep going?

# No-one to be near

# No good fortune to know

# Take my hand Make me feel stronger

# You're a man and progress is slow

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# There will be rain clouds for harvest to grow

# We'll find the rain clouds and the rivers will flow

# Leave what is past Search for the future

# Leave this black dream for it's high time to go...

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

-# Baby, take me away

-Take me away

# Take me away

# Please take me away

-# Baby, take me away

-Take me away

-# Oh, take me away

-Take me away

-# Take me away

-Take me away

# Come on, come one

-# Oh

-Take me away

# Take me away

# Please take me away

# Take me away

# Take me away

# Oh yeah. #

Thank you.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

APPLAUSE

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