Man In a boat

from Northwestern Soul (EP) by Will Riding

/

  • Streaming + Download

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

      £1 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

On the side of the church of St Cuthbert’s in Halsall is a carving of a man in a boat. We used to be told that when the church was built in the 14th Century, he overlooked the sea. It’s plausible because the rich farmland in the area was once sea, but I’d have expected to see him on the West side and not the East. I bet he’s seen some shenanigans over the years, but he’s saying nothing

lyrics

Communion bells ring out and call to the people
The faithful polish their shoes and tie up their hair
Some stay in bed, the opportunity taken
Others are up with the dawn and take the fresh air
Hazy, lazy Sunday morning
under the steeple so tall
The young, the old, the babes in arms
The man in a boat watches over them all

The graveyard holds those, their lives barely started
Victims of Pippin Street and the wild country lanes
Always young and never forgotten
We see their young faces, remember their names
Some made old bones, a life full of story
Of happiness, heartache and war
While some were cut down by the bomb and the bullet
The man in a boat watches over them all


Through sandstone eyes come rain, come sun
He maintains a vigil centuries long
In the shade of a steeple standing so tall
The man in a boat sees all

He was there when the third hour melody rang out it's chorus
Over the fields it echoed for miles around and around and around
When the runnel ran high and the rain kept on falling
When the sun baked the soil from a sky without clouds
He looks over them all, the Godless and pious
The wealthy and poor
Generations past and those yet to come
The man in a boat will watch over them all

credits

from Northwestern Soul (EP), released December 1, 2020

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Will Riding image

Will Riding Chester

A Lancashire born, Chester based singer-songwriter with a deft and playful turn of phrase and acoustic - folk sensibilities inspired by, amongst other things, 70’s Children’s TV.

contact / help

Contact Will Riding

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Will Riding, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Featured guests are the golden-voiced Baby Rose and psyche soulsters Brainstory.
listen now