What We Did On Our Holidays

How often she has gazed from castle windows all
And watched the daylight passing within her captive wall
With no one to heed her call

The evening hour is fading within the dwindling sun
And in a lonely moment, those embers will be gone
And the last of all the young birds flown

Her days of precious freedom, forfeited long before
To live such fruitless years behind a guarded door
But those days will last no more
Tomorrow, at this hour, she will be far away
Much farther than these islands, for the lonely Fotheringay

Please, Mr Lacey, let me work your loving machine
Please, Mr Lacey, let me work your loving machine
Will you let me control the handles, you know it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen
Well, Mr Lacey, where’d you learn just what to do?
Well, Mr Lacey, where’d you learn just what to do?
Can you fix me up now with a teacher, I wanna become an inventor too
Why, Mr Lacey, why d’you do the things you do?
Why, Mr Lacey, why d’you do the things you do?
It’s true no one here understands now but maybe someday they’ll catch up with you

If she knew what I see while I’m watching
Would she know where to smile, what to say
When she leaves from her book to be with me
Where’s her mind as she stands while I play

She left behind names in the pages
And the time she took out they stayed here
Now she thinks that she maybe should tell them
Of my book and the places she’s been

Now she’s looking at me while I’m writing
Does she know where to smile, what to say
When she leaves from her book to be with me
What’s she thinking about while I play

Hey come and make it easy
Hey come and make it back
It’s no use to be free
If lies are all the truth they see
They’ll screw up what you do
When you’re through

Hey come and make it easy
Hey come and make it back
If you need a friend
And you need a way to lose the end
You know a place for you
When you’re through

Hey come and make it easy
Hey come and make it back
It’s no use to be free
If lies are all the truth they see
They’ll screw up what you do
When you’re through

You may search at any cost
But how long can you search for what’s not lost?
Everybody will help you
Some people are very kind
But if I can save you any time

Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

I can’t help it, if you might think I’m odd
If I say I’m loving you, not for what you are but for what you’re not
Everybody will help you
Discover what you set out to find
But if I can save you any time

Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

The train leaves at half past ten
But I’ll be back tomorrow at the same time again
The conductor, he’s weary
He’s still stuck on the line
But if I can save you any time

Come on, give it to me
I’ll keep it with mine

Rain comes from the east one night
We watch it come
To hang like beaded curtains till the morning sun
Water dripping from our clothes
You, with raindrops on your nose
Ask me sadly, "Please don’t go away, love"
"Till the rain is done," I say, "I’ll stay now"

Rain outside but inside we don’t mind at all
Shadows by the fire
Slowly climb and fall
Kisses fade and leave no trace
Whispers vanish into space
None will send me on a chase to nowhere
What matters if I were the first to go there?

Morning comes up from the east
We watch it come
And far away now rolls the angry rain god’s drum
You, with daybreak in your eyes
Afraid to speak for telling lies
I watch you search for some reply to lend me
But when the rain is done we’ll stop pretending

In Nottamun Town, not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look down
Not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look down
To show me the way to fair Nottamun Town

When the king and the queen and a company more
Were a-walking behind
And riding before
Come a stark naked drummer
A-beating the drum
With his hands on his bosom come marching along

Sat down on a hard, hard cold frozen stone
Ten thousand stood around me
Yet I was alone
Took my hat in my hands
For to keep my head warm
Ten thousand got drownded that never was born

In Nottamun Town, not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look down
Not a soul would look up
Not a soul would look down
To show me the way to fair Nottamun Town

Take the sun from my heart
Let me learn to despise
I’ll show you another who cannot tell lies

The blind man can’t see
Who demands to his eyes
I’ll show you another who sings as he cries

I cannot be whole
As the beggar who sighs
I’ll show you another who knows as he dies

My young love said to me
"My mother won’t mind
And my father won’t slight you
For your lack of kind"

And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
"Oh, it will not be long, love
Till our wedding day"

And she went away from me
And moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there

And then she went onward
Just one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

Last night she came to me
My dead love came in
So softly she came
That her feet made no din

And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
"Oh, it will not be long, love
Till our wedding day"

We used to say "There’d come the day we’d all be making songs
Or finding better words" These ideas never lasted long

The way is up along the road, the air is growing thin
Too many friends who tried, blown off this mountain with the wind

Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I’m going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again

Yet now I see, I’m all alone, but that’s the only way to be
You’ll have your chance again, then you can do the work for me

Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I’m going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again

Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
When my time is up, I’m going to see all my friends
Meet on the ledge, we’re going to meet on the ledge
If you really mean it, it all comes around again