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Balance

by Tempest

/
1.
Captain Ward 03:44
Come all you jolly mariners that love to take a dram Let’s go and seek for Captain Ward who over the seas has come He is the greatest robber as you shall quickly hear There's not been such a robber found this last six hundred years The King he got a letter on the sixth of January Saying let bold Captain Ward come in with all his company If that you do let him in until his tale is told A ransom he will offer you, a twenty tons of gold Oh no, no says the king That can never be Captain Ward he is a robber A robber on the sea Well the king he has provided a ship of noble fame Called the Royal Rainbow if you would know her name She was as well provided for as any ship could be With full five hundred men on board to bear her company When the Royal Rainbow came where Captain Ward did lie Who is the master of this ship the Rainbow crew did cry The same am I says Captain Ward, why ashamed I ne'er will be If you were the king's fair ship you are welcome unto me For I never robbed an English ship, just France's ships or Spain's Likewise the blackguard Dutchman I met upon the main Oh had I got a letter through this two weeks past or three I would have spared Lord Essex life, this pains me grievously Six o'clock in the morning they began to fight So they did continue 'till nine o'clock at night Fight on, fight on says Captain Ward, so well it pleases me If you fight a month or more, your master I will be Then the Royal Rainbow she fired all in vain Until four hundred of her crew upon the decks lay slain Go home, go home says Captain Ward, tell your king from me He may rule king o'er the land, but Ward is king of sea
2.
Dancing Girl 03:49
As I walked through town in the middle of the day I met a girl who'd gone astray We started drinking good old wine And that little beauty stole this heart of mine She looks like a rose that blooms in June Like a fine mandolin newly put in tune I sat this girl down on my knee Said, hey pretty baby come and dance with me A Dancing Girl will make you blue Slipped me a Mickey and will do you All you men come listen to me A warning take when you go on a spree I took her hand and she led me to the floor Began to dance me towards the door Little while later I wanted to eat But she kept dancing to the beat When dancing it was over and the party was done I must'a' gone t'a sleep with my trousers on I woke up in a blinding ray On a fishing boat down by the bay My head was aching and my feet were sore The boat was drifting away from the shore My wallet and my cash was gone And I was heading for the Great Beyond
3.
4.
Iron Lady 04:38
Have you seen the Iron Lady's charm? Legs of steel and leather on her arm? Taking on a man to die, a life for a life An eye for an eye And death's the Iron Lady in the chair Stop the murders deter the crimes away Only killing shows killing doesn't pay Oh that's the kind of law it takes Even though we make mistakes And sometimes send the wrong man to the chair In the Death-Row waiting for their turn No time to change, not a chance to learn Waiting for someone to call Say, "It's over after all" They won't have to face the justice of the chair Just before they serve him one last meal Shave his head, they ask him how he feels Then the warden comes to say goodbye Reporters come to watch him die Watch him as he's strapped into the chair And the chaplain, he reads the final prayer "Be brave, my son, the Lord is waiting there" Oh, murder is so wrong, you see Both the Bible, and the courts agree That the state's allowed to murder in the chair In the courtroom, watch the balance of the scales If the price is right, there's time for more appeals The strings are pulled, the switch is stayed The finest lawyers fees are paid And a rich man's never died upon the chair
5.
Two Sisters 05:25
There were two sisters side by side Sing ay-dum sing ay-day There were two sisters side by side The boys are bound for me There were two sisters side by side The oldest for young Johnny cried I'll be true unto my love If you'll be true to me Johnny bought the youngest a beaver Hat The oldest didn't think much of that Johnny bought the youngest a gay gold ring He never bought the oldest a single thing One day as they were walking by the stormy brim The oldest pushed the young one in Oh sister, oh sister give me thy hand and you'll have Johnny and all his land Oh sister I'll not give you my hand and I'll have Johnny and all his land Away she sank and away she swam until she reached the miller’s dam The miller he took the gay gold ring And then he pushed her in again The miller he was hung by a mountain head The oldest sister was boiled in lead
6.
Oh the face of graven Spring Colors with a blush of new life Brindled larks comb the air Happy free of winter’s knife Every wisp of fragrant fortune Drifting on the gentle breeze Takes the weight of frozen days and We begin to live in ease Oh the fire of quick’ning Spring. Gone the ways of metal cold As the light transforms a moment Fresh the wind that bends new grass Clears the mind of chill and torment Now our voices take a tone of Verdant heat from growing things And the timbre of the vision Scents the spirit in bright rings Oh the joy of feral spring Oh the fire of quickening Spring She will lay my burdens down Oh the flame of vixen Spring And I’ll wear the Summer’s crown So we call into the evening Laced with sips of shining air We’ll be home before it’s midnight Broken petals in our hair And the light from a silver blade Playing on the new mown downs We’ll forget the gelid northers Dream of summer’s threefold crowns Oh delights of vixen spring
7.
8.
Villemann 04:34
Villemann gjekk seg te storan å hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle for der han ville Gullharpa slå For de runerne de lyster han å vinna Villemann gjenge for straumen å stå Hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle Mesterleg kunne han gullharpa slå For de runerne de lyster han å vinna Han leika med lente, han leika med list Hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle Og fugelen tagna på grønande kvist For de runerne de lyster han å vinna Han leika med lente, han leika med gny Hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle Han leika ho Magnhild av Nøkken’s arm For de runerne de lyster han å vinna Men då steig trolli upp or djupaste sjø Hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle Det gjalla i berg og det runga i sky For de runerne de lyster han å vinna Då slo han si harpe til bonns i sin harm Hei fagraste Lindelauvi alle For å utvinna krafti av trollenes arm For de runerne de lyster han å vinna
9.
10.
I am a roving journeyman I roam from town to town Whe’er I get a job of work I’m willing to sit down With my kit upon my shoulder And a grafting tool in hand So round the country I will go A roving journeyman And when I came to Exeter The maidens jumped for joy Said one unto another maid Here comes a gallant boy One treats me to a bottle Another to a dram And so the toast goes round, my boys Here’s a health to the journeyman I had not been in Exeter The days were not full three Before the mayor’s daughter She fell in love with me She asked of me to dine with her She took me by the hand She plainly told her mother that She loved a journeyman Now out on thee, thou silly jade Such folly speak no more How can you love a journeyman You’ve never seen before Oh mother sweet, I do entreat I love him all I can And round the country I will go With this young journeyman We need no more to trudge a-foot We’ll travel coach and pair And round the country we will go And travel everywhere And when we find a job of work We’ll sit down where we can So let the toast go round my boys Here’s health to the journeyman
11.
Between Us 04:22
Tangle a girl in the thorn of your heart And need for her will not depart And as long as the breath still passes through me I will long for the love of fair Sharon Skin like the white of the birds in the sky And midnight her hair and the sea of her eye Though younger and golden your sister may be You know that I live to have you All the long day on the cliff's ragged face You gather your herbs with agile grace And in the red twilight you smile at the sea For you've not learned the news of your sister Several men came to the cottage below Soft Claire is lost in the watery glow And when the wild ocean has come for her own We must pray for an angel to guide her When we were children we roamed the white sand And life was a treasure, coin in our hand Early I knew you forbidden to wed And that Claire would be taking my name Though I well knew you must care for your Da My heart you had taken, painful flaw Oh Sharon, your sister was gentle and kind But your darkness imprisoned my ardor Ruddy the light as the wind whips your dress Sleek with spray your hair flies in threads Soon I will tell you the sobering tale Of what fate has dealt your sister Even just now I imagine your eyes As I cover the truth with the softer lies I think we can fathom what God meant to be Or He'd never taken Claire into the sea Or He'd never have taken Claire into the sea
12.
Royal Oak 04:00

about

Dionysus struggles to overcome the force of Apollo … yin arm-wrestles with yang … Black grapples with white, day locks horns with night.
A common thread is seen here, running like a blood-red line through all of literary and artistic history: the quest for balance. It is the quest for the understanding of that which we do not possess, the understanding that our own particular perspective is certainly not the only view of the world.
In the case of the folk-rock band Tempest, this quest for Balance becomes much more literal and, at the same time, much more fundamental: this is not some high-minded concept to these men. Rather, they aim to strike the perfect balance every time they take instrument in hand.
For over a decade, Tempest has forged a path which snakes its way between the traditional folk music of the Celtic nations, and the strong tradition of rock music which calls the entire world its home. They wish to pay homage to their roots, while helping those same roots grow and extend into the future.
“As a band, we’re always trying to strike a perfect balance between folk music and high-energy rock and roll. And on this new studio release, because of choice of material and the way we’ve put it together, we’ve come closer to that than we ever have before.” So says lead-man Leif Sorbye, the voice and one of the principal string-pullers of Tempest. “My first love is traditional music, and as much as I love traditional Celtic and other folk music in its pure form, I feel that in order for it to survive it has to be updated. Otherwise it ends up as a museum piece.”
The fellows in Tempest needn’t worry about becoming a museum piece anytime soon; their blend of Celtic and folk traditions – which somehow seem to instinctively strike a chord with just about every listener, regardless of background – with modern rock sensibilities, is something that very, very few artists are even attempting. And among those who do attempt the interface, none succeed as magnificently as Tempest
On this new album, traditional melodies are fused into the affairs of today with artistry and aplomb. There are three traditional songs to be found on Balance – one from Scotland (“Captain Ward”), one from Ireland (“Two Sisters”), and one from Sorbye’s homeland of Norway (“Villemann”). The rest of the tunes on the disc represent the wonderful alchemy which is unique to Tempest, a modern-day minstrel’s take on traditional folk music. When the poet coined the phrase “everything old is new again,” he might have had something like this in mind.
For Sorbye, one of the band’s goals has always been the blurring of that line between old and new – in other words, the creation of a new sound, a third sound that is distinctly theirs. And on Balance, they have succeeded: “On this record I think we’re closer than we’ve ever been. The barriers are gone – you can’t point at any song and say ‘that’s a Tempest song,’ or ‘that’s a traditional song.’”
Recording an album always presents a unique challenge for Tempest – they are hailed the world over as one of the great live bands, touring constantly, their on-stage energy and presence the stuff of modern-day music legend. So how do you capture that energy when the audience and the stage are replaced by studio walls and a microphone?
“Being in the studio is a different artform,” says Sorbye. “It’s different from being on stage. So what I try to strive for personally is go for feel, rather than being note perfect. If it communicates what I want to communicate, that’s more important than getting the phrasing and the notes perfect. And I think that this new album, in many ways has more life to it than our previous records. When I listen to it, there’s a lot of spunk and life and energy in it.”
Life and energy – hallmarks of the Tempest sound. A perfect balance has been achieved.

credits

released April 24, 2001

LIEF SORBYE - lead vocals, acoustic and electric mandolins and octave mandolas, harmonica, bodhran
ADOLFO LAZO - drums
TODD EVANS - electric and acoustic guitars, harmony vocals
WILLIAM MAXWELL - fretless and fretted basses, bass pedals, keyboards
JIM "HURRICANE" HURLEY - fiddle, riq
With special guest
ROBERT BERRY - B-3 Hammond organ, synthesizer, harmony vocals

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Tempest Oakland, California

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