1. |
Red Shades of Blue
03:51
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December frost on the cobblestones
Bridges cast in monochrome
Naked trees on the boulevards
Your words take me back in time
Ice drifting through the city’s heart
Floating islands of my thoughts
About the heartbreak you revealed
On a fragment of your past
Was there ice that December
When the eagle rode the flames
Could you see the storm coming
Did you face it on your own
Julia, I’ve been looking for you
I want to know
You found a love that was true
Julia, I’ll keep looking for you
I won’t forget
The red shades of blue
I wonder if you found out why
His replies never came
He could count on his liberty
While yours was stolen day by day
Echoes from the courtyard
Shadows in the stairwell
Did you find salvation
From hell’s carousel
Julia, I’ve been looking for you
I want to know
You found a love that was true
Julia, I’ll keep looking for you
I won’t forget
The red shades of blue
Julia, I’ve been looking for you
I want to know
You found a love that was true
Julia, I’ll keep looking for you
I won’t forget
The red shades of blue
Red shades of blue
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2. |
Star in My Shadow
04:45
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I remember silver birds
Higher than the sun
Long white fingers followed them
Spring had just begun
They looked so beautiful
In the April blue
Steel in place of feathers
They thundered as they flew
You helped me down the spiral stairs
Banshees howled and wailed
The musty cellar and the rats
With their scary teeth and tails
Your hand on my shoulder
The smile in your voice
You faced the terror with us
Even though you had a choice
You’re the star in my shadow
In days of sunshine
In days of darkness
You’re the star in my shadow
Shines the light
Of your love on me
We saw them take you in their car
I couldn’t say goodbye
We would follow in your tracks
Sometime in July
All these years later
There’s a street with your name
Where we walked together
We walk together now
You’re the star in my shadow
In days of sunshine
In days of darkness
You’re the star in my shadow
Shines the light
Of your love on me
We lost you in that valley
But I heard your echo there
You loved that song of David’s
My refuge in the nightmare
You’re the star in my shadow
In days of sunshine
In days of darkness
You’re the star in my shadow
Shines the light
Of your love on me
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3. |
Nightingale
04:54
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They called you the nightingale
Of the silver screen
I heard you on the radio
You smiled from magazines
The barbed wire on the window
Was scraping at the pane
When you sat down by my side
I knew I’d see my home again
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, I am free
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, we are free
They brought me to this fortress
From their vipers’ den
I wouldn’t give them answers
They’d have my friends condemned
You saw my wounds wouldn’t heal
We hadn’t slept for days
You sang to us about the sea
While searchlights prowled for prey
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, I am free
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, we are free
You turned your back on limelight
For the role of your life
Death defying masquerades
High stakes charades
With the wrong kind of stars
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, I am free
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, we are free
Nightingale, sing to me
When you sing, we are free
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4. |
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She works behind the curtain
In her salon late at night
The milliner to the stars
Holds the pillbox to the light
She smoothes the chiffon ribbon
Under feathers and the lace
A confection in scarlet
For the First Lady’s date
It brings to mind one she wore
In a film about doomed love
Made in black and white
But she called for matching gloves
Shown back home again
After thirty years taboo
Her hits on shortwave
It feels sweet but bitter too
Time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
They say time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
She yearns to see the Danube
But fears she can’t go back
Her sleep is often broken
By ghosts of men in black
Nearly killed for being human
Her light refused to die
Home is now Manhattan
Her client’s due at nine
Time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
They say time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
Actress by accident
Diva by design
Voice of a dying age
Chanteuse of the lost
They say time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
Time heals
But the healed heart still hurts
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5. |
Crimson Burned the Night
04:13
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Those June days were dark as night
She thought they’d be her last
Making lists of all they had
Of their stolen past
Typed with carbons for death’s rubber stamp
Count the teaspoons once more
The children’s shoes and table lamps
The doctor’s gown on the door
Walls went up, the gates locked down
Crowded frozen floors
Christmas Eve brought the siege
Hell tore open its bowels
Flames of crimson burned the night
The world she knew long gone
Life by trial hour by hour
No shelter from the guns
Danger past, walls torn down
She put on her doctor’s gown
She blessed her boys when tanks returned
Her healer’s gift for their new found home
Half the world away
She looked back while wrapping gifts
For Christmas with her son
Forty-four years before
She thought their time had come
One more trip across the sea
Her son had booked her flight
She flew on Pan Am 103
And crimson burned the night
She met her fate among the clouds
When crimson burned the night
When crimson burned the night
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6. |
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From cruel Carpathia
To cold Calton Hill
By way of Jupiter
An alien, still
You made the pieces fit
But I lost you so soon
To make some sense of it
I tried to believe
The world will still be beautiful
The world will still be beautiful
When you are gone
When you are gone
Sunrise gold
On the old limes’ new green
Blackbird sings
Its welcome to spring
My voyage is near its end
I’ll return to the stars
Time has failed to mend
This tear in my heart but the
The world will still be beautiful
The world will still be beautiful
When we are gone
When we are gone
I searched for you in my dreams
I found you once in thirty years
A moment’s joy in the void
I miss you so much
You made the pieces fit
I miss you so much
The world will still be beautiful
The world will still be beautiful
Beautiful
Beautiful
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7. |
Letter from Home
04:12
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She opened the letter from home
While coffee was starting to brew
Her mother’s neat hand on rough squared paper
Just like when she was at school
Are you eating enough
Do you miss my baking
The city is so far away
She turned down the flame on the stove
And stood by the window to read
Her father’s cold voice called out from the page
She felt the need to sit down
Times have been hard
There’s work to be done
Your place is back on the farm
She dared raise her eyes
From the millstone to the stars
To a life to be lived
To love and be loved
Burnt coffee splattered the stove
Ink ran wild in her teardrops
She pulled on her shoes, ran over the cobbles
To the castle walls
Farewell to the city
Her river and bridges
Their sorrow and beauty
And to her dreams
She dared raise her eyes
From the millstone to the stars
To a life to be lived
To love and be loved
She dared raise her eyes
From the millstone to the stars
To a life to be lived
To love and be loved
Years go by
Some things never change
Life goes on
Heartbreak remains
She dared raise her eyes
From the millstone to the stars
To a life to be lived
To love and be loved
She dared raise her eyes
From the millstone to the stars
To a life to be lived
To love and be loved
A life to be lived
To love and be loved
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8. |
Rudi's War
03:34
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Rudi took the westbound train
His final stop was Waverley
All he had was his uniform
And half a pack of Wills Embassy
He knew there was no way back
Home was out of bounds
Welcomed like a long lost son
On Auld Reekie’s hallowed ground
Rudi’s war was with his curse
Shadows cast by demon thirst
Lured to shores of oblivion
Sweet sirens called his name
He caught the eye of a Magyar maiden
She saw his easy charm
He wondered if she really loved him
But found the homeland in her arms
Lonely hearts in a strange new land
In the strangest times
She said yes and gave her hand
They cried to Auld Lang Syne
Rudi’s war was with his curse
Shadows cast by demon thirst
Lured to shores of oblivion
Sweet sirens called his name
She said yes and gave her hand
She thought he’d change in time
Now Rudi’s war was also hers
They cried for Auld Lang Syne
Rudi’s war was with his curse
Shadows cast by demon thirst
Lured to shores of oblivion
Sweet sirens called his name
Sweet sirens called his name
I hear them call my name
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9. |
Leaving Motherland
04:27
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Face down on frozen ground
I’m beyond the point of no return
Faint sounds of guns and hounds
Break through the night as my bridges burn
Leaving all I know behind
What will be will be
Leaving all I love behind
I’m leaving Motherland
Leaving Motherland
All fours through no-man’s land
Soil in my hair and fingernails
My life in kind strangers’ hands
Spare me the mines and the siren’s wail
Leaving all I know behind
What will be will be
Leaving all I love behind
I’m leaving Motherland
Leaving Motherland
Back in the beaten city
Dark streets of broken teeth
Her mother pours a brandy
For the man who brings her meat
He lights a cigarette
And eyes her stockinged feet
Leaving all I know behind
What will be will be
Leaving all I love behind
I’m leaving Motherland
Leaving Motherland
Leaving Motherland
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10. |
Blank Page
03:01
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Green cardboard suitcase
Mothball scented memories
Sepia whispers
Haunt my troubled reverie
Locks long broken
Damp and rust laid claim
Portraits, spectres
A longing I can’t explain
There will always be
A blank page in the album
There will always be
A blank page in the album
The page I left too long to fill
We were outsiders
Always had to spell our name
Family values
Repression, guilt and shame
There’s no refuge
From what can’t be unseen
There’s no point in blame
Forget what might have been
There will always be
A blank page in the album
There will always be
A blank page in the album
I couldn’t bring myself to fill
So long children
I’ve run out of time
This had to be
The end of the line
I can’t be another
Link in that chain
There will always be
A blank page in the album
There will always be
A blank page in the album
The space I’ll never fill
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11. |
September '89
04:18
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September ‘89
High on Castle Hill
Soviet champagne
From your paper cup
A solo flute enchants
A Mozart serenade
And I realise
You’re here to change my world
Float on the music
Over domes and spires
Soar together
Above the Wall and wire
These days, these moments in a living dream
I share with you, in love
Are days I’ll cherish all my life
They gave me you, my love
Aromas of the Danube
Old East German cars
Caterpillar trams
On their never ending crawl
Looping Lambada
From subways and dark bars
We made it just in time
To see an empire fall
The river weaves its history
Through the city’s thighs
We kiss on its bridges
Queen Autumn paints your eyes
These days, these moments in a living dream
I share with you, in love
Are days I’ll cherish all my life
They gave me you, my love
Sweet refuge
In each other’s arms
Your hair on my shoulder
Flames of deep amber
Crown you
These days, these moments of a living dream
I share with you, in love
Are days I’ll cherish all my life
They gave me you, my love
My love
My love
My love
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Robert Severin Glasgow, UK
Robert Severin is a Glasgow based singer-songwriter. He plays guitar and clarinet.
Postcard from
Budapest, Robert Severin's debut album, explores the legacy of his Hungarian heritage and its connections to his home, Scotland.
Robert's new single "Elena" is inspired by the story of an older woman that had to flee her home as the Russians invaded Ukraine. Elena found refuge in The Netherlands.
... more
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