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.

Stray Dogs

by Peter Doran

/
1.
What would you do if you were to start over Who would you tell would you keep it silent A wave of your hand or a click of your fingers Take a flame to all you are Oh answer me, truthfully my love are these the kind of things you're thinking of How would it feel to wake up in a new body All of the lines have vanished from your skin Given the chance with no strings attached Would you become smoke in the air? Oh answer me, truthfully my love are these the kind of things you're dreaming of? If you could go back to the very, very start Think of the moves you'd make! I know it's crossed your mind, many times I've watched the hands spin backwards in your eyes Oh answer me, truthfully my love are these the kind of things you're dreaming of?
2.
Daughter 04:04
I had a Daughter, I gave her away I was too young, we were too young that's all I know how to say I had a secret, I buried it away But I never forgot here and all that I wanted was here to be happy and safe Will you come looking for me one day Will you want to know me at all You can call me mother if you want to I just want to know you child There's no trail to follow There's now way to know When records are boxed up, when names are all blacked out When stories go untold Will you come looking for me one day Will you want to know me at all You can call me mother if you want to I just want to know you, I just want to hold you child Please don't think I didn't want you daughter I was afraid, I was afraid and I couldn't see another way Now fourty years have gone by, fourty years have flown Here you stand flesh and bone, there you stand flesh and bone Two strangers setting out on a road
3.
On a peaceful and clear night, a boy was staring at the sky Eyes lit up with moonshine, feeling like a valentine In the silence someone spoke, an old man in an overcoat He said, “Don’t you find it magical, I can’t recall a night so still.” “It’s quite a sight” the boy replied. “The universe is vast and wide. Do you suppose we’ll ever know, just how far out she goes?” “Come in close” the man whispered, “why I myself have known for years. But if you listen good and you listen well, I’ll tell you of the turtle shell. We’re on a tiger that’s sitting on top of an elephant Who in turn is balanced upon the back of an old tortoise And all that’s beneath them is solid and sound For it’s turtles all the way, all the way down” The boy thought this was quite absurd, the strangest thing he’d ever heard But there was something in the words. The wildest thing he’d ever learned. “Tell me sir, could this be true, how can I believe in you? You haven’t got a shred of proof, but yet you seem so resolute” “Boy believe what you will, you are young with years to fill. I promise you you’re safe and well. You’re dancing on the turtle shell.” We’re on a tiger that’s sitting on top of an elephant Who in turn is balanced upon the back of an old tortoise And all that’s beneath them is solid and sound For it’s turtles all the way, all the way down” Son I best be on my way, I've said all I have to say. You don't believe me anyway but perhaps you'll think of me some day and smile.
4.
Did you mean what you said when you said you were thinking about leaving here Well it got me to thinking how would you feel about having company? All we need is a stick and a good handkerchief to tie to it And we'll fill it with things that adventurers bring when they go Where the world is wide and we ain't no fools Yeah the world is wide and we make the rules Yeah I meant what I said when I said I was thinking about leaving here I've been building a boat made from barrels and ropes that I found You can come with me but I'll have to swear you to secrecy 'Cos if somehow our mother's find out then all is lost ('Cos they've forgot) That the world is wide and we ain't no fools Yeah the world is wide and we make the rules And there will be snakes, there will be ladders sometimes There will be maps showing us treasure to find You can put your hands up anywhere and pick an orange from the sky (oh oh my) Meet me in the yard at the end of history We'll climb the wall that leads to the railway tracks and we won't look back Oh the world is wide and we ain't no fools Yeah the world is wide and we make the rules
5.
When You Can 03:38
When you can greet the morning with a song and not a sigh when you can watch your clock tick and know you are alive when you can find the finest restaurant in which to dine for the time will come when these here things will be beyond you When you can be light hearted and all your secrets tell when you can forgive everyone, you know they're doomed as well when you can be romantic as a midnight Eiffel tower when you can be as wild and free as a near by meteor shower for the time will come when these here things will be beyond you , and beyond me when you can... when you can go the distance when you can go explore and I beg you leave your paranoid visions on the shore If invited join the orgy and if not just pretend when you can burn your candle out at each and every end for the time will come when these here things will be beyond you, and beyond me
6.
Tug 04:50
There are things that tug at you, There are things that tug at me Sometimes rightly sometimes wrong Sometimes lightly sometimes strong There's no burying some things I'm afraid You won't ever dig a deep enough grave There are ghosts that follow you There are ghosts that follow me Make you doubt the road your on Pour the poison in your song There's no burying some things I'm afraid You won't ever dig a deep enough grave There are rooms that lie beneath Hiding things you should not keep The Static for your stereo The Cracks inside the truth you hold There's no burying some things I'm ashamed They will hang forever from your name You might try to close the book draw a line underneath Close your eyes and never look But you've already seen too much There's no burying some things I'm afraid You won't ever dig a deep enough grave But don't you run or cry out to be saved Just look them in the eye and show them you are brave
7.
Some day I will pay for my own wine But until then, what is yours is mine And I know you’d never dream of keeping score And that you’re well aware, what is mine is yours But I only wish it was a whole lot more But I don’t want to be the stone around your neck I don’t want to be the years that you regret I don’t want to be sunlight in your eyes That blinds you every time you’re throwing knives Some day I will hold you in my hands But for a while more, you will have to stand Some day I will fill up your belly But for a while more, we won’t go hungry But I don’t want to be the stone around your neck I don’t want to be the years that you regret I don’t want to be sunlight in your eyes That blinds you every time you’re throwing knives
8.
Alison she slipped under the curtain and plunged right into Sleepless street. The clothes she wore were minimal, and all a size or two too small, and she knew that she would fit right in. She didn't crave enlightenment, only excitement, something to lose herself in. Alison and I rarely spoke. She moved slowly into this gathering of nocturnal nail-biters. The place was a carnival, all glow and luminous, the insects danced from street lamp to street lamp, Gazing down upon the swarms of escape artists shuffling chaotically below. Alison had nowhere else to go. She felt at ease among the lazy star gazers, the stray dogs and mathematicians, She drifted into orbits packed tight with addicts of every possible shape and size, Behind the dull glow of her eyes her mind was racing, she felt at last that she belonged. Alison was very often wrong. Dancing from one devil straight to the next one, each one took her deeper underground. Into damp hollows where no light follows deep below the earth of sleepless street. There she met with monsters with marks in their armour and women that cried out in shame. Alison you're difficult to tame. Time passed she broke away, it looks like she found a way back to the buzzing of the street, The party was in full swing, the fireworks exploding and all the telephones and ears were ringing. She pushed her way through the crowd, they all seemed more lost than found. the smoky air pulled heavy on her lungs. She raced toward the curtain tripping over tired men, photographers and wild eyed lovers. All that she wanted then was to feel the sun shining down on her pale face again. Oh, Alison and I were never close, But I hope she makes it.
9.
10.
O God O Man 03:55
The night's gained one more star I've gained one more scar i think it's fair to say I've lost this fight You can't always win, you thought me that But you never showed me how to lose O God O man What does it mean? Lie in bed 'til noon, sing a happy tune, It's far happier than this. Who will keep us warm, In this dark dark storm who's gonna be our light? O God O man What does it mean?
11.
Blue Snow 05:02
It's hard to find the glow when you're walking in Blue Snow and it doesn't matter what you sow because nothing ever seems to grow here and all the stones you used to throw my friends keeps for spare eyes and every wind that blows is just a vessel for your lies Your whispers said I'll always be warm and that love this strong will never be torn your loving arms will never let go and then you just leave me to die in your snow You're an old rag doll, and stinking of alcohol you got no place to fall and no one to call out to But you'll get home soon, by the light of the moon and the trail of her perfume and the warmth of her room

about

The idea for "Stray Dogs" was to revisit older songs that I felt I had abandoned over the last years. Songs that had slipped from set lists for one reason or other and left to fend for themselves in deeper obscurity than their better-loved siblings.

I rounded up these stray dogs in the month of November in the year of the Pandemic and recorded them simply and directly at my home studio over a three day period. It took a little time to find my way into some of these songs again... I altered some lines here and there, dropped the key of one song, and came at many of them from a different angle than on the original recordings. As the saying goes, a man never steps in the same river twice.

It's been both nostalgic and fun to revisit these songs and over all I think they've held up pretty well over the years. There is one new and previously unreleased song on here called "Daughter".

I hope you enjoy listening and that these old dogs can be companions to you as they have been to me.

credits

released December 4, 2020

Recorded at Oldtown Studios, Westmeath, Ireland, November 2020 using a Universal Audio Apollo Twin x , Cubase, an Aston Spirit microphone and a Shure sm 57

Peter played Santa Cruz Guitars (1929 & Vintage Artist) and a Bourgeois Slope D.

Recorded / Mixed / Mastered by Peter Doran

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Peter Doran County Westmeath, Ireland

Welcome to the official Bandcamp Store of independent Irish Song-maker Peter Doran.

Here you'll find Peter's entire back-catalogue available on CD & digital download.

New album "Voices" out now.

contact / help

Contact Peter Doran

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Peter Doran recommends:

If you like Peter Doran, you may also like: