This song was born from an adventure in 2003 when I was just 17. On a bicycle ride from Leicestershire to Somerset we passed through and spent two weeks in Avebury around Lammas time, hanging with the hippy travellers. As a child of Charnwood, used to rocky tors and the characteristic acidic flora of the heaths and birch woods, the Downs of Wiltshire had a profound impact on me and Avebury remains my spiritual home to this day.
I still remember the words to this song floating their way through to me as I deliberately hung back from my very talkative boyfriend, taking in the open vastness of a brand new landscape never before seen by my teenage eyes.
lyrics
No place of man lies here,
The downs strike awe to me,
We have come so far now,
And much we've loved,
But this.
True churches of England lie,
Breathing in ev'ry down,
White horses and stones tell me,
Do not fear,
For we are ever here,
We won't suffer the land to change.
And the downs roll on,
And our fathers watch.
Never heard this silence,
Hear the breathing of the spirits here,
In the wind,
Well it seems wrong to speak,
Do not think - don't question,
Just let yourself be.
No place I know like this,
So strange from all I know,
Passing the barrows my heart,
Leaps with a feeling of home,
I'm home.
And before me a kestrel flies,
About me the crops are gold,
White horses and stones tell me
Do not fear,
For we are ever here,
We won't suffer the land to change.
And the downs roll on,
And our fathers watch,
And the downs roll on,
And our fathers watch,
And the downs roll on.
Proceeds from this excellent new darkambient/neofolk comp from LEFT/FOLK goes to benefit American Near East Refugee Aid. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 10, 2024