1. |
Shine
04:09
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Shine
Words and music by Liam Robinson
So many jewels are awaiting your ear
For whom do you shine, Love, for whom do you shine?
You hold each one up as you gaze in the mirror
For whom do you pine, Love, for whom do you pine?
What do they whisper as you draw them near?
You say that you’re mine, Love, but are you just mine?
Each little jewel is a secret untold
For whom do you shine, Love, for whom do you shine?
You remember the story of each one you hold
For whom do you pine, Love, for whom do you pine?
Is it silver for some while others are gold?
You say that you’re mine, Love, but are you just mine?
One gem shines in the glimmering day
And another one glows in the shimmering night
Do you wear the same one in the sun’s golden rays
As you do in the moon’s silver light?
So many jewels were here before I
For whom do you shine, Love, for whom do you shine?
Some etched in truth and some cast in lies
For whom do you pine, Love, for whom do you pine?
This beauty beheld in so many eyes
You say that you’re mine, Love, but are you just mine?
One gem shines in the glimmering day
And another one glows in the shimmering night
Do you wear the same one in the sun’s golden rays
As you do in the moon’s silver light?
After an evening there comes a new day
Will you be true, Love, will you be true?
And in this new dawn can we find a new way
If I shine for you, Love, if I shine for you?
Can I believe in the things that you say?
You say that you’re mine, Love, but
Am I the one that shines in the glimmering day,
And the one that glows in the shimmering night?
Can I shine for you in the sun’s golden rays
And again in the moon’s silver light?
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2. |
Louisa
04:35
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Louisa
Words and music by Jean Rohe
Louisa, little Southern town
The green hills wear their hazy crown
In the evening I go walking as the summer sun goes down
Louisa, I left everything
For your green hills, for a wedding ring
I'm a dreamer, I'm a foolish dreamer with a sad, sad song to sing
O, Louisa
What have you done?
Now I'm a prisoner of my icy jealousy
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O, Louisa, you made a broken girl of me
Louisa, full of Southern belles
They'll smile bright and they'll wish you well
But you can see it: they're hiding something; what it is, you can't quite tell
Louisa, he caught me in his snare
With his sweet laugh and his golden hair
But Louisa, his wandering eye–-this Northern girl could not compare
To Louisa
What have you done?
Now I'm a prisoner of my icy jealousy
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O, Louisa, you made a broken girl of me
And I'd go, you know I'd turn and head back homeward
Back to my land of snow
And I've tried, but he's the only one for me
O, Louisa
Louisa
Louisa
O, Louisa
What have you done to me?
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O Louisa, you made a broken girl of me
O Louisa, Louisa, Louisa.
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3. |
Hunger
06:28
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Hunger
Words and music by Jean Rohe and Liam Robinson
We were children then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We stopped for gas and ice cream in these reservation towns
The curving mountain lanes and the asphalt arrow running through the plains
We were lovers then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We touched those heavy stones that hold this nation to the ground
The rocks that have endured; great paperweights for freedom’s written word
But these awesome peaks
Are not monument enough for our hungry thoughts
We must raise a stone for each brave act, for each war fought
As if memory’s great ship without these tethered weights would set adrift
And we wondered if our love would endure the certain pain
And if this land could withstand the crimson stain of our hunger
We were dreamers then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We stopped for gas and coffee in these migrant worker towns
We touched those heavy stones and the greatest lakes this ancient Earth has known
But these torrent streams
Cannot cool the burning of our open pores
We must turn our greedy mouths up to the drinking gourd
From sea to thirsty sea, these mighty rivers yearning to be free
And we wondered if our love would endure the certain pain
And if this land could withstand the iron chains of our hunger
We are older now
We drive across this country with the windows down
We stop for gas and bathrooms in these slag heap company towns
We buy some pretty stones and fill our tank with prehistoric bones
These fossil lakes
Are the inkwells for a novel of our times
We scratch with furious hands to soothe our feverish minds
Though the ink is running dry, we still insist to write upon the sky
Oh, this spacious sky
Is not poetry enough for our swelling lungs
We must write a thousand songs to carry on our tongues
Our thoughts will burn so bright we can white the stars out from the sky at night
And we wonder if our love will endure the certain pain
And if this land can withstand the endless strain of our hunger
Will we be lovers then?
Will we move across this thirsty land of trading posts?
And stop to stretch our tired legs among the hungry ghosts?
As o’er the Earth we roam, the past will live inside these heavy stones
But these pilgrim rocks
Are not elegy enough for our aching hearts
We must plant a stone for every soul when it departs
Until every shady grove is a grinding mouth of molars set in rows
And we’ll wonder at how our love endured the certain pain
As we are swallowed by the land again
Oh the hunger
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4. |
For a Moment
04:32
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For a Moment
Words and music by Liam Robinson
They tore up the asphalt to repave the street
And revealed the old trolley car tracks
Two bright lines of steel that emerged from the pavement
Like fossils dug up from the past
We could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone
The power went out on the fourteenth of August
And the children of Brooklyn saw stars
Orion’s bright arrows were raining from heaven
As radiant beams from afar
We could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone
We could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone
The cloud cover lifts, the kaleidoscope shifts and a red velvet curtain is drawn
The silence is broken, the truth it is spoken one moment before it is gone
That’s when I see it
That’s when I feel it
That’s when I know it
Just for a moment
You sat on the bed, you buttoned your shirt as the stars faded out of the sky
And there in the doorway you switched on the hall light and something had changed in your eyes
I could see it
Just for a moment and then it was gone
Just for a moment, and then you were gone
Just for a moment and then we are gone
Oh, we can see it
We can feel it
Just for a moment and then we are gone
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5. |
Safe Harbor
04:37
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Safe Harbor
Words and Music by Liam Robinson
Safe harbor
You were taken by a storm
The people of this town cannot stay here anymore
And you say
You could see the warning signs in the rearview
You could hear that warning bell behind you
Oh, but you could not hear it then
The wind cried and the tide rose,
But we can’t live in hiding and we fight for what’s ours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone
Safe harbor
You were taken by a storm
Just look at the sky, my love and I, we can’t stay here anymore
And I say
I could see the warning signs in the headlights
I could see that flickering storm in the dark night
Oh, but I could not show you then
Well the wind cried and the tide rose,
But we can’t live in hiding and you fight for what’s ours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone
My lover,
I left you like a storm
This hurricane heart of mine cannot stay here anymore
And I say
My bags are packed and my car’s out back and I’m a-leavin;
You heard the back door slam and you started believin’
Oh, ‘cause you could not hear me then.
Well the wind screamed and the rain fell and the mud rose and the flood came,
But you fight for what’s yours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone
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6. |
Can't Fall Asleep
03:02
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Can’t Fall Asleep
Words and Music by Jean Rohe and Liam Robinson
The breeze and the curtains are doing their slow dance
Darkness descends on the big world outside
You’re lying beside me and I watch your breathing
Your eyelids, the face that I know
I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side
But I don’t want to wake up alone
The quiet of nighttime is our tiny haven
From the noise of the street and the cares of the day
I want to protect you from all the world’s troubles
With shelter in my loving arms
I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side
But I don’t want to wake up alone
I see you in springtime, the May that I met you
I see you in winter, the end of our days
I kiss you softly, you smile in your slumber
It’s summer and I’m by your side
I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side
But I don’t want to wake up alone
No, I don’t want to wake up alone
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7. |
Pretty Saro
02:04
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Pretty Saro
Traditional, adapted from Jean Ritchie
Down in some lone valley in a lonesome place
Where the wild birds do whistle and their notes do increase
Farewell, Pretty Saro I bid you adieu
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go
My love she won’t have me so I understand
She wants a freeholder who owns house and land
I cannot maintain her with silver and gold
Nor buy all the fine things that a big house can hold
If I were a merchant and could write a fine hand
I’d write my love a letter that she’d understand
I’d write it by the river where the waters o’erflow
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go
Down in some lone valley in a lonesome place
Where the wild birds do whistle and their notes do increase
Farewell, Pretty Saro I bid you adieu
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go
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Robinson & Rohe Brooklyn, New York
Robinson & Rohe is the duo of American songwriters Liam Robinson (banjo, accordion, vocals) and Jean Rohe (guitar, vocals). Since the release of their debut record, Hunger, in 2017, they have taken their music all over the US, Switzerland, UK, and Ireland, lighting up venerable folk venues and festivals from Club Passim to The Green Note and opening for Tom Paxton and Anaïs Mitchell along the way. ... more
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