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The dust of St​.​Peter's field

from The battle for the ballot by Quiet Loner

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    The Battle for the Ballot album on Compact Disc. Comes in a gatefold digipack with an 8 page booklet that explains more about each of the songs and the story of how the vote was won.

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lyrics

Dust of St.Peter's field

The crowd is so packed it's hats touching hats,
barely the room, for a soul to breathe
The air standing still in high summer heat,
as it carries the sound of snarling teeth
'Cause here come the horses, the deadly armed forces
of magistrate, captain and king
To contest and arrest us, to curse and disperse us,
sworn to bring order but it's chaos they bring

A vicious, pernicious, malicious militia,
of shopkeepers, millowners, a voluntary force
A respectable rabble, strapped to the saddle,
neck-oiled landlords with unsettled scores
The hooves as they circle, kick up a dust storm,
a clawing taste of clay and of earth
with grit in our eyes, hear the screams and the cries.
It sound like a death but it could be a birth


Now the wicked have drawn out their swords
and cast down the needy and poor
and the silks we once carried lie tattered and buried
in the dust of St.Peter's Field

Mrs Elizabeth Farren carries her child
desperate to find an escape
She recognises her neighbour Mr Tebbet the soldier,
but by then it's simply too late
His sabre held upright as it catches the sunlight
then swooshes and swings, down into the dust
Casually cutting her best sunday clothes,
down through the skin and finally to bone

CHORUS

A woman, her face all bloody and razed,
with her bonnet hanging down by a string
She cradles some gravel in the hem of her apron
as she fashion herself a sling
Launches a stone at a soldier but her aim isn't true
and she's sliced through the shoulder as her body falls through
She is shoved down and pushed, she is cut at and crushed,
her daughter beside her as their flesh is divided


CHORUS

As the dust finally clears, a dread sight appears,
like they opened the gates up to Hell
The ground strewn with caps, shawls , shoes and hats,
and bodies slashed, splintered and smashed
An infantry man wipes blood from a bayonet
as a smile crawls on his face
He grabs a banner as a souvenir,
of all that he's done here, the mob are back in their place

CHORUS

credits

from The battle for the ballot, released November 27, 2016

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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)
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