I wrote this song in 2016, just after the terrorist shooting in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, that killed 49 people and wounded 58 others, --and as it turned out, just before the referendum that set us on a course out of the E.U. It felt like a very dark time, and I was actually quite fearful. Then I thought about all the unspeakable hardships that people have put up with and come through, over the decades, centuries and millennia, and how after the bitterest experiences and against all the odds love and joy can still flourish in the world, and people can somehow find the spirit to resist and persist. So much of our modern situation is utterly unprecedented in all kinds of ways, but the need to turn and rise again is as old as the hills and is not likely to become less relevant.
lyrics
Lyrics
When there’s nothing in your eyes but dancing pictures
And nothing in the papers now but lies;
And it seems like the cloud of hatred is a shroud
That is wrapping round the planet as it dies
You gotta look into your heart for your truth, and
turn and rise again
Look inside for your truth, and turn and rise again.
When they’re telling you who you should be hating
And just why you need that new device;
When the phantoms on the screen
Are all that can be seen
Just remember that they’re playing you with loaded dice
You gotta look into your heart for your truth, and
turn and rise again,
Look inside for your truth, and turn and rise again.
When they’re telling you the terms of the battle
And what constitutes a valid argument
Tell you how to look cool and how not to look a fool
And just how to put your soul out to rent;
You gotta look into your heart for your truth, and
turn and rise again,
Look inside for your truth, and turn and rise again.
Well they hope that our fears will divide us,
That the only thing that bonds us will be hate,
And they’d love to blow apart
That great collective heart
So come on now before it is too late,
You gotta find the hearts that love what you love,
And turn and rise again,
Find the hearts that love what you love,
And turn and rise again
Oh well ain’t nobody said it would be easy,
And ain’t nobody said it would be fun;
But in the darkest night
You gotta find that tiny light
Cos if you can’t then the bastards have already won
So catch a shining moment on the run!
You gotta find the hearts that love what you love,
And turn and rise again,
Find the hearts that love what you love,
And turn and rise again.
Wbsite: www.ruthcooke.com
Ruth has been writing and performing songs for many years now but has mostly been
too busy living to record anything!
She is mostly to be found at folk clubs and festivals or at small gatherings and round campfires - although she wouldn’t say no to a small stadium!
She loves singarounds wherever they may be and is a regular floor singer at Lewes Saturday Folk Club....more
Tompkins Square present a nine-track intro to the gorgeous American Primitive stylings of Wall Matthews—soothing, rustic, and peaceful. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 25, 2020