This song was written over the period of 3 years! I intended it to be as different as possible to other stuff I have written and I wanted it to be a journey, a song within a song. The lyrics are inspired by isolation, desolation, destruction, ignorance and broadly about things which we can not change as well as how fleeting our time here on this planet it.
lyrics
Compass And The Sand.
(Devils in the root).
Acoustic guitars, vocals, additional electric guitars and percussion: MW // Electric guitar: BE // Backing vocals: MW, DSharaf and JC // Double Bass: JP // Drums, percussion: DS // Flute: TAU // Strings: VS
It’s an impish kind of smile you wear,
The rock’s still warm from the sun-dried air,
And it’s baking the bathers, to a crusted brown.
Not a care to be found.
Try the other pocket dear I know it’s there,
I never leave without it and I’m willing to share.
Although my charm is not spontaneous,
I’m courageous and I’m oh, so fair.
Can I strike up a bargain or two with you,
I hate to hear your back door slam,
You have something I can really use,
Oh, the compass and the sand, the compass and the sand.
Cruel, brave and strong, that’s what you’re trying to be.
Oh, in reality, you’re circling the plug.
Chorus
The cards are on the table and there’s pokers in the fire,
Oppose your opinion, you brand me a liar.
Your opinion is worth more than my fact,
Spew it with conviction to drown me out.
God forbid I offend you and your little crew,
Overloaded little minds, fragile, ego bruise.
You chose not to listen and you refuse to see,
Devil’s in the root.
Come my little angels I need you now,
Mother’s fighting wars in her dressing gown.
The mongers in suits and it suits him well,
Deer with seven heads and seven armies fell.
Guns protect those from those with the guns,
There’s no food on the tables when the bridges are burnin’.
You can’t clean your money in the ebbs of black tides,
Motherless child and childless bride.
Ships are bleeding currency, inoculate the heard,
Currents are choked on the souls of dead birds.
You chose not to listen and you refuse to see,
Devil’s in the root.
Verse
Verse
Chorus
We’re just ghostly whispers on the sands of time,
And the compass needle cannot lie.
Whether you wear princes’ robes or beggars’ rags,
You’re never gonna miss the things you never had.
And the wicked winds made moan.
And it’s hard to know, what’s real today,
The closer you get to it, starting to regret it,
Along with all the other things you thought you could throw away.
The deserts weep for the souls they keep,
(oh yes, it’s getting out of hand).
No shelter from the ceaseless heat,
(no mercy for beast nor man).
And the wicked winds made moan.
Between the thumb and the finger of the dead man,
Was a note that read “all the bloods been bled”,
Washed up on the shore, fooled by the Compass And The Sand.
credits
from Compass And The Sand,
released May 28, 2022
Written by Matt Woosey
Produced and mixed by Matt Woosey and Tarrant Shepherd
Recorded at Hope Mill Recording Studios, Manchester 24-28 November 2021 by Tarrant Shepherd and Calren Studios, Freiburg 2021/2 by Andreas Fuchs
Engineered by Steve Poppleton and Tomos Williams
Mastered by Stephen Kerrison at Tall Trees Audio Mastering
Special thanks to Tony Hobden
Acoustic guitars, vocals, additional electric guitars and percussion - Matt Woosey
Vocals - Rachael Jean Harris
Electric guitar - Brad Edmondson
Backing vocals - Daliah Sharaf and Jennifer Cobi
Double Bass - John Parker
Drums and percussion - Dave Small
Flute - Tupac Amaru Ulloa
Vulcan String Quartet is:
Violin 1 - Tanwen Evans
Violin 2 - Andrew Walters
Viola - Carly Stone
Cello - Nathan Stone
String arrangements - Andrew Walters
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