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Mermaid's Work

by Fiona Howe

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1.
Siren Sister 03:42
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SIREN SISTER I’m on a roll Drift and swirl Dip and curl Swoon unfurl Dive and hurl My marble body To the wave I’m on a high Siren cry Croon and sigh Breathe me dry Shoot the lie Watch me plummet To the deep My ships are sailing Send my fleet into the bloodied sun The winds are fair with fury So billow on my galleon Billow on on on on on This lady’s not for turning This city’s not for burning This life is rigged for learning Prow forward dark sea churning To the world’s end To the world’s end la la la la la I’m in a bind Nailed to the tree Cold and free Gilded she Looks like me Crash my bones Into white horses I’m deaf and blind Lashed to the mast Bind me fast Died and cast Call me last Breathe in the sweetness Of the ocean My ships are sailing Send my fleet into the bloodied sun The winds are fair with fury So billow on my galleon Billow on on on on on This body’s not for spurning This heart will not stop yearning This mind wakes to hear her sing Prow forward dark sea churning To the world’s end To the world’s end la la la la la My ships are sailing Send my fleet into the bloodied sun The winds are fair with fury So billow on my galleon Billow on on on on on © 2015 Fiona Howe
2.
Shell 03:31
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SHELL There was a girl You loved Tough little fist In a velvet glove And she would take you To the water’s edge She gave you a shell Smaller than a fingernail And the gift of second sight And she She got washed ashore One night And he Couldn’t see The moon was too bright And the waves played over and over On the sand There was a place You stood Dry as a bone and Drained of blood The tide would scour Your mother of pearl To make you a shell For the winds to howl through And the sands to fill With the gift of second sight And he He got washed ashore One night And she Couldn’t see The moon was too bright And the waves played over and over On the sand © 2015 Fiona Howe
3.
Mermaid's Work 04:43
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MERMAID’S WORK She could catch the evening star Hold it in her hand Fix him with her diamond tears Falling on the sand Burning through His heart like flame Storm-tossed waif Without a name She coiled him softly In her raven hair Sharpening her pearly nail She wrote upon his skin I am all you ever wanted Won’t you let me in You and I A dance of death A serpent’s tail The sweetest breath Of sunlight through the waters Of your dreams Kiss me and a thousand nights Spiral into one Take me in a thousand ways Hide your smoking gun Oh ho It was only mermaid’s work Straddled on her silk divan Stilettos to the sky Hungry for another man No good reason why Stories weaving Through his mind Hypnotized Beloved and blind He sank beneath her kisses Like a stone Naked as the tide came in Blood upon her hands She was sculpted by the waves Beaten by the sands There was never Anyone Who stole his heart Who blew apart His certainty And sanity For fun Kiss me and a thousand nights Spiral into one Take me in a thousand ways Hide your smoking gun Oh ho It was only mermaid’s Kiss me and a thousand nights Spiral into one Take me in a thousand ways Hide your smoking gun Oh ho It was only mermaid’s work Those are pearls that were his eyes Let me see the land where corals lie © 2015 Fiona Howe
4.
Forest 04:28
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FOREST You gave me a forest girl Somewhere in my mind’s eye A place to get lost A place to wonder why Indigos, greens and aquamarines Slim, stark shadows against the sky Where foggy twilight curls and turns In watery lullaby You stood there at the edge girl Where the day drains away Into sudden night A turning-point in light You put it onto canvass with your own fair hand The dreamscape of a northern land Swept those oils across your space With bravado and grace You took on my darkness made it real You gave me your blues and let me heal I’ve been there in your forest girl Felt its needles brush my skin Immersed myself in the mystery Of contemplating sin It’s beautiful deep among those trees Cold and clear and sharp as the frost A neverland where my thoughts can unfurl To live and know the cost I’ve been submerged in ice and fire Call myself crazy, call myself a liar I see beyond the forest line I see the future and claim it mine Thank you for your forest girl I’m going there when the world gets too much Take a step back from the human race But today I’ll stand in the fields with the sun on my face and You took on my darkness made it real You gave me your blues and let me heal You took on my darkness made it real You gave me your blues and let me heal © 2015 Fiona Howe
5.
Still Waters 02:59
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STILL WATERS Never thought your eyes would look at me and say All the holy water In the world can’t wash this away Never thought our ship would go down so quietly It hit the iceberg Heading for the open sea and Still waters run deep Cover me when I’m asleep Dream it all away Dream it all away and Wash me clean When they carved me up they took my heart I put it in a chapel Erected to my vanity You and I both know that’s not the start I was overboard Before I ever thought about mortality and Still waters run deep Cover me when I’m asleep Dream it all away Dream it all away and Wash me clean Once you said that I was beautiful, Mysterious woman The world caught fire as I entered the room Did the scales fall from your eyes? Did you learn that woman From the dawn of time was born for lies and Still waters run deep Cover me when I’m asleep Dream it all away Dream it all away and Wash me clean But you, you held me In the throes of birth When I diced with death When I fought for breath Yes you, you loved me All my flesh and bone All too close to home Why should I wish to be free I’ll wish myself alone on the strand Watching the ice-floes Dreaming of your tender hand Do you think that I can’t understand We have made so much That was greater than the two of us and Still waters run deep Cover me when I’m asleep Dream it all away Dream it all away and Wash me clean Dream it all and dream it all and Dream it all and dream it all and Dream it all and dream it all away © 2015 Fiona Howe
6.
Toward the Moon 04:13
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TOWARD THE MOON O lay me down to rest Blow me wide to the western sky Never love me best Read the silver runes at my fingertips It’s the shadow of myself I’ve stretched along this glittering beach Never say what else All we know is what we cannot reach And she runs through my veins And she burns me like fire And she tilts the world toward the moon And she draws me higher Surf rush through my hair Shifting sands that slip between my limbs Never call me fair Just a mermaid singing silent hymns I am grounded on this shore I will wear like a pebble with the ebb and flow Never know me more Surrender me to the undertow And she runs through my veins And she burns me like fire And she tilts the world toward the moon And she draws me higher Ah when she comes to me When she comes her kiss it stills me Ah when she lifts me up so high When she pulls me to her breast it fills me Fling your surf to me Venus born in dancing waves Never set me free Orchestrate these shards of light I will open to the sun Arch my body to the foam There’s a white light in my mind All the sad songs left behind And she runs through my veins And she burns me like fire And she tilts the world toward the moon And she draws me higher © 2015 Fiona Howe
7.
Migrant 02:47
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MIGRANT Defying space you are Perfectly airborne in your Sleek dark suit Amid the many, you dive Without thought, without fear Knowing nothing I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly Submerged in water glassy green Locked by gravity and cold I am a Naiad I’ve been here a hundred years Hair streaming constant as my tears Under the stars I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly Catch my eyeline skimming softly Darting sheer my kamikaze Cross the void Suspend your body over me Razor down pure energy Live geometry I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly Restless migrant, you’re a hunter Feeding appetite on the wing What do you see Is your jewelled eye fixed sharp On the vanishing point of your desire Do you see me I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly I want to watch you fly © 2015 Fiona Howe
8.
Estrogen 04:10
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ESTROGEN Springtime (all those years locked inside you) Floodtide (secrets spilling through the keyhole) Ocean rushing through your body Giving head Flux and flow All the hidden things you couldn’t know Nothing anyone said You came (hurt your power just to feel it) Your flesh (like a bruise you press to heal it) Mapping what was left behind Afterglow Dragged you deep Ebbing at the dark shore of your mind A burning star It was Something in the water, in the way you moved Something in the ozone, can’t be nothing good Something in your paintbox, in the tales you told Something in your genome, now you’re growing cold Roaring forties (such a beauty no one knew it) Storm broken (fingering a thread of lightning) Raindance on your desert beach All your love Out of reach Breakers crashing at your painted feet To set you free You kick (mermaid pearls and glancing fishtail) Too quick (keeling over on your mainsail) Snatching at the rags of time Take me now As I am Strung out in this need for rhyme and Play to lose It was Something in the water, in the way you moved Something in the ozone, can’t be nothing good Something in your paintbox, in the tales you told Something in your genome, now you’re growing cold Red autumn (dry sands blowing paper thin skin) Your sundown (planets halted when they took you in) Everything your body didn’t need Bolted green Run to seed All the cycles frozen as you bleed Nothing foreseen Your life (all you lost you won by dreaming) Your time (riptide currency of feeling) Trade winds blow your flame to black All your love Draws them back Waiting in the wings to watch them fly Your bitter pill It was Something in the water, in the way you moved Something in the ozone, can’t be nothing good Something in your paintbox, in the tales you told Something in your genome, now you’re growing cold Something You drank it in Such a good girl © 2015 Fiona Howe

about

"Mermaid’s Work" is the début album by British indie film producer and composer Fiona Howe. Eight songs explore the connection between the female psyche and the sea, a kaleidoscope of emotional colours shifting and moving with the ebb and flow of the tide, creating an intimate, mysterious sound, a vocal that steals into the ear and seduces the listener with its story. The lyrics deal with desire and desolation, defiance and abandonment, inspiration and healing. The songs are scored sparingly, with violin and cello underpinning and interweaving the vocal and piano lines and occasional colour from flute and harp, but they are also accessible and melodic.

credits

released January 16, 2016

All songs written, arranged and produced by Fiona Howe.

Performed by Fiona Howe (vocals, piano, flute, harp), Camilla Gregorovitch (violin), Alisa Liubarskaya (cello).

Recorded, engineered and mixed by Stephen Reilly.
Remixed and mastered by Wes Maebe, GHQ Sonic Cuisine London.

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Fiona Howe London, UK

Fiona Howe is producer and composer of award-nominated feature films 'Desire', 'Delight' and 'Delirium'. The 'Delirium' soundtrack 'Requiem for the Living' was Nominated Best Original Score for a Drama Feature by Reel Music Awards 2017. Her début singer-songwriter album 'Mermaid’s' Work, 8 songs exploring the connection between the female psyche and the sea was first released in 2016. ... more

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