One of a few songs where the chorus arrived in a morning dream in which people were optimistically chanting “when the Dawn Bird approaches” after some awful event. I wrote the rest of the words after waking, keeping to the feeling of the dream. The Refrain at the end was Chris’ suggestion, and worked so well it stayed part of the song. The lyrics (see the bonus items) changed around a lot, and later evolved into the Loscoe State Opera version.
Fun fact: I always garbled the words until they finally settled some time after this recording… actual lyrics and garbled version both included ;-)
From Storm Thieves album “Endless Freefall” originally released 1994
lyrics
Dawn bird
Family’s tears on an open grave
People down there too late to save
Crying is never going to bring them back alive
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Every struggle is a struggle now under one flag
Red with blood and black from the fire
If it hurts that bad, you’ve got to fight back
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Could be you who’s living in a town somewhere
Waiting for the time when the uniforms say:
“Tomorrow it’s you—you’ve got to give way”
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Hoping there’s a chance you’ll get your share
But all you hear is ‘for your own protection’
You can stand like a wire in the wind—let me see you
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Don’t cut too high don’t stand too proud
Or you’ll be a short time in this world
You’d better learn your lesson or keep to the gutter
(Garbled in recording as “ if you think you keep the gutter”
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Your mothers and fathers were long in this land
Be a long time coming, be a long time gone
The evil grows fast so it’s easy cut down
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Nothing grows slower than the hardest wood
Be a long time growing, be a long-time fruit
The seeds that fall going to grow real tall
(Garbled in recording as “gonna real fruit”!)
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
You’ve got to keep on pushing ’til the wall comes down
keep on shouting ’til the heads all turn
they will love you with a bullet if they think it’s necessary
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
Fight so strong that it doesn’t leave a scar;
There’s an army out there waiting for the word
And they keep on coming, can’t stop the river flowing
Saying: world, oh world, you’ve got to turn round
This time, this time you’ve got to hear this voice
World, oh world, oh take some action
That’s when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches,
when the dawn bird approaches
I've been in Leicestershire's Horse Thieves, Rain Garden and The Storm Thieves. Then, for 23 years to 2019 in Derbyshire's
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