Lately

never was much given to prayer
but lately I’m pleading with the air
to keep you safe from harm my dears

the only things that you should keep in rows
are your perfect teeth - and the rest you know
its own sweet way will always go

add your footsteps to the wear
for a tiny dent in every stair
will let them know that you’ve been there

Guitar and vocal – VB
Hammond – Max Richter
Strings - Louisa Fuller, Frances Dewar, John Metcalfe, Ian Burdge.
Oboe – Rebecca Wood
First verse inspired by Jenny Wright
(Arranged by Max Richter)

Here before

once I had a child
he was wilder than moonlight
he could do it all
like he’d been here before

once I had a child
she was smiling like sunshine
she could see it all
like she’d been here before

then I had a child
took his while like northern summer
and he knows it all
like he’s been here before

Guitar and vocal - VB
Glockenspiel, backwards glock, wine glasses – Max Richter.
Harmonium – Adem
(Arranged by Max Richter and Vashti Bunyan)

Wayward

didn't want to be the one
the one who's left behind
while the other one goes out to life
and comes back home to find
me sitting pretty happily
surrounded by a house
with cups in all their saucers
and not a bit of dust

days going by in clouds of flour and white washing
life getting lost in a world without end

I wanted to be the one
with road dust on my boots
and a single silver ear-ring
and a suitcase full of notes
and a band of wayward children
with their fathers left behind
all in their castles in their air
and houses in their land

lives getting lost in mending gaps in their fencing
all I ever wanted was a road without end

Nylon acoustic guitar and vocal - VB
Autoharp - Adem
Steel acoustic guitar - Devendra Banhart
Electric guitars - Kevin Barker and Otto Hauser
Piano and Hammond - Max Richter
(Arrangement – spontaneous)

Hidden

hidden in your every move
are the words that you will never say
stars and moons are not your style
I’ve known for a while this is not your way

I hear you

I do know you very well
and our time will tell if I read you right
it can be so very hard
looking for a dark horse in the night

I see you

I do know you very well
and I will until you can prove me wrong
maybe I’ll find you are not
anything like what I’ve thought all along

don’t think so

one day you’ll say what you mean
and will I be seen for a cloud of dust
now I’ve nothing left to say
and I’ll find my way by your light of touch

I’m with you

Guitar and vocal – VB
Piano and Recorders Max Richter
(Arranged by Vashti Bunyan)

Against The Sky

whatever pulled the wind that night
it had it bring a tree down
untidy lime tree holding tight
to the end of my last garden
one of five against the sky
an elegant surrender
it broke the wall and bent the gate
and warmed us through the winter

whatever pulls the wind tonight
will have the roof slates fly
but rows of chimney pots don’t wave
like trees against the sky
the hill behind the old house
I can trace it with my finger
against the sky I see it still
and draw it down on paper

whatever pulled me over here
you were the main contender
and with the trees against the sky
another life’s remembered
some evening skies are yellow
and over my head they’re blue
what happened to the green between
it happened to me
too

Guitars and vocal – VB
Wine Glasses and Mellotron – Max Richter
Harp – Joanna Newsom

Turning Backs

indifference is the hardest blow
it is the wind and icy snow
that falls on green shoots as they grow
in winter when the spring's too slow

indifference is the coldest hand
it is the wave that clears the sand
of castles built by baby hands
before the gulls come in to land

indifference is the hardest ground
it is the stony silent sound
of plainsong echoing unfound
until the voices have left town

Guitar and vocal – VB
Piano and Mellotron - Max Richter
Hammer Dulcimer – Adam Pierce
Cor Anglais – Rebecca Wood
Trumpet – Robert Kirby
(Arranged by Max Richter and Vashti Bunyan)

If I were

if I were to go away
would you follow me
to the ends of the earth
to show me what your love is worth
or would you go and buy a car
shrug your shoulders say there you are
she didn’t love me anyway
if she had she would have stayed

if I were to go away
would I always look
for your beautiful face
in every crowd, every place
or would I go and buy a hat
turn my shoulder say that is that
he didn’t love me now it’s clear
if he had he would be here

Vocal – VB
Guitar – Marcelo de Oliviera
Fender Rhodes and Pneumonium – Max Richter
Harp – Joanna Newsom

Same But Different

I'm in a boat
on the sea
and I see
you on the shore
so sure
of yourself

you're in a boat
on the sea
and you see
me on the shore
so sure
of myself

we're in a boat
all at sea
and we see
we are the same
the same
but different

Guitars and Vocal – VB
Piano, Vibraphone and Recorder - Max Richter
Strings – Louisa Fuller, Frances Dewar,
John Metcalfe, Ian Burdge,
Fiona Brice and Gillon Cameron
(Strings, vibraphone and recorder arranged by Vashti Bunyan
Piano by Max Richter)

Brother

isn’t it strange
back here again
the red brick house and all the trees
I climbed then

nothing changed
same as before
the only thing I see is you’re
not here now

Guitar and vocal – VB
Piano – Max Richter
(Arranged by Vashti Bunyan)

Feet of Clay

don’t waste this dance on me my love
step and glide the way you do
and let me watch the turns and move
my heart if not my feet with you.

don’t think about me dreaming here
I will see you fly away
while in my head you hold me dear
and whirl me off my feet of clay

where was I when grace was given
not to fall when turning round
I’ve no faith in earth or heaven
not to move my standing ground

don’t waste your life on me my love
live and breathe the way you do
no butterfly to be pinned down
and kept forever through and through.

but if your love should cross with mine
I will be here on your side
as long as you want me to be
I’ll not be going far or wide

running, walking, standing still,
sitting, laughing - that I can do
and wishing, wishing
it could be me to dance with you

Guitar and vocal VB
Piano and Mellotron – Max Richter
Oboe – Rebecca Wood
Strings - Louisa Fuller, Frances Dewar,
John Metcalfe, Ian Burdge
French Horn – Robert Kirby
(Strings arranged by Max Richter - piano, horn and
cor anglais by Vashti Bunyan)

Wayward Hum

Hmmmmmmmm

Guitar and vocal VB
(rehearsing - and unaware that it was being recorded)
Glockenspiel – Max Richter

credits

All songs by Vashti Bunyan
Published by Spinneysongs

Produced by Max Richter

Co-arranged by Max Richter and Vashti Bunyan

Recorded at:
Sound Café, Nine Mile Burn (Engineer - Dave Gray)
CaVa, Glasgow (Engineer - David Paterson)
Eastcote Studios, London (Engineers - Philip Bagenal and Anna Tjan)
Mastered by Mandy Parnell at The Exchange, London