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Foreign Skies

by The Dreadnoughts

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nickelsandpearls
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nickelsandpearls This is a SOLID album.The music is so good it hurts, and the lyrics invoke such an exquisite pain to my soul that I can't help but ask for more. I tear up every time I sing along to some of these songs, particularly Black Letters and Back Home in Bristol.. It seems obvious that the punk energy is both fun and engaging, but I never imagined that polka instrumentation and rhythms could be used to be SO emotionally provocative, but the musical depth alone keeps me coming back for more. Favorite track: The Amiens Polka.
soundsrloud
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soundsrloud Another amazing album from my favorite band! Favorite track: Gavrilo.
mijime9669
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mijime9669 I don't know how many times I've played this cd but it never gets old. Keep up the bloody good work! Favorite track: Back Home in Bristol.
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Full-colour digipak with art by Amy Quering .

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $14.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Deluxe 12" vinyl version of "Foreign Skies", printed once, not likely to be re-printed, so get yours while they're hot!

    140 gram vinyl with lyrics and liner notes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 7 days
    edition of 250 
    Purchasable with gift card

      $24.99 CAD or more 

     

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $11.99 CAD  or more

     

  • Limited Edition Clear 12" Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Deluxe 12" vinyl version of "Foreign Skies", printed once, not likely to be re-printed, so get yours while they're hot!


    140 gram vinyl with lyrics and liner notes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition Purple 12" Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Deluxe 12" vinyl version of "Foreign Skies", printed once, not likely to be re-printed, so get yours while they're hot!


    140 gram vinyl with lyrics and liner notes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Triple Vinyl Pack
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Deluxe 12" vinyl version of "Foreign Skies", printed once, not likely to be re-printed, so get yours while they're hot!

    Get all three colors, why not, sell them on ebay later ...


    140 gram vinyl with lyrics and liner notes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Limited Edition SIGNED Compact Disc
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Full-colour digipak signed by the band. We will sign 100 of these ....

    Includes unlimited streaming of Foreign Skies via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
Up High 04:09
Come my brothers Come you fighting men Come together while we may We ne’er may meet again Come all you soldiers Sing out proud and brave Each man fallen here before Stirs now in his grave So raise your voice up high Sing God’s praises, sing for us all And the men we will slay And raise your voice up high Sing for victory, sing for the way We will honour our dead We remember Day’s light is passing Soon to the night we’ll go If we are soldiers true and true Tomorrow we will know Though our voices Though we all march with you Souls of our fathers dead and gone March with us now so true
2.
We are the men of sweat and steel we are the men the world denies so now we walk abandoned fields beneath these foreign skies We're gonna join the bitter test And though there's some will break and fall There's nothing here but happiness And duty's restless call So it calls, but only to the chosen to the boys who landed at Liege meet me at the station in the glory of the sun into the arms by which the world was won come on and wipe away your tears and the memories bright and gay the laughter of unclouded years will slowly bleed away staring at the stars above underneath these foreign skies we've never been so happy love in all our goddamned lives all our lives, have been for nought and wasted all our lives, soon to be redeemed meet me at the station with a banner and a grin we'll watch the sun go down on old Berlin and when it was done and we'd carried the day I watched her life's blood go slipping away and I stared down, into her cold blue eyes sweet mother Mary, deliver your grace deliver us all from the look on her face and the screams the long and desperate sighs all our lives have been a cruel secret all our lives a tender age in bloom so I drink this final cup and rest this weary head and watch the waters rising up to wash away the dead and when we're rid of this disease and we have won the prize I never will return to these foreign skies
3.
we feed the pit men we bury our children we stand at your cauldrons till we are raw and bleeding up to the fortress strike up the chorus the future adores us and the past is fading the ring's under her pillow she's climbing out the window to join her sisters on the run let's take the devil down let's shake the devil down we'll throw the devil down daughters of the sun here's what you're reaping once veiled and sleeping now she is creeping with the blood moon rising destiny spoken when the road is open hearts have awoken and the world’s enticing she'll break your fine illusions make war and confusion join her sisters on the run let's take the devil down let's shake the devil down we'll throw the devil down daughters of the sun now guns are waking armies are shaking we're theirs for the taking for divide and conquer she'll man the stations keep your vocations break with elation only wild and stronger the ring's under her pillow she's climbing out the window to join her comrades on the run let's take the devil down let's shake the devil down we'll take the devil down daughters of the sun
4.
5.
Plucked from the finest of hamlets and dales from Sydney and Bristol and Yorkshire we hail riding the finest of summertime gales we’re bound for the Bay of Suvla and it’s away, Suvla Bay Haulin’ away to the Suvla Bay Fare thee well my pretty young maids We’re bound for the Bay of Suvla our wake it is bursting right over the pier the engines do carry this bold chevalier to face the brave Abdul Abulbul Amir we’re bound for the Bay of Suvla and it's haul ‘er straight over and hard to the right the waters are clear and the sand it is white old mr. Stopford will set us alight we’re bound for the Bay of Suvla well the wind it is fair and the stars have aligned we'll sell our salt cod for sweet olives and wine and string up the Kaiser by thanksgiving time we’re bound for the Bay of Suvla!
6.
Anna Maria 04:46
Well the waves were breaking sharply ‘cross the oaken brigantine the misty air came up behind and the sky was acid green They called me Jean LaGasse I had just turned fifty three the day I stood upon her deck and put her out to sea Sweet Anna Maria Never More, Never more I'll see When the thunder ripped across the bow Well I crumbled where I stood And I woke to find she’d kept me alive With her final piece of wood Don't speak to me in fancy language I can't understand Don't flash your pretty medals Don't you take my blood red hand Just tell me how you let us stray before the pirate's gun And tell me how to find the man who killed my dearest one Well he says she was U83 Some magical machine Sent by Kaiser Willy to the banks of the gonna find that wretched coward gonna break his front door down gonna wrap my hands around his neck and put him in the ground
7.
Jericho 02:05
I saw the flash out in the moonlight I saw my brother pale as death I saw you hurry from your window I saw him take his final breath Well this was your decision This is what you wanted I am the higher law I am Joshua, you know Jericho Herded into the town square Your faces fixed upon the sky no-one's coming here to save you No-one's around to hear you cry You had to pull the trigger So I got to pull mine I am the higher law I am Joshua, you know Jericho
8.
Well how do you do and what’s your name and where you from sir Welcome to the last domain Welcome to the Somme, sir fifty-nines for seven days flares up on the tenth night jesus help the man who strays into the black and white worms are in the carrion bread rats are in the water so be merry or so be dead back into the slaughter she don't the color ya blood read between the lines, sir follow me into the mud it's not your time sir Walk into the black and white Come underground for Death is on the prowl tonight The Black and white some say the devil is dead but in my opinion she's as real as you or I This is her dominion plus ca change plus c’est la meme lovely observation come the morning she'll arrange a demonstration well didja know his father well were you both at Clifton did he play beneath the boughs of his daddy's Lindens now he's face down in the ground turning into dust, sir who gave him this final round who did he trust, sir?
9.
Gavrilo 04:36
Hello my dear old friend Good to see your face again How is your little cell? Do they treat you well? The last time that we met Your blood was running hot Your handshake it was fine You’re happy then you’re not Gavrilo you’re mine The silver bullet would not miss There was a poison in that kiss Come on, come on, Take my hand Gavrilo Now tell me how it feels To see it all revealed To see the world aflame A curse upon your name Machines that will not quit Obscenity and sin I hope you will permit This crooked little grin No matter how your good book reads In the beginning was the deed Did you ever wonder how you got your name? And why the people here all look the same? The angel Gabriel appeared, they got his message loud and clear And now they’re on their knees, crying father please They wallow in disease, and sing in minor keys No matter how your good book reads In the beginning was the deed
10.
This afternoon was the colour of water falling through sunlight; The trees glittered with the tumbling of leaves; The sidewalks shone like alleys of dropped maple leaves, And the houses ran along them laughing out of square, open windows. Under a tree in the park, Two little boys, lying flat on their faces, Were carefully gathering red berries To put in a pasteboard box. Some day there will be no war, Then I shall take out this afternoon And turn it in my fingers, And remark the sweet taste of it upon my palate, And note the crisp variety of its flights of leaves. To-day I can only gather it And put it into my lunch-box, For I have time for nothing But the endeavour to balance myself Upon a broken world.
11.
He was just 18 when he saw her smiling face As she danced along the streets of Montreal And in 1916 she gave her hand for him to hold In the church beneath the ancient city walls But now he lies awake, staring in the dark At the eyes of of million tiny gods And when the sun goes up, they’ll go over the top, for good…. So he writes her Black Letters By the time you read these words There will be no more war There will be only peace He was her only son And she rocked him back and forth In the cradle of the tall Alberta grain And he was scarce a man When he answered the call left her crying as as he stepped onto the train And she was all alone, staring at the moon When his body hit the sand beneath Calais And when the sun came up, his words were on the steps for her And she read his black letters… The day will come Where we look into the eyes Of a fate that is much greater than us all And by the setting sun We’ll write the words we’d wish to echo In the hearts of our loved ones should we fall Those thin dark lines, so delicate and fine, Like a road that could show the way back home But at the ending of the day, our memories will fade for good Except for our black letters
12.
bless me father I have sinned bless me if you may by the power of jesus christ I came to you this day I am just a middle farmer's boy Jim wilson is my name and I've been out hard where devil runs I'll never go again well yes I know my duty sir and I know the god I serve I tried to stay out in the eastern line I tried to keep my nerve but all I could see were lily white arms and a gold and silken dress and all I could hear was a country dance and a calling from the west chorus: well I wish I were back home in Bristol again raising a cider with West Countrymen rolling in the arms of the the fair Kitty Wrenne back home in Bristol again back home in Bristol again seventeen days and seventeen nights we held up underground through misty panes and thick green light I saw death raining down and when it all was finished I just turned away in fear bless me father and and hold my hand until the dawn is here (chorus) I hear the party coming down to wrest me from my cell father don't you pray for me or speak to me of hell just deliver me a little song and a final taste of rum and tell the buggers who shoot me down just where ol' jimmy's from (chorus)

about

This album is a tribute to all the people who lived through the First World War, and to those who didn't make it through.

credits

released November 10, 2017

All songs written by Nicholas Smyth except:

- "Up High", written by Drew Sexsmith
- "Jericho", Written by Andrew Hay
- "Black Letters", written by Kyle Taylor
- "A Broken World", lyrics adapted from "September 1918" by Amy Lowell

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The Dreadnoughts Vancouver, British Columbia

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