Get all 7 You Are Wolf releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of hare // hunter // moth // ghost, Blue Men (feat. Robert Macfarlane), Reynardine (single), winter solstice (single), KELD, Hawk To The Hunting Gone, and Hunting Little Songs (EP).
1. |
Reynardine
03:51
|
|||
|
One evening as I rambled
Among the springing thyme
I overheard a young woman
Converse with Reynardine
Her hair was black, her eyes were blue
Her cheeks as red as wine
And he smiled to gaze upon her
Did that sly old Reynardine
'Oh no, kind sir, be civil,
My company forsake,
For in my own opinion
I swear you are some rake.'
'Oh no,' he said, 'no rake am I
Brought up in Venus' train,
For I'm seeking concealment
From all the judges' men.'
'Your beauty so enticed me,
I could not pass it by,
So it’s with my gun I’ll guard you
All on the mountains high.'
'And if by chance you should look for me,
Perhaps you’ll not me find,
For I’ll be in my castle,
Enquire for Reynardine.'
Sun and dark she followed him,
His teeth did brightly shine,
And he led her over the mountain,
Did that sly, old Reynardine.
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
1. The lady stood at her own front door
As straight as a willow wand
And by there came a blacksmith lass
With a hammer in her hand
Saying 'bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
2. Then the smith became a leaf
A leaf all in the tree
And the lady became a branch
And joined to her was she.
Saying 'bide, lassie, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
3. Then the lady became a griddle
And the smith became a cake
And every change the lady made
The smith she was her mate.
Saying 'bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
4. The the smith became the moorland
And stretched into the sky
And the lady became the heather
And had her blushing by and by.
Saying 'bide, lassie, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
5. Then she turned into a ship
A-sailing on the sea
And the smith became a captain bold
And aboard of her went she.
Saying 'bide, lady, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
6. And the smith became a star
A star all in the night
And the lady became a thunder cloud
And softened all her light
Saying 'bide, lassie, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I will win your love
And have you always by my side.'
7. Then the lady became a rose
A rose all in the wood
And the smith became a bumble bee
And kissed her where she stood.
Saying 'bide, lady/lassie, bide,
There's nowhere you can hide
For I have won your lasting love
And we'll stand side by side.'
|
||||
3. |
winter solstice
05:17
|
|||
|
I feel the shifting begin
I think of the river
a place where the veil is so thin
I think of the river
The last of the light fades
Makes way for darkness
This cold and quiet day
Makes way for darkness
Dance yourself into a different form
CHORUS:
Between here and there
Then and now
This world and the other
To live as the butterflies
Free from border
To live as northern lights
Free from border
To live as the blood-red fox
On the threshold
To live as the wild white moth
On the threshold
Dance yourself into a different form
CHORUS:
Between here and there
Then and now
This world and the other
My body is blood and bone
Light as feather, sculpted as stone
O, bones become ash
in the belly of fire
placed back into earth
from which they’ve been formed
a beacon for those
that live on the shore
CHORUS:
Between here and there
Then and now
This world and the other
|
||||
4. |
Hare Song 1
02:55
|
|||
|
you will find me
at the edge of woodland
you will find me
at the edge of field
you will find me
at the edge of reason
you will find me at the edge
of what is real
you will find me
at the edge of being
you will find me
at the edge of breath
you will find me
in the heart of fire
shaking of death
you will find me
in a March morning
you will find me
madstruck in Spring
you will find me
in December nighttime
you will find me
in winter's quickening
you will find me
lying deep in earth
you will find me
in blood and rusting fur
you will find me
being sometimes him
and sometimes being her
under the waxing moon
i turn again
under the waning moon
i turn again
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
Like a shadow on the land
Half-stag, half-man
He's the spectre of the spirit of the free
Made of wood
Made of mud
Made of poetry and blood
He is hanging from the old oak tree
CHORUS:
He is hanging
He is hanging
He is hanging from the old oak tree
He is hanging
He is hanging
He is hanging from the old oak tree
|
||||
6. |
Hare Song 2
02:40
|
|||
|
I shall go into a hare
With sorrow and such care
And when the devil's done
Awhile I come home again
She sat that morn at Tunstead
Beneath a white thorn tree
Of all the hares in Saddleworth
The bonniest was she
The spirit of the moor wind
Was in her bounding leap
And the love of every young soul
Went with her up the steep
To-mi-fol-de-rol-de-day
To-mi-fol-de-rol-de-day
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
All in the wood
There was a tree
The finest tree
You e'er did see
The tree was in the wood
CHORUS
And the green leaves grew around, around, around
And the green leaves grew around
And on that tree
There was a branch
The finest branch
You e'er did see
The branch was on the tree
And the tree was in the wood
CHORUS
And the green leaves grew around, around, around
And the green leaves grew around
And on that branch
There was a nest
The finest nest
You e'er did see
The nest was on the branch
The branch was on the tree
And the tree was in the wood
CHORUS
And the green leaves grew around, around, around
And the green leaves grew around
And in that nest
There was an egg
The finest egg
You e'er did see
The egg was in the nest
The nest was on the branch
The branch was on the tree
And the tree was in the wood
CHORUS
And the green leaves grew around, around, around
And the green leaves grew around
And in that egg
There was a bird
The finest bird
You e'er did see
The bird was in the egg
The egg was in the nest
The nest was on the branch
The branch was on the tree
And the tree was in the wood
CHORUS
And the green leaves grew around, around, around
And the green leaves grew around
|
||||
8. |
King Henry
07:35
|
|||
|
Let never a man a wooing wend
That lacks these things three:
A purse of gold, an open heart
And full of courtesy.
King Henry’s in his hunting hall
Making hearty cheer
When loud the wind began to howl
And an earthquake rocked the floor.
And darkness covered all the hall
And open burst the door
And in there came a dreadful ghost
Stood stamping on the floor.
Their head hit the roof-tree of the house
Their middle you could not span
Each frightened huntsman fled the hall
And left the king alone.
Their teeth were like great gravestones
The rain it from them fell
He’s thrown over his royal cloak
Saying, ‘come, and warm yourself.’
‘Some meat, King Henry
Some meat you’ll give to me.’
‘All the meat that’s in this house
I will give to thee.’
‘O you will kill your berry-brown mare
and serve her up to me.’
When he slew his berry-brown mare
O his heart was sore
They ate her up, all skin and bone
Left nothing but hide and hair.
‘More meat, more meat, King Henry
More meat you’ll give to me.’
‘All the meat that’s in this house
I will give to thee.’
‘O you will kill your good greyhounds
and serve them up to me.’
When he slew his good greyhounds
O his heart was sore
They ate them up, bone by bone,
Left nothing but hide and hair.
‘More meat, more meat, King Henry
More meat you’ll give to me.’
‘All the meat that’s in this house
I will give to thee.’
‘O you will kill your good goshawk
And serve her up to me.’
When he slew his good goshawk
O his heart was sore
They ate her up, bone by bone
Left nothing but feathers bare.
‘Some drink, some drink, King Henry
Some drink you’ll give to me.’
‘All the drink’s that’s in this house
I will give to thee.’
‘O you will sew your dead mare’s hide
And pour a drink for me.’
And he’s sewed up the bloody hide
Poured in a draft of wine
They drank it up all in one gulp
Left not a drop within.
‘A bed, a bed, King Henry,
A bed you’ll make for me.’
‘Any bed that’s in this house
You are welcome to.’
‘Your bed, your bed, King Henry
O I’ll sleep in your bed.’
He’s taken them to his own chamber
And his cloak over them spread
'Now come and take off all your clothes
And have me by your side.'
‘God forbid,’ said King Henry
‘That ever the like betied.
That ever a wraith that dwells in hell
Should stretch out by my side.’
But he saw the hurt in their deathly face
the sadness in their eye
and so he took off all his clothes
and lay down by their side.
When day was come and night was gone
And the sun shone through the hall
The fairest soul that ever was seen
Lay between him and the wall.
‘O my heart!’ King Henry said
How long will you last with me?’
And out and spoke that fair knight
‘Even til the day you die.’
|
||||
9. |
||||
|
I'll weave my love a garland
It shall be dressed so fine
I'll set in round with roses
With lilies, pinks and thyme
And I'll present it to my love
When he returns from sea
I love my love, because I know
My love he loves me
I wish I were an arrow
I'd speed into the air
To seek as a sparrow
And if he were not there
How quickly I'd become a fish
To search the raging sea
I love my love, because I know
My love he loves me
I wish I were a reaper
I'd seek him in the corn
I wish I were a keeper
I'd hunt him with my horn
I'd blow a blast when found at last
Beneath the greenwood tree
I love my love, because I know
My love he loves me.
|
||||
10. |
Girl As Wolf
03:31
|
|||
|
My mother she bore at eventide
E'er crow of the cock herself had died
And when eight years had been and gone
My father brought a new wife home
I gently tapped on her robe so fine
'O, welcome dear mother of mine.'
She spurned me back with a scornful heel
''Tis you that shall my temper feel.'
She turned me into scissors small
And bade I should not grow at all
But to many a tailor I was dear
With me their cloth they loved to shear
She to a sword then shaped my form
And bade me to toil in battle's storm
A sword blade I was keen and bright
To many a squire and gallant knight
Then as a wolf by her cruel spell
She bade to roam the wood and dell
She bound me keep this luine form
'Til I drank of my brother's blood so warm
And that she hoped I ne'er should get
For brother had I not one yet
For eight long years I roamed this way
and many a hardy man did slay
But when nine years were nearly spent
She then with an little infant went
So hidden behind a rock I lay
Just where the lady must take her way
I seized upon her purple gown
And out of the saddle dragged her down
I bit the flesh from her left side
With claws I tore her open wide
I took the babe so small and good
And bore him off the the murky wood
I bit the boy in his little toe
And made tiny streamlet flow
I took one taste brother's blood
And then on my feet a girl I stood
|
||||
11. |
Blue Men
04:21
|
|||
|
Storm takes form
Blue sea beats
Beats its fists
Fast on hull
Hard on hope
Hurls its ropes
Snares the boats
Hauls the hearts
To the deeps
O you must, O you must
Give a gift to us
A kist not of rust or dust
But of bright silver verse
Or we will pull you down
O we will pull you down
So you must, O you must
Sing our song’s next line
But we set the meter
We set the rhyme
And if you spoil our song,
Falter, utter wrong,
Then it is drowning time,
O it is drowning time.
So here is our song,
Now continue it on:
Have you danced in the mask of the deer?
Can you speak with the voice of the tides?
Will you swim through the blue without fear?
|
||||
You Are Wolf UK
GUARDIAN FOLK ALBUM OF THE MONTH 2023
‘English avant-folk at its finest’
Observer
'Imagine Bjork working her magic on the English folk scene' UNCUT
YOU ARE WOLF is the alt-folk project of award-winning British composer, vocalist and author Kerry Andrew. They present folk songs and lore with unusual arrangements drawing on electronica, drone, contemporary classical and alt-rock.
... more
You Are Wolf recommends:
He gets better and better. Such rich arrangements, intelligent settings. My fave album of his yet.
go to album
HOLD FAST
by Stick In The Wheel
This is England, NOW! Exhilarating folk/notfolk.
go to album
Sam's gorgeous last album shows off his yummy voice like never before, and the choices and arrangements are so good. Produced by Bernard Butler!
go to albumIf you like You Are Wolf, you may also like:
Blackletter Garland
by Hack-Poets Guild
supported by 46 fans who also own “hare // hunter // moth // ghost”
this is one of the most beautiful collections of music I've heard in a very long time. every song draws your attention - don't plan on doing anything else while you listen. more please 🙏
go to album
Says The Never Beyond
by Burd Ellen
supported by 40 fans who also own “hare // hunter // moth // ghost”
Picked this up just before Christmas and it was definitely my holiday soundtrack. Think I have a new tradition.
go to album
Into the Depths of Hell
by Joshua Burnside
Joshua Burnside uses field recordings, drone, delay and spoken-word sample to modernize traditional Irish music.
go to album
