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Crow Coyote Buffalo

by Mama

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Comes in a high quality six-panel digipack made of 100% recycled cardboard with original cover artwork by Feargal Shiels and booklet design by Sarah Turner. If you like, Sarah can sign the CD with a personal message to you or the intended recipient, if it's going to be a gift – just indicate how and to whom you'd like it signed in the "Leave comment for the seller" link on the checkout page. As Zoë is now living in Sussex it may be more difficult to get her signature on the album, but feel free to ask and we'll make it happen if we can! NOTE: Also includes immediate download of 11 track album in your choice of 320k mp3, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.
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1.
Hyacinths pink and blue Love no longer true White magnolia tree Why have you turned from me Oh what’s this I hear In a swallow’s tear I can hear That I am the fool of spring Mockingbird, goldfinch, wren How can I trust you again Thrush in a blackthorn tree Why have you turned from me Oh what’s this I hear In a swallow’s tear I can hear That I am the fool of spring How could you use me so Somebody should have told me, why did nobody tell me I was the last to know Everywhere I hear the sound of laughter Lambs on the mountainside She is to be your bride Salmon turn to the sea Why have you turned from me Oh what’s this I hear In a swallow’s tear I can hear That I am the fool of spring
2.
I go out in the light of morning I go out in the light of day Let the desert sky surround me Let the desert have its way Will you call Hello? In the white light In the dry grass Crow, coyote, buffalo Hello? I am an eagle flying over I am a lizard on the ground In your eyes there is a vision In your ears there is a sound Will you call Hello? In the white light In the dry grass Crow, coyote, buffalo Hello? Oh you better walk tall See the crow fly, hear coyote call Oh feel the ground shake Buffalo runs, the desert’s awake
3.
Claimed by your calling before you were conceived Already dancing before you learned to speak Now you are teaching and I am at your feet My heart is yearning and you are all I see Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights The rhythm of the drumming, the flickering of the lamp All night ’til morning you worship with your dance The beauty of a woman, the body of a man Five hundred meanings in the movement of a hand Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights Green for the hero and yellow for his wife Black for the hunter with eyes of red and white An entertainer for princes and for gods To be their pleasure, your reason and your cause I am no better, the freedom I have sought Confines me tighter than any prison lock Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights Oh Kathakali boy in the coloured lights
4.
Open your eyes Welcome the morning light Look at the trees Hear morning melodies Liquid sunshine liquid sunshine And every morning you will be here In your liquid sunshine And every morning we will be here In our liquid sunshine liquid sunshine Here in this room You are my morning tune You are my song Kyrie eleison Liquid sunshine liquid sunshine And every morning you will be here In your liquid sunshine And every morning we will be here In our liquid sunshine liquid sun– Yesterday when I lay down you were not here But now But now But now
5.
Western 05:44
You are resting suspended on a blanket of warm summer air, gazing down through the darkness at the barely perceptible features of the desert below: arroyos and mesas, gulches and gullies, dry stream beds that twist and meander, deepening and widening into vast canyons that stretch for miles and miles .... Wind blows warm in the summer Grass grows brown in the summer Got my gold and my wide eyes Canyons broad where my soul flies Sleep brings My western dream Oh ... Stars glow bright in the night sky Spirits roam in my mind’s eye Swing down low over tall trees Rustling leaves in the soft breeze Sleep brings My western dream Oh ... Fly like a sprite, fly through the night Fly to the light, let it shine through you Fly like a sprite, fly through the night Fly to the light, let it shine through you Your belly brushes the tips of the great Ponderosa pines, the soft needles scraping against your skin, the rustling of the branches disturbing the sleep of the birds roosting there, and they flutter and call out anxiously to one another as you pass. Down on the ground, nocturnal hunters glance up, their eyes reflecting the starlight and glinting yellow and red, while you travel slowly onward, awed and captivated, bewildered and happy. Raise my eyes to the morning Frozen limbs in the dawning Left my soul on the high plains Reel it in with a long rein Sleep brings My western dream Oh ...
6.
Why do I need feet When I have wings to fly In my house of blue Bluer than the sky These broken bones Teach me to be free I spend my days alone I am what I see And what I see I don’t forget I see myself in burning colours Red, yellow Oh aquí me pinté yo A leafy vine Trails beside my hair I turn my eyes The mirror meets my stare And what I see I don’t forget I see myself in burning colours Red, yellow Oh aquí me pinté yo I am tired but I am happy I am tired but I am happy ¿Pies para qué los quiero si tengo alas pa’ volar? I am tired but I am happy Espero alegre la salida – y espero no volver jamás I am tired but I am happy
7.
Dancing Girl 03:27
All the people watch the dancing girl All the people watch the dancing girl I want his head, that’s right, she said He judged me with his eyes She’s such a graceful dancer, see her with the lamplight on her He would not love me, now he’s paying with his life Warm skin, golden, bending and turning and arching and swirling All the people watch the dancing girl All the people watch the dancing girl I want his head, that’s right, she said The things we do are all he sees Seven veils flutter, one touches your shoulder You are my witness, he spurned me when I kissed his feet Enticing, delighting, you couldn’t help loving her, couldn’t help loving her All the people watch the dancing girl All the people watch the dancing girl My sisters, sweet unknown Flowers of the desert Close your eyes and give yourself To the beating of the drum All the people watch the dancing girl All the people watch the dancing girl I want his head, that’s right, she said, I want his head All the people watch the dancing girl All the people watch the dancing girl
8.
Wands of willow, swords of steel The dancing fool and fortune’s wheel With watercolour, ink and pen She makes the symbols live again The Lovers ... She lets the music guide her hand To ancient times and other lands Joins in esoteric rites That satisfy strange appetites The Lovers ... Blood from the broken cup Fire from the sky Unseen hands to lift it up Stars falling on earth Blood from the broken cup Hooded and bound Unseen hands to lift it up She seeks further The Lovers ... Hearing pictures, seeing sounds Crimson wings and oak leaf crowns She gives the poet’s vision form A sister of the Golden Dawn The Lovers ...
9.
In the half-light Of the evening I saw him at my window In his watching You were calling And I wanted to follow You are love and love is you You are love and love is you In the darkness He was gleaming And I shrank from his smile He was shimmering He was laughing And he mocked my denial You are love and love is you You are love and love is you The smile of the falling rain The smile of the falling rain When I looked back He was not there But his smile stayed to taunt me Pipe and tabor Played a sweet song That forever will haunt me You are love and love is you You are love and love is you
10.
I hear the water dancing In the stream that flows at my feet In the shadows, in the sunlight I am healed and I am at peace There are words and there are echoes There are voices whispering At the waterside I have lived and I have travelled Far from the country I came from In the shelter of this garden I have found a place to call home There are words and there are echoes There are voices whispering At the waterside And when the light is fading And evening is starting to fall I will stay here and take my refuge From the world’s insistent call I hear the water dancing In the stream that flows at my feet In the shadows, in the sunlight I am healed and I am at peace There are words and there are echoes There are voices whispering At the waterside
11.
Morning rides the colour of the water gods Sweet swallows wrap their wings in your hair And the water falls down Wild eyes look down on the coloured dove Her hand reaches out and the pain is gone I see you in the darkness I see you in light I see your eyes shining in through the night Make it feel make it feel so unreal Like a wind in the desert like a moon on the sea Sunshine on a rainy day Sunshine on a rainy day And you arrived with a mountain crown The creatures came to hear the sound We rattled bones and stars fell down And colour sweeps the barren ground You touch me with your spirit you touch me with your heart You touch me in the darkness I feel it start Make it feel make it feel like I belong Don’t leave me won’t leave me all alone Sunshine on a rainy day Sunshine on a rainy day We dreamed the day and the colour blue Then we were blinded by the sight of you Baby cries love come strong And children grow as time moves on Sweet is the fragrance of the star flower As it clings to the breathing rocks in the wind and the rain She painted herself the colour of the night and the wild wild wild water it came And then she swallowed the earth and the sky so we could fly Sunshine on a rainy day Sunshine on a rainy day Sunshine on a rainy day

about

When pop star turned potter Zoë Pollock and trad/folk innovator Sarah McQuaid both fetched up in rural west Cornwall after years of world rambling, the stage was set for a musical partnership whose unique sound defies any attempt at categorisation.

With Zoë supplying the melodic hooks and Sarah contributing lyrics and guitar licks, the pair have formed the new band Mama – they each have two children and literally met at the school gates!

Their debut CD, Crow Coyote Buffalo, fuses the diverse styles of the two women, Sarah’s trad/folk perspective meeting Zoë’s offbeat approach head-on. Recorded mostly at Sarah’s home in the countryside west of Penzance, with ace engineer Martin Stansbury at the controls, the album consists of ten songs co-written by the pair – plus, as a bonus track, Zoë’s recently released update of her 1991 hit single ‘Sunshine On A Rainy Day’.

The songs are idiosyncratic and beguiling, ranging from the upbeat ‘Fool Of Spring’ and ‘Dancing Girl’ to more meditative offerings like ‘Western’, with its mesmerising spoken-word interludes, and ‘The Lovers’, a hypnotic ode to Tarot card illustrator Pamela Colman Smith. ‘Kathakali Boy’ takes its inspiration from the classical dance drama tradition of Kerala, India, while ‘Aquí Me Pinté Yo’ pays tribute to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Comparisons have been drawn to the likes of The Doors and Crosby, Stills & Nash, and there are strong folk and jazz influences running through (not to mention cowgirl twangs, Eastern rhythms and Mariachi trumpets) ... but above all, these are songs that lodge firmly in the brain and stay there.

As her loyal fans already know, Zoë is blessed with a distinctive, powerful voice that’s only improved with maturity, and she’s an adept player of both guitar and ukelele. With the addition of inventive harmonies, countermelodies and instrumental flourishes from Sarah (who authored a highly regarded guitar tutor and has already found success on the folk scene as a solo performer), Mama is a force to be reckoned with.

credits

released November 24, 2008

All songs written by Zoë Pollock (PRS) and Sarah McQuaid (IMRO), with the exception of Sunshine On A Rainy Day 2008, written by Zoë Pollock (PRS) and Martin Glover (PRS)

Mama are
Zoë Pollock – vocals, ukelele, classical guitar
Sarah McQuaid – vocals, steel-string guitar, Nord Electro keyboard
with special guests
Andy Jarvis – percussion, drum kit, accordion, trumpet, harmonium
Tiffany Bryant – flute

Produced and engineered by Martin Stansbury
Recorded and mixed at various locations in West Cornwall
Mastered by Sander van der Heide at Polyhymnia International, Baarn, The Netherlands
Booklet design by Sarah Turner
Original cover artwork by Feargal Shiels
Photographs of Zoë and Sarah by Murray Lachlan Young
Other photography by Sarah Turner
Sarah McQuaid plays a guitar made by Andy Manson (www.andymanson.com) and uses John Pearse 80/20 Bell Bronze strings (www.jpstrings.com)

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Mama UK

When pop star turned potter Zoë Pollock and trad/folk innovator Sarah McQuaid both fetched up in rural west Cornwall after years of world rambling, the stage was set for a musical partnership whose unique sound defies any attempt at categorisation.

"A pleasingly maverick mix that recalls both the eccentricity of The Incredible String Band and the pastoral narratives of Lal Waterson." – MOJO
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