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Beeswing
Written by Richard Thompson


I was nineteen when I came to town, they called it the Summer of Love
They were burning babies, burning flags. The hawks against the doves
I took a job in the steamie down on Cauldrum Street
And I fell in love with a laundry girl who was working next to me

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

Brown hair zig-zag around her face and a look of half-surprise
Like a fox caught in the headlights, there was animal in her eyes
She said "Young man, oh can't you see I'm not the factory kind
If you don't take me out of here I'll surely lose my mind"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine that I might crush her where she lay
She was a lost child, she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We busked around the market towns and picked fruit down in Kent
And we could tinker lamps and pots and knives wherever we went
And I said that we might settle down, get a few acres dug
Fire burning in the hearth and babies on the rug
She said "Oh man, you foolish man, it surely sounds like hell.
You might be lord of half the world, you'll not own me as well"

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
So fine a breath of wind might blow her away
She was a lost child, oh she was running wild
She said "As long as there's no price on love, I'll stay.
And you wouldn't want me any other way"

We was camping down the Gower one time, the work was pretty good
She thought we shouldn't wait for the frost and I thought maybe we should
We was drinking more in those days and tempers reached a pitch
And like a fool I let her run with the rambling itch

Oh the last I heard she's sleeping rough back on the Derby beat
White Horse in her hip pocket and a wolfhound at her feet
And they say she even married once, a man named Romany Brown
But even a gypsy caravan was too much settling down
And they say her flower is faded now, hard weather and hard booze
But maybe that's just the price you pay for the chains you refuse

Oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing
And I miss her more than ever words could say
If I could just taste all of her wildness now
If I could hold her in my arms today
Well I wouldn't want her any other way

Jerry,

Thanks so much for posting this. I've often been curious about the work of Richard and Linda (now married to David Foster) Thompson. I'd heard their names in connection with many projects, but this is the first opportunity I've had to actually read his work. It's lovely, and I thank you, once more.

Linda.

I love Richard Thompson !!
has anyone listened to "Front Parlour Ballads" ? It's my favourite 2005 non-Cohen album.

I have Front Parlour Ballads. Got it the day of its release. It grows on me more with each new listen.

Does it have the romance one might expect in a front-parlour ballad?

Romance in the 'front' parlour? Oh, Lizzy, you have found a 'daring' streak in ya, woman!

Richard Thompson...the ex of Linda Thompson, who is the 'now' of David Foster...? Glad to know that L.A/Nashville and NY, haven't lost their labyrinth of relations. Professional and otherwise. Britain would be far too hard a task at this time...in the mornin'.

Linda.

For anyone who found these verses beautiful, a cover can be found on Christy Moore's new CD, Burning Times.

Romance, Linda ~ not sex !

All varieties of subtleties, innuendoes, and contained desires . Romance .

~ Lizzy

Last I heard, sex was a desire=romance. In my books anyway. Somebody tell me that LC's romance doesn't equate sex. - it makes the world go round after all! Or it that 'love'? It's all the same thing under different names!

No matter. I won't quibble over love, sex or romance. Under any other name. There's always just a 'hint' of something forbidden. Where better to find the forbidden fruit than in art/music?

In a different vein, thanks again Jerry, you've a lot of Linda and Richard Thompson in your memory banks. I always meant to ask you, how much the poet you had in yourself. But, I won't ask. I'll let you spill at your own will.

Linda.
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...oh she was a rare thing, fine as a bee's wing...

Hmm.

I haven't ever heard of Richard Thompson before this. But on the strength of these lyrics I'm definitely going to check him out.

The last part made me think of a few women that I've known, how they ended up, and how they once were back in their glory. As Johhny Cash sang, "I don't like it but I guess things happen that way." Like the guy in the song, I prefer to think of how they were back in the day.

"Fine as a bee's wing" is a good line. Thanks for turning me on to this guys work. With all of the Cohen fans here I'm guessing that there will be some more great artists that I'll find out about...because we all seem to have a deep respect for quality lyrics.
Kevin

Ali!

You're kidding!? These are on Christy's disc(s). OR this one at least? My computer is becoming a jewel box. I'll go digging later.

Have a Happy, all!

Linda.

Ahh ~ I meant 'outright' sex, that might relate to the "daring" aspect.

The front parlours were frought with desire which, of course, hearkens to the ultimate .

There's always just a 'hint' of something forbidden. Where better to find the forbidden fruit than in art/music?

Or, in the front parlour ~ and the front-parlour ballads .

You can hear Beeswing here.

http://s65.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=15JF ... I9QDLVAPSB

Here's a link to his website

http://www.richardthompson-music.com/