Nils Olav

by Nils Olav

Nils Olav cover art
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1.
04:52
lyrics
2.
05:15
lyrics
3.
05:15
lyrics
4.
04:16
lyrics
5.
04:27
lyrics
6.
05:25
lyrics
7.
04:39
lyrics
8.
05:10
lyrics
9.
04:43
lyrics
10.
03:45
lyrics

credits

released 30 January 2012

tags

tags: alternative anti-parable pop fable-folk winter-rock United Kingdom

license

all rights reserved

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about

Nils Olav is the project of English singer-songwriter Andy Patrick. Nils Olav's self-titled debut recording is an enchanting ... more brand of orchestral folk that sparks the imagination & cheers the heart. The record draws on a wide range of collaborators to create music of "scale and gravitas". Expansive arrangements are married with whimsical lyrics yielding songs of depth and beauty. Released 30/01/12. less

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Track Name: O Wonderful Night
Gazing through the window, curtains open, kneeling on the wooden chair
Street-lamps gleam unveiling falling snowflakes
gently floating in the air
Such unexpected sight!
How welcome here this winter's night!

Ancient leather suitcase full of knitted clothes we plunder once a year
Cosy woollen jumpers, tucked in tightly over many, many layers
Wrapped up from head to toe
No part besides from eyes exposed

Racing down the stairs, across the hall and out the door
Skidding recklessly, sent crashing to the frosty floor
We close our eyes to take us to this very place
When you least expect the answer stares you in the face
I was born nearby
I was born nearby

Sneaking through the car park, past the broken fence
Our footprints on the course
Clutching to the sleigh string, every 20 yards the snow needs emptying
We take it in turns to ride
With one decent sledge out the five

Haring down the fairway, everytime we try to stand we tumble down
Softer than a mattress; not a graze when falling headfirst to the ground
So scarcely seen again
Til' the fox and badgers share their dens

Back beside the fire, the chillblaines let us know we're home
Sipping sugared tea, the radiators clunk and moan
We snuggle up, Our frozen bodies huddled close
It's often said, "the kindest things can hurt the most"
They expose the bones
They expose the bones

I was born nearby, I was born nearby
Track Name: Factory in a Garden
Put your tools down
Put your tools down
We won't be long
We won't be long

16,000 people gathering in deep respect
Everyone a testament of the life he'd given them
For he built their houses
Planted each a garden
Gave them back their dignity
Taught their children literacy
16,000 people given opportunity
Rescued from obscurity
Lifted out of poverty
Treated individually
Not as a commodity
Room to stretch and spread their wings
Not caged in as battery hens
Track Name: Hallelu
The hundred richest men
Could not afford what I have seen
For the joy that I've received
Can only come by sheer gift

Where paths are paved with gold
The more you own the more you need
But those who feed the soul
Will never go without a meal

Hallelu

A violent angry mob
Could never take what I've been given
They could never get their hands
Upon the hope that lies within

The house that's built on sand
Is washed away without a trace
But those who build on rock
Are sheltered from the strongest gale

Hallelu

The thoughts no words convey
The languages no mouth can speak
But wordless sighs and sounds
Express the deepest mysteries
Track Name: Teddy's Nook
Henry Pease, Saltburn's founder and visionary
owned a house in the town he built
owned a house in the town he built
Sandstone walls, sheepskin rugs over tiled floors
nothing out of the ordinary
nothing out of the ordinary

Flirtations with royal fame
would give it its lasting name
the scandal! Oh the scandal!

Snaking up dirt tracks of old Saltburn town
Teddy's Nook shelters the crook and the crown
Mysteries and myths!
Mysteries and myths stalk the hallways
Prying eyes looking for stories to bleat
Peer through the letterbox, crouched on their knees
Mysteries and myths!
Mysteries and myths stalk the hallways

German spies, thieving lawyers and roaring lions
all inhabited Henry's place
all inhabited Henry's place
Future king entertained by his summer fling
taken in by her violet eyes
taken in by her violet eyes

The flashbulbs are at the door,
but Teddy ain't home no more
the romance is over

Snaking up dirt tracks of old Saltburn town
Teddy's Nook shelters the crook and the crown
Mysteries and myths!
Mysteries and myths stalk the hallways
Prying eyes looking for stories to bleat
Peer through the letterbox, crouched on their knees
Mysteries and myths!
Mysteries and myths stalk the hallways

In the walls, under floors
Wherever you look there's a sign of what's gone before
Up the stairs, in the bedrooms and halls
Track Name: Tear Your Pride in Two
If I could share my wisdom with you
One thing I would say to you
Is tear your pride in two,
tear your pride in two,
and start again

If I could take you by the hand
I would guide you to the place you
tear your pride in two
tear your pride in two
and start again

This could be your only chance
Life's too long to waste
No special filters or colour tweaks
Life's too long to waste
Track Name: Unforced Rhythms
Scarred by choices
Taxed by life invoices
Send the bill to my father
Distant noise I cannot avoid
Unless I learn to surrender

In the deep end
In the deep end with no armbands
I'm sinking
Tell a joke with
Tell a joke with no punchline
I've had enough

Learning unforced rhythms of a generous heart
Of grace and forgiveness
Don't outstay your welcome
Don't let go
I'm on my way
Get your shoes on

In the deep end
In the deep end with no armbands
I'm sinking
Tell a joke with
Tell a joke with no punchline
I've had enough
Track Name: Send the Lifeboats Out
Superheroes don't let the bad guys get away
They never give an inch
Don't step on tiptoes
As the slideshow demonstrates the evidence

Now bloom like wildflowers
Display your superpowers
And pull the pearl from the ocean

Send the lifeboats out and type the press release
There's a world capsized that never learned how to swim
Life feels a million times harder
When you've fallen overboard
You've fallen overboard


Shout in whispers
The army led with the battle-cry of a pacifist
Can you imagine
If Robin Hood and his merry men ran the government

Now bloom like wildflowers
Display your superpowers
And pull the pearl from the ocean

Send the lifeboats out and type the press release
There's a world capsized that never learned how to swim
Life feels a million times harder
When you've fallen overboard
You've fallen overboard
You've fallen overboard

Cross your name out
Join the queue
Eat the rations given you
Take the bait
We'll reel you in
Sink your boat
And sail on through
Close your ears
Close your ears
To the cries that might just change your mind.
Track Name: Through the Mist
Through the mist stands a tower
That no-one has seen
But on every hour
The chimes resound
As the bells ring out
In dusty old books
Pictures and graphs
Estimate details
And speculate facts
Of the tower’s age and its origin.

If legend’s believed then guarding the tower’s doors
Are a brethren of owls who chase away trespassers.

Late in the night the villagers meet
To share their proposals of who it should be
To walk through the mist
Outside of the walls
To see if there’s really a tower at all
But week after week there’s no volunteer
Just frozen expressions and unspoken fear
Sooner or later all will be clear
On one sunny morn when the mist disappears

Seven miles north of Robin Hood’s Bay
There’s a series of potholes
That run right the way to the western tip of the Peak District.
After every four years at quarter to eight
A genius flautist appears from the caves
Playing skilfully
The purest of melodies

After every performance a squadron of local moles
Shout out their encores although it’s to no avail

Just out of sight
With a hip-flask of gin
There’s a record executive stroking his chin
Pondering life and what it all means
And whether he’s satisfied sealing his deals
Maybe he’ll sell everything that he owns
To purchase a beautiful North Yorkshire home
The fresh country air of Hutton-le-Hole
Has got to be better than selling fool’s gold.

On a clear cloudless night we turn of the headlights
When the moon shines so bright we can see the way

Climbing up the winding staircase
Looking at the hedgehog landscape
Scratch away the thin veneer
Underneath lies the original features
Track Name: Cog Song
It was magnificent and ticked away
Its mechanisms smooth and never failing to rotate
First light
to eventide
Each part as vital as the part before
The cogs in partnership
No first or last in quality
Each vital to the cause

The little ones are driving the big ones around
The little ones are driving the big ones
The little ones are driving the big ones around

Under the canopy they slipped away
The herds of wildebeest lifting their mighty heads in fear
For no one knows the law
But from the smallest structure of them all
The very word that keeps the whole machine from falling down
Each part the very core

The little cogs are driving the big ones around
The little cogs are driving the big ones
The little cogs are driving the big ones around

Spinning the big ones around

glitter
glimmer
glisten
gleam
flicker
sparkle
shimmer
Shine
lustre
illumine
twinkle
glow
dazzle
glint



ALTERNATIVE VERSION:

Beneath the sycamore we slip away
Where morning jewels anoint
the open hands of infant shoots
While watchful eyes gaze on
Samaras spinning slowly to the ground
All time is frozen motionless
A hidden masterpiece
Never to be found

Deep in to the woodland we find our new home
Deep in to the woodland we find
Deep in to the woodland we find our new home

A silent tension broods over the land
Awoken herds, astounded, lift their mighty heads in fear
for no-one knows the law
Autumnal fires illuminate the glen
Revealing silhouettes of crumbled ruined city walls
Soon to be rebuilt

Deep in to the woodland we find our new home
Deep in to the woodland we find
Deep in to the woodland we find our new home
Track Name: Let Go
Though the storm appears too much to take
See the clouds are beginning to break
Though you feel like you've fallen from grace
There's a rainbow been forecast your way

It's time to let go of all your pain

Though the winter wind's left you all blue
With a dose of the son you'll get through
By the time that the cold's died its death
You'll be warm with the spring in your step

It's time to let go of all your pain

Let Go

When you wait for the whispers
And the wind in the trees
You can hear the birds sing of a broken man free
Oh fly
Fly
Fly away