Stay in bed for an extra hour Just to lie awake and linger on you It's all that I can do A rush of blood, our stomachs capsize You're standing at your front door and I am lying on my kitchen floor My celtic tuning, your Diana camera I'll cook the dinner and baby, you can drive the car Ever since the night we met Heart's been growing out my chest You hit me like a train but I'm 200 miles north west And these winter skies will never seem the same again Seem the same again When I share my nakedness with you It feels like I'm falling down, but not to the ground But to the warmth of your arms My celtic tuning, your Diana camera I'll cook the dinner and baby, you can drive the car Ever since the night we met Heart's been growing out my chest You hit me like a train but I'm 200 miles north west And these winter skies will never seem the same again Seem the same again Your beauty your body, your perfect imperfections Your mind, your smile, the way you feel in four dimensions Crawling cross the floor cross half a country to find my way to you To find my way to you...

And we drove we drove for hours Lightning followed in our wake Illuminating broken up coastlines Transformers and power lines And the wind began to blow As the hidden moon hung low And the pigeons cooed like lovers Calling from the darkened dining room So it started out fine, And it ended up alright, We were chased by black angels And blinded by the light But we made it through the morning And we made it through the night Now you, me and the coffee pot Could see everything And we still might… We still might And we fed it when we could In forests sawn up for their wood And in the Caledonian rain We dipped into another country lane - where at last we understood That like the Nith the Forth and the Tay We’d both meandered in our way Shipwrecked lovers in a bay The back of the ocean they say So it started out fine, And it ended up alright, We were chased by black angels And blinded by the light But we made it through the morning And we made it through the night Now you, me and the coffee pot Could see everything And we still might… We still might And now the tears from the windowsills Are stored in giant copper stills But though the mountainsides are dry The pebbledash mansions are all mine And we drove we drove for hours Lightning followed in our wake And in a flash I felt more sure Than I’d ever felt before, that we would take the turns we had to take So it started out fine, And it ended up alright, We were chased by black angels And blinded by the light But we made it through the morning And we made it through the night Now you, me and the coffee pot Could see everything And we still might We still might We still might We still might

On Fellbarrow Hill Head in the clouds It feels like you're next to me Looking out at the town The 21st Century has been bringing us down Our childhoods are history They left without a sound In the tearooms at two Sat over from you Our raincoats are worn and torn like the love we once knew Now we can smile again Where once we withdrew From simple existence Now we'll make our own way through I can lose Cappadocia... it'll leave on the breeze I can lose St Lucia to cerulean seas I can lose Nara behind doorways of dreams But I can't lose Alaska It's to vast and far away from me Under overcast skies At Loweswater Lake Your hair 'cross your face Blown cross your lips, you smile anyway It feels like we're real again With so little time to spend So much science to comprehend So let's breathe each moment in I can lose Mesa Verde, hopes aren't hewn from stone I can lose St Petersburg, leave her dancing alone I can lose the Aurlandsfjord, drift out to the unknown But I can't lose Alaska It's too vast and far away from home At Killington Lake And it's getting late Bought a couple of cheap photo frames to remember our day Sat in the car Your hand next to mine Your face is so gentle Your words, so pure and kind I can lose Gullfoss, it'll carry my tears I can lose Bergen, it's all wharves and piers I can lose Stone Town, Tulum or Tangiers But I can't lose Alaska It's too vast, and far away from here

The Great War is over Arthur Burscough is back up on his feet Walked from his factory town with teapot and a vase To find his fortune by the sea The Burscough Family Antique shop "Buy 'em low, sell 'em high" A roaring trade of ornaments and artefacts revealed By Mr B's discerning eye And as, it grew, and Arthur knew That his children could have it better And every night Kathleen would turn out the light While he closed the shutter Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 More than twenty years have passed now Arthur checks his pocket watch, thinks it’s time to leave As the bombs explode on street corners But all that he can hear, is the rattle of the King’s artillery The streets alive with victory parties Kathleen wears a widows veil But the Burscough Family Antique shop Will always prevail She worked so hard and played her part That her children would have it better And every night with Arthur’s ghost by her side She'd turn out the light Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 It’s Edward’s 18th birthday Kathleen hands him the key But he’s a poet and a dreamer at heart And doesn’t give a damn about antiques But he'd pour his cup of coffee in the morning Walk down the stairs in a daze Slowly rocking his dreams to sleep With his old familiar ways Cause he loved his mum and dad And he gave it what he had But in the silence he was far away from home And every night He'd read by candle light Sat up in his bedroom all alone Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 Edwards older brother Harry Never came back from the war But he had a son with a sad eyed girl from Rome And this morning he showed up at the door Down the local 3rd March, 72 Francesco downs another beer Whilst Edward asks him seemingly endless searching questions About growing up in Rome and how he got here Then one summer night Edward boarded an international flight And was never seen again So Fran took a stand Raised a pint glass in his hand Said “I’m the captain, and I’ll sail this ship to land!” Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 Another ten years drift past Francesco’s drinking is getting out of hand But his wife Julie is on the ball The antiques trade is something she can understand She counts the takings, but they're gone within a week As Fran drinks his senses dull And Julie sinks her heart far and further down ‘Til he finally leaves the family home, with a working girl from Hull And she tried to keep up But the economy was f**ked And she barely kept her head above water But every night with a glint in her eye She'd sing as she closed the shutter Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 Now Julie’s with a man named David She's finally loved for who she is 1999 they're married in the spring And his son from his first marriage is standing up to sing Jason’s unemployed but he wants to be a star He’s been an extra on The Bill He nearly was Neil Diamond on Stars In Their Eyes But today he’s singing Solsbury Hill And his daughter Faye Is turning five on Sunday And he’s hoping to get to see her He’ll take her to the shop So she can play with all the clocks And sit amongst the dolls and the silver Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923 An engine left running Francesco curses blindly, pounding on the glass He’s heard that Julie’s remarried Says he’s back to claim his birthright, before his chance has passed Julie cowers behind the till Fran barges through the wooden door And gentle David calmly steps between the two Then a punch comes like a freight train and he’s passed out out on the floor The ambulance journey seems to last for hours They say he’s fallen badly, the shock has stopped his heart The paramedic squeezing Julie’s hand Whilst his colleague gives another round of CPR Three days later, they turn off the machine There’s nothing they can do, Julie cries in the canteen The police catch up with Fran on the coastal road it seems Drunken, blood stained and passed out at the wheel And sat up in bed Kathleen tilts her head As the nurse reads out Julie’s latest letter She turns away Wipes a tear from her face And she prays things will change for the better Jason’s taken on the shop now He’s made a website and a promo video He’s selling souvenirs and e-cigs To pay the second mortgage when he’s not in any shows He wants to pass it over to his daughter But she’s living up in Leeds Writing about the rise and fall of coastal towns In the first year of her PhD In the back room of the shop He looked for Arthur’s pocket watch To take onto The Antique’s Roadshow And he brought it there And they said that it was rare But the clip was never aired.... Purveyors of fine antiques Passed down the line since 1923

There’s a shadow deep inside of me It’s been there since I’ve ever known No matter how bright the sun It’s still looming when the morning comes The season, the time of day The shadow never fades away There’s a shadow deep inside of me But I’ll never admit that it’s there Whilst it dampens every cheer Soaks up every tear Poisons every play The shadow never fades away There’s a shadow deep inside of me It knows it’s place, but doesn’t know it’s name No matter the pain I've caused I’m gonna put you through the wars I’ll lie and I’ll cheat to stay The shadow never fades away There’s a shadow deep inside of me You’ve shone your beam of love upon it endlessly You’ve plucked out every fear Whispered in my ear Don’t matter what you do or say The shadow never fades away There’s a shadow deep inside of me I like to sit beneath it’s sullen boughs And that’s where I retreat I crave the taste of defeat Living just to die someday The shadow never fades away

Every night you ask of me "Is this what love's supposed to be?" I retaliate "Yes, my dear! Let me pour you another cup of tea." Every morning you ask again "Is this for real or is this pretend?" I ask you kindly "Calm yourself. Could there ever be anything else?" They say that it's supposed to feel right So why am I so damn scared? When we're alone on a quiet night Your heart is beating next to mine Your flame needs fanning but I'm practically dead inside Oh girl you were the firebird You burned so strong and true But then I built this lovely cage So that I could forever be with you I gently put your fire out And clipped your fragile wings So we could live in eternal bliss Or whatever else the future brings They say that it's supposed to feel right So why am I so damn scared? When we're alone on a quiet night Your heart is beating next to mine You're sending out signals but I'm never on the line You told me I was loveless And that you felt unloveable I said "I'll give you anything... but hey I'm not infallible." But you can recognise mere mistakes And you're an expert on artifice You saw me coming a mile away You felt the shame in every kiss They say that it's supposed to feel right So why am I so damn scared? When we're alone on a quiet night Your heart is beating next to mine Your soul's reaching out but I'm not that kind of guy

I remember you in the snow They put on just for us Before I had to go And every crystal in your hair Committed to my memory With every gasp of winter air Standing at the station The lady there said something But then I saw you smile With those winter morning eyes You jumped into a taxi I went underground We talked the whole way down You handed me a light The light turned into fire The fire turned into pain Til I kissed you lips again Don't die on me now We're so close that I can taste it in my mouth I know you're scared that we'll never make it out So let me hold you close my love Don't die on me now From a stranger in a doorway To a future in my arms I've never felt this way And the hours turned into days The days turned into weeks The weeks turned into months Let these months turn into years Don't die on me now We're so close that I can taste it in my mouth I know you're scared that we'll never make it out So let me hold you close my love Don't die on me now Don't die on me now Don't die on me now Don't die on me now

There's spirits in this valley Ancient treasures buried deep A million footsteps echoed A thousand trembling feet You told me of a landscape A patchwork bathed in gold I said you must be dreaming And I curled up in the snow I can be a Sherpa for your heart I'll play the silent part I'll keep you warm and fed I'll never leave In a blizzard battered hovel That's where I like to stay Sir Edmund at the front door But no one's here today Two fjordland crested penguins Lift you up like angels Far beyond horizons Past fallen friends and strangers I can be a Sherpa for your heart I'll play the silent part I'll keep you warm and fed I'll never leave The sound of running water The scent of mountain sage Has blown across these ice flows Since the mesolithic age But weather never moved me Except to turn my head down From your favourite ancient poetry Carved into the valley I can be a Sherpa for your heart I'll play the silent part I'll keep you warm and fed I'll never leave

I could be the one who never hurt you I could be the one who found your smile Slip into my arms and I'll immerse you And I'll carry you on the blue meander Drifting in the blue Oh you shouldn't be afraid of the blue meander Just close your eyes, love I could be the one who set the fire I could be the one who snuffed it out Darling are you there? I know you're tired And I'll carry you on the blue meander Rising from the grottos to the skies Oh you shouldn't be afraid of the blue meander Just close your eyes, love I could be the one

In the cupboard under the stairs In the box between the wardrobe and the bed Forty years of paperwork have coalesced and formed like coral Kathleen pulls the face that she makes As she pores through the ages Stories, letters, photographs, old maps and torn out pages But give her time And soon she'll find The only perfect love song She wrote it down And stored it away like a secret Back when she was twenty one Twenty one Sat like a geisha, the sun 'cross her face At her father's piano Nobody's home, everything's quiet She can sing what she wants now She starts with the tonic and adds a ninth on it It's ringing through her heart Like aeroplanes, transcontinental trains Brooding skies and old works of art But give her time And soon she'll find The only perfect love song She'll write it down And store it away like a secret After all she's only twenty one Twenty one And as the years went by, the Axminster carpet dimmed And the leaves changed from brown, to green, and back again And dust settled on shelves As also on ourselves And love's frail promise drifted from god knows where To god knows when John, the old widower Has just moved in next door Kathleen waits nervously Tracing the lines on the score He comes with a four track, a bass and a banjo They both blow the dust of her father's piano You think you'll forget but old muscles recall The shapes of the chords and the cadence of falling in Love, love, love Two broken voices singing The only perfect love song She wrote it down And stored it away like a promise Back when she was twenty one But though it felt near So vivid and clear Just like it felt back then Oh, she wondered She dared to wonder Could I feel that again? Could I feel that again? Could I feel that again? Could I feel that again? Yeah I'll feel that again I know, I know, I know, I know, I know that I'll feel it again Yeah I'll feel it again I know, I know, I know, I know, I know that I'll feel it again I'll it again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again, again... I'll feel that again