Cold Stone Lyrics

Hi guys!

Does anyone have the lyrics of "Cold Stone"? I can figure out several lines, but many are missing. See I'm not a native English speaker. But I love this song and I want to learn to play it on guitar and sing it.

Thanks in advance!

Which lines are you stuck with?

One of my disappointments with In Modern History was that Cold Stone was never 'finished'. I've never been that happy with the words, but I ran out of time to think of something else, so I'm still changing it when I sing it live. However, here is the basic set of words :

Come gather round to hear my story
Concerning gold and lust for glory
All that is mine was for the taking
I robbed them all and no mistaking
Born in one hall, me and my brothers
I knew that I would betray the others
Times were hard, but my resolve as well
As sure as tolls upon the iron bell

I took up work helping my father
Born to the bone till I could work no harder
But on my brother John he placed his favour
And made him heir to all the fruits of labour
My brothers all were in a bluster
To wreak revenge as hard as they could muster
They'd break his will, send him away
Or see him dead beneath the iron clay

We took him out, staging disaster
We took his watch to show it to the master
All drunk with wine he signed his waiver
We sent him off on board a merchant slaver
Counting the gold my brother Henry
He thought for every man there would be plenty
But I was quick, he didn't know me well
One fatal shove into the docks he fell

One brother more to share the bounty
I left him in a pool of blood and envy
MY mother cried at her son returning
Not knowing I'm the one who did the rest in
My brothers gone, no other heir remaining
My father left me all his worldly gaining
So self-made men heed after me
And you'll see the honour gained by treachery.

The song was partly based on 'The Miller And His Three Sons' told from another perspective (and with more sinister motives), but mainly comes from putting nonsense and lines from other songs to the tune I'd written, while waiting for "the real words" to come along. Some of them stuck and had the story put around them, rather than the other way round (the final line is similar to the final line of Nic Jones' Canadee-i-o for example). Songs like that are more like filling in the gaps in a crossword puzzle than finely crafting a story. Still - the words go by so quickly that it's the overall effect that counts.

Hi Jim, thank you very much for your reply!!!

Basically I figured out the story overall, but like you say the words go by quickly and I was never sure that I was hearing the right thing. The version you posted has some slight differences from the one you sing in the album, but thanks to it I can now put the latter together.

Thank you also for the bit of info about the song's story. I love English folk ballads, especially those with a 'dark' theme, and this song of yours reflects that spirit so greatly.

All the best, And thank you for the wonderful music.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2011 11:23PM by his_loyal_love.

While we're on lyrics queries, can anyone help em with a line in "Lord Bateman"?

I'm hearing "She packed a ball of her cold clothing", but then again, I'm famed for my cloth ears.

I think it's "She packed up all of her gold clothing".

Thanks - that would make a lot more sense!

That's very helpful. But does anyone know the chords to Cold Stone? I keep trying to work out the chords to JM songs by listening to progressions, bass notes, etc., but I never seem to be able get them all right! The chap uses funny chords!

Man is but a hemi-demi-semiquaver in the great fugue of life!

Off the top of my head, Cold Stone is the same chord sequence all the way through.

||: Em / / | / / / | / / / | C A/C# / :||

Although nothing is playing 'straight' chord shapes so theres lots of thirds missing etc.

Hi Jim, another question regarding Cold Stone - I'd assumed the fiddle/hurdy tune in it was your's along with the song, but then Bellowhead played it as part of their set at Shrewsbury - was just wondering what it's called and where it's from? Can't get it out of my head at the moment!
Cheers,
Anna

Its a slightly mangled version of a 3:2 hornpipe called 'If You Will Not Have Me You May Let Me Go" - [www.thesession.org]