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First Farewell

by Peggy Seeger

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Full colour digipack with 12pp booklet of song notes. Photography by Vicki Sharp, artwork & design by Kitty MacColl

    Includes unlimited streaming of First Farewell via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
DANDELION AND CLOVER words, music © Peggy Seeger administered by Harmony Music , Ltd A little boy came to our kitchen door Can she come out to play? We ran all the way to our wild place To blow dandelion fairies and look for the four-leaf clover We were seven. Before he was eight it was over He fell asleep on the school room floor And they took him away to heaven But he would come back and marry me I knew he’d remember me With a boy from a painting I lay new born Under the harvest moon In April he cut out my heart and left To blow dandelion fairies and lie with my friend in the clover It was over. All over He died long ago on a highway A beautiful father of children But he comes back now and then When I remember him Sorrow and joy are bound together Sweet lover, remember me Come back, come back And lie in my arms forever In the dark of night I lie awake And wait for the winter moon I dream of you and wild places Of dandelion and clover Soon it will be over... all over Gone away But songs don’t die on a school room floor Tomorrow I’ll come to your kitchen door Will you come out to play? Will you come out to play?
2.
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Written by Neill MacColl and Peggy Seeger Publishing: Barking Green Music & Bucks Music Group What a beautiful, beautiful baby Said the face looking down from the sky The neighbour joined in and tickled my chin What a beautiful baby was I Growing up I made sure of attention Everyone’s eyes were on me And into my teens I was never not seen The whole world revolved around me, me, me I was here for the birth of my children I was here, the belle of the ball 80 years have gone by in the blink of an eye Now it seems that I’m not here at all Here comes the invisible woman She’s been on the planet for years You can’t make her out But there’s never a doubt The invisible woman is here I strolled down the high street on Sunday In clown shoes and lace underwear Did they notice my dance? Not one single glance So I guess that I can’t have been there I can’t recall when it first happened Don't know how I became so unseen When my tangible self was put on the shelf These words on the label: ‘has been’ Here comes the invisible woman She’s been on the planet for years You can’t make her out But there’s never a doubt The invisible woman is here Why should I feel so much less than I am? There is so much more of me now Grey hair, whiskers, wrinkles and such Dressing for comfort, longing for touch It should be so simple It feels like so much To ask you to see me It’s only a feature of nature You will start vanishing too You will get old, left out in the cold The ghost army’s waiting for you Like the leaves that fall before winter Like the day that turns into the night We may not have a choice But we still have a voice The invisible gals love a fight Here comes the invisible woman She’s been on the planet for years She has plenty to say, she won’t go away The invisible woman is here, here, here The invisible woman is here
3.
Lubrication 02:27
LUBRICATION words, music © Peggy Seeger administered Bucks Music aka Harmony Music Certain moving parts Are meant to get along together They need to slip and slide, float and glide ‘Cause they wanna go on forever Gotta take care of moving parts They’re easily irritated Make ‘em scrape and they’ll get out of shape Keep them lubricated You need grease to make ‘em do their job It’s not just a matter of luck It’s a matter of skill, cooperation and will Remember that, when you find you’re stuck Did the earth move for you last night, dear? It sure did move for me and my mate ‘Cause the earth needs oil, water and gas To regulate the state of her tectonic plates With the mining and frackin’ the crust is crackin’ We’re putting our money on luck For want of lubrication the game goes down Remember that, when we’re finally stuck
4.
All In The Mind (words & music, Calum Maccoll & Peggy Seeger) Chorus Is there a place where everything goes? Everyone’s looking and nobody knows Is there a way, a map or a sign? Or is it just dreaming? All in the mind She lives on her own, the children are gone They talk on the phone but they don’t talk for long She tells herself stories, sings herself songs Turns back the clock and tries to hold on Chorus And looks for the place where everything goes Everyone’s looking and nobody knows Is there a way, a map or a sign? Or is it just dreaming? All in the mind All in the mind The days are so long, he doesn’t work any more Doesn’t know who he is, doesn’t know what he’s for A rudderless ship, a pawn in the game He’s losing himself but he tries just the same Chorus To look for the place where everything goes Everyone’s looking and nobody knows Is there a way, a map or a sign? Or is it just dreaming? All in the mind All in the mind Love, happiness, money and stuff Whatever we have, it’s never enough So little space and never the time No room for the treasure we’re trying to find There isn’t a place where everything goes Everyone’s looking and everyone knows There isn’t a way, a map or a sign Everyone’s dreaming All in the mind Whatever we’re seeking and hoping to find Is already here, it’s all in the mind Already here, it’s all in the mind It’s already here, it’s all in the mind
5.
We Are Here 03:25
WE ARE HERE ©2017 Calum MacColl & Peggy Seeger Publishing Bucks Music Group / copyright control So many ways to say the same old things And one way to listen, really listen So many ways to forget who we are, you and me One way to remember One way to see Are you listening? I’m on my phone, you’re on your phone We’re sitting at the bar, together apart, together alone I’m posting a selfie and you start to laugh And show me a cat falling off a table I laugh too. It’s funny But we don’t talk any more Or just walk any more Look at me, be with me I am here. You are here We are here We are here So many ways to hate, distrust, divide, exclude One way to tell all your friends, all your friends, all your friends So many little lies tell one big truth about a liar It’s easy to start a forest fire Hard to put it out You’re on your phone, I’m on my phone You swipe left, I swipe right, together apart, together alone You’re texting your mum and I start to laugh And show you an orange man strutting off the edge of the world You laugh too. Then start to cry We don’t talk any more Or just walk any more Look at me, be with me I am here You are here We are here We are here We are all here We are here Are we listening? Really listening?
6.
The Puzzle 02:14
THE PUZZLE Words & music Peggy Seeger Published by Bucks Music Group Born with a question mark carved on your face Her heart in your hand, she gave you one piece to put in its place A corner piece, and only one space It wasn’t a game Was it a dream? A dream Through black and white windows A curtain of flowers We work at the frame, neat and in order A childhood of hours Completing the border It wasn’t a dream Beautiful Remember? Edges of time Confine and change the curves Of trust and love to guilt and blame Till less and less is left in reserve Sometimes the pieces all look the same It was never a game Through black and white windows A blue summer day The puzzle is done, but some of the pieces were lost on the way Begin again? Or shall we go? We always knew, we always knew The very last piece would be left for you For you
7.
LULLABIES FOR STRANGERS words, music and © 2015 Peggy Seeger & Kate St. John administered by Harmony Music, Ltd., & Barking Green Music I live in a room in a grey country Seven years I live alone Seven years away from you I care for children in a stranger's home When I tie their shoes, I think of you When I brush their hair, I think of you I give them love, they take my hand I sing our songs in this strange land Lullabies for a stranger's children Who sings for my own little birds? Sing lullabies in a foreign land Where no one understands No one Here the dark nights come so early Now I'm free to close the door Free to sit and sing to you, Kissing shadows, always wanting more For you I'm here in this cold country For you I work and live alone So you won't need to leave your children And wish you had a heart of stone Lullabies for a stranger's children Who sings for my own little birds? Sing lullabies in a foreign land Where no one understands I stand at the bus stop and stare at the sky Maybe soon, maybe next year I will fly away Fly away to my own little birds Ladybird, fly away home Never have to leave your children And wish you had a heart of stone Lullabies for a stranger's children Who sings for my own little birds? Sing lullabies in a foreign land Where no one understands
8.
ONE OF THOSE BEAUTIFUL BOYS Written by Peggy Seeger & Kate St John Publishing: Bucks Music / Barking Green I knew him He was one of those beautiful boys Each of them alone, on their own I knew him So gentle, so quiet, no swagger, no noise One of those beautiful children One of those beautiful boys Can’t move Another year, nothing’s changed Nothing to give, don’t know how to live Can’t move See me, hear me, love me, touch me The walls of my room are above me Don’t want to leave but I have to go The sea sweeps through our house The stars have all gone out The dog sits down close to me A bird sings on the branch of that tree A bird sings on that tree One of those beautiful boys One of those beautiful boys
9.
Tree of Love 01:29
TREE OF LOVE words, music, Peggy Seeger Published by Bucks Music Group I did not plant the seeds of love They sprang when first I saw you I was lost… lost and found On my knees before you Love springs beneath your feet Love lights the skies above me I have no memory of the time before The day you said you loved me Now thirty years are come and gone Filled with tears and laughter And should our tree of love fall down I'd care not what came after
10.
HOW I LONG FOR PEACE words and music, Peggy Seeger administered by Harmony Music O how I long for peace Among the peoples and the nation How I long to halt the plunder Of the wonders of creation O how I long for peace I cannot understand How the sisters, wives and mothers Cannot stop the slaughter Of the husbands, sons and brothers O how I long for peace Among the peoples and the nation How I long to halt the plunder Of the wonders of creation O how I long for peace There never will be peace Till men abandon fighting As the way to deal with problems That prevent us from uniting O how I long for peace Among the peoples and the nation How I long to halt the plunder Of the wonders of creation O how I long for peace The profits made from war There's few that can resist them Hypocrisy and greed control The lifeblood of the system O how I long for peace Among the peoples and the nation How I long to halt the plunder Of the wonders of creation O how I long for peace The earth can wait no longer For political permission Sit down, disrupt, do anything To make the whole world listen O how I long for peace Among the peoples and the nation How I long to halt the plunder Of the wonders of creation O how I long for peace
11.
GOTTA GET HOME BY MIDNIGHT (aka Getting Younger by the Hour) words, music ©2013 Peggy Seeger When I wake up in the morning I’m a 100 years old My feet on the floor and I’m 99 A good hot shower and I’m looking at 80 After breakfast I’m 79 Gettin’ younger by the hour Gotta get home by midnight It’s a beautiful day, and I’m 64 in new red shoes My kitchen is a dance floor Lunchtime and I’m in my prime 50 and I'm heading for 49 Gettin’ younger by the hour Gotta get home by midnight An hour ago I was 41, I said I was 39 But now I’m 20 heading for my teens Hormones drivin' me out of my mind If I stay any longer I'll be buyin' those blue jeans The ones manufactured with the holes all over Gettin’ younger by the hour Gotta get home by midnight When the clock strikes 12, Nature resumes her own gravitational plan Then I'm hittin’ the road with Father Time Draggin’ me by the hand But I'm gonna leave a little glass slipper behind Before the rats start pulling my van Gettin’ younger by the hour Gotta get home by midnight My doorbell rang in the middle of the night Prince Charming is standing there He gazed into my blue eyes He said 'They’re the colour of time.' He knelt down by my chair And that little glass slipper just fitted me fine. He’s waitin’ for me now in the moonlight He said ‘Come home whenever you like' I want to run my hands through his curly grey hair So goodnight… I gotta get home

about

‘First Farewell’ will likely be Peggy Seeger’s final original solo album, but mellowing is not her style and she’s not going quietly. Her remarkable 24th solo album underscores her importance & continued relevance as a songwriter and performer, cementing her place as one of the most uncompromising and inspiring female artists of any genre and age.

First Farewell is the first to be written and recorded entirely with Peggy’s immediate family members. Son Calum MacColl produced the album as well as co-writing & performing, and eldest son Neill MacColl and daughter-in-law Kate St John (Dream Academy) also feature as musicians and co-writers. It’s also her first album to reference her roots as a classically trained pianist rather than entirely as a folk musician. The simple piano arrangements hark back to the avant-garde compositions of her mother, the Guggenheim fellowship composer Ruth Crawford Seeger.

credits

released April 9, 2021

Writing credits:
All 100% Peggy Seeger except:
The Invisible Woman - Peggy Seeger & Neill MacColl
All in the Mind - Peggy Seeger & Calum MacColl
We are Here - Peggy Seeger & Calum MacColl
Lullabies for Strangers - Peggy Seeger & Kate St John
One of those Beautiful Boys - Peggy Seeger & Kate St John
Peggy’s publishing - Bucks Music Group
Calum MacColl’s publishing - copyright control
Neill MacColl’s publishing - Barking Green Music
Kate St John’s publishing - Barking Green Music

Musician credits:
Dandelion and Clover Peggy Seeger vocals, Kate St John cor anglais
The Invisible Woman Peggy Seeger vocals, Calum MacColl guitar, Neill MacColl guitar, Kate St John accordion & BVs
Lubrication Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Calum MacColl guitar
All in the Mind Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Calum MacColl vocals & guitar, Kate St John accordion
We are Here Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Calum MacColl vocals & guitar
The Puzzle Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Calum MacColl guitar
Lullabies for Strangers Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Calum MacColl ebow
One of those Beautiful Boys Peggy Seeger vocals & piano, Kate St John oboe
Tree of Love Peggy Seeger vocals & concertina, Calum MacColl organ
How I Long for Peace Peggy Seeger vocals & piano
Gotta Get Home by Midnight Peggy vocals & guitar

Produced by Calum MacColl
Mixed by Calum Malcolm

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Peggy Seeger London, UK

Peggy Seeger is a totally unique artist who has carved a special place in the folk revival of both the UK and the USA.

As Ewan MacColl’s partner and muse, she was the inspiration for MacColl’s classic ‘The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face’ yet this is a woman who has consistently followed her own path with passion and vigour.
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