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Billy's prayer

from Savage Pilgrims by Matt Hill

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This is a Glass mastered CD (not a CD-R) for best quality audio and longevity. It comes in a gatefold card sleeve with a 12 page lyric booklet.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Savage Pilgrims via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      £10 GBP or more 

     

lyrics

With my face pressed hard on a sandbag as the trench starts filling with mud
Bullets are flying, grown men are crying I sense that these odds are not good
So I find myself reminiscing about the first time I sailed to New York
You see I wasn't always a soldier but I've been a fighter from the day I could walk

I was whistling 'the leaving of Liverpool' as the Pier Head disappeared
With the roar of the crowd and my true love's tears stinging in my ears
I soon found myself mid-Atlantic in a storm that had blown up from hell
As the wind cut my cheek I whispered a prayer and someone rang a bell

And the harder it blows the more I know it will not knock me down
So I turn my face to the ocean and stare the bastard down


A thousand miles up in the distance, someone's pasting a bill to a wall
It says “Battling Billy will box here in Philly” so come watch the Englishman fall
That first night I fought in Manhattan this Frenchman was giving me hell
As his glove cut my cheek, I whispered a prayer, and someone rang a bell

But the harder his blows the more I know he will not knock me down
So I turn and face my opponent and stare the bastard down

This century’s younger than I am, but already she's taken much more
I'm stuck in France sparring with chance but this time I'm fighting a war
I wish I was back on the fairgrounds but wishes won't rid me this hell
Barbed wire cuts my cheek, I whisper a prayer, and someone rings a bell

And the harder the blows the more I know they will not knock me down
So I turn my face to the bullets and stare the bastards down

credits

from Savage Pilgrims, released July 6, 2020
Matt Hill : Vocals, acoustic guitar
Sam Lench : mandolin, Cello

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Matt Hill UK

QLR (Quiet Loner Records) is home to Matt Hill a storytelling singer-songwriter and community based artist who offers a British take on folk and Americana.

‘Possibly the most important record of the year’ MAVERICK 5/5
‘An anthem for resistance’ AMERICANA UK 10/10
‘Delicate songwriting. Bleakly beautiful.’ UNCUT (4 stars)
‘Works of wonder’ R2 4/5
An absolute gem' MORNING STAR (Album of the year)
... more

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