Track 4 of the EP Before the Stallholders Wake · 2016
Before the Stallholders Wake
“The market square before anyone arrives, all crates and canvas. I wanted it to sound like the first cup of tea.”
art song · art song · folk-tinged · 4:09
Lyrics
Canvas rolls out in the half-dark square Crates of apples stacked with care A kettle hisses on a camping stove Steam goes up where the lamplights rove Someone hums as the trestles go down Cabbages crowned in a green-leaf gown Jars of honey catch the first pale light Gold on the table at the edge of night Before the stallholders wake the town Before the first footsteps come There is a hush with the morning in it Soft as a loaf of bread, still warm Everything waits to be chosen Everything glows in the dawn Before the stallholders wake the town The whole bright world is born Strings of onions swing on a hook Flour on a sleeve and a thumbed old book Pears in a row like a patient choir Cold hands cupped round a cup of fire Before the stallholders wake the town Before the first footsteps come There is a hush with the morning in it Soft as a loaf of bread, still warm Everything waits to be chosen Everything glows in the dawn Before the stallholders wake the town The whole bright world is born Then a shutter lifts and a voice calls out A bell, a laugh, a gentle shout The square takes breath, the day begins But I keep this quiet tucked within Before the stallholders wake the town Before the first footsteps come There is a hush with the morning in it Soft as a loaf of bread, still warm Everything waits to be chosen Everything glows in the dawn Before the stallholders wake the town The whole bright world is born Soft as a loaf of bread, still warm The whole bright world is born