Get all 8 gingerjamesfair releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of The Hobbyist, An Unreachable Peak, Four Scores, Qualia, Lunarticks, Lightspeed, Sagittarius, and my piranha.
1. |
Murmuration
01:35
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If we leave the house at five
We’ll arrive in time to see the morning rise
And hear the chorus
I’ll take you to the hide
Where I saw a bittern rise into the sky
That was so glorious
I’m not sure sure what we’ll see
It’s too early in the year to see a grebe
But we might be lucky
Depends how long we stay,
No much going on in the middle of the day
When the heat is rising
But if we wait till the light starts to fade
We may see the starlings as they come out to play
If they come, if they come
Oh I really really hope that they’ll come
A murmuration in the sky
Is like a magical moment that can change your life
If they come, if they come
Oh I really really hope that they’ll come
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2. |
Stuck on Four Down
01:53
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I’m stuck on four down
It says eight letters
But I can’t see how
It goes with the rest
A mournful complaint
or sad lamentation
Diatribe fits
If I hazard a guess
Oh, it means three across is wrong.
No, it’s the only one I’m sure of.
Something then E,
Something then E again
Followed by M
And ending in D
Pass me my phone
I’ll look it up online
We can’t carry on
Or we’ll be here all day.
Oh, they call it a jeremiad
Oh, I’m not sure I’ve heard of that.
Hmm, perhaps we should move along?
Hmm, find us an easier one.
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3. |
Fish by the Canal
02:38
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I’ll come by your house
On the way to the canal
Collect our net and rod
Then go
Shall we sit past the lock
Where we once caught that tench
That you insisted was a carp
Don’t forget some bait
Last time was a shambles
When you threw my lunch in the canal
Thinking fish would eat my sandwich
Shall we stay
Till the light fades away
And then go to the pub
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4. |
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Soaking envelopes
To get some stamps I haven’t got
Pretty sure they’re worthless
But to me they mean a lot
Add to my collection
That I’ve kept since I was five
Is it a habit or a hobby
I can’t really decide
Fewer people write these days
And stamps are rarely used
My collection started thinning out
As the internet usage grew
Life just seems so busy
And no one takes the time
To write someone a letter
When they can message you online
Would you write to me?
I don’t mind what it says
Can you send it with first class postage?
I’m keen to read
Someone else’s handwriting again
Please write to me
Tell me how you’ve been
Are you happy?
Do you keep in touch with friends?
Do you visit the places we grew up in anymore?
All I get is bills these days
And mail just seems so dull
If it wasn’t for the Christmas cards
They’d be no stamps at all
I try to make a difference
By sending things myself
But I can’t ask for the postage back
So I’m asking you for help
Would you write to me?
I don’t mind what it says
Can you send it with first class postage?
I’m keen to read
Someone else’s handwriting again
Please write to me
Tell me how you’ve been
Are you happy?
Do you keep in touch with friends?
Do you visit the places we grew up in anymore?
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5. |
Furries
01:41
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Help me put my costume on
The paws are difficult to do
Never thought that a full sized bear suit
Would be hard to get in to.
Now I’m scared about the train
Worried what people might think
Human rights in an animal costume
Are still the missing link
But I love it as a furry
It’s my calling on this earth
I’ve invested all my money
That I’ve saved up from my work
I won’t explain myself again
Some family get it or they don’t
No need to make it awkward
It’s just a costume for adults
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6. |
Games Café
02:36
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Come down to the Games Cafe
I’ve found something we should play
I’ll book us a table for an hour or two
Something to do for the afternoon
It’s great to see you smile again
But don’t think that I’ll let you win
I’ll try to remember that we’re here to have fun
I’m not gonna argue over which of us won
It’s not a waste of time,
If we enjoy the time we waste.
I’d love if we could come again
Like regulars, but play different games
I want to go back to how we were as kids
Playing games like we always did
It’s not a waste of time
If we enjoy the time we waste.
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7. |
Into The Loft
02:42
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I don’t want to go
Into the loft
And see all the things
From the hobbies I’ve stopped
Why have I shame
In giving things up
Whilst trying to find
The things I will love?
Here’s some golf clubs in a bag
A squash racquet and a wetsuit I once had
And a bass guitar in case I started a band
And boxing gloves from an unfamiliar brand
The temporary bliss
When I think ‘this is it’
And I get two weeks in
Then reality hits
But I bought all the gear
Felt certain this time
This was the thing
I would do with my life
There’s a rowing machine and a trampoline just there
Some DJ decks and a box of old software
A yoga mat and a headband for you hair
A camcorder with leads for the video player
There’s demijohns here from the time I tried to make wine
A chopping board and a block of specialist knives
There’s a folder here with bits of the family tree
When I thought I might like genealogy
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8. |
Knitting Circle
02:22
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Let’s sit at the back of the library
And knit while talking quietly
You’ll find all kinds
Of people in the knitting circle.
Just bring what you’re working on
Or begin something new when you’re there
You’ll find unique designs
And time to try them out.
It clears my state of mind
When I’m with the wool.
The needles just move themselves
I don’t really have to think at all.
I sometimes lose my thought
Far too much
Forgetting what the pattern was
Just knitting into a bigger pair of socks
A jumper becomes extra large
Or a hat gets turned into a scarf.
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9. |
Me or The Bike
02:29
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You were patient through it all
As I colonised the garage, the spare room and the hall.
Spent many weekends with the bikes
Some many evenings when I should have been by your side.
The holidays we didn’t take
Or when we did it was to take part in a race
You would sit in side the caravan
Reading brochures to see the holiday we could of had.
We assumed that it would never last
You thought I’d die young
From driving it too fast
Or I’d grown old and decide
I didn’t need a motorbike in my life.
I’m not fighting for your love,
I’m not fighting for your time,
I’m not taking second place to a bike
I’m not fighting for your love,
I’m not fighting for your time,
I’m not taking second place to your bike
It is time to decide
Is it me or the bike?
I’m not fighting for your love,
I’m not fighting for your time,
I’m not taking second place to your bike
I’m not fighting for your love,
I’m not fighting for your time,
I’m not taking second place to the bike
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10. |
Puzzling
01:08
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Pass me the box please
I can’t work this out
Such a strange mixture
Of pieces around
The corners are easy
And so are the sides
The trees are now finished
But I can’t do the sky
So pass me the box please
And I can see what it shows
I can pick out the pieces
And know where they go.
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11. |
Walking Tour
01:54
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I wanted to be healthy again
But I didn’t want to join a gym
A friend suggested walking instead
Set a goal of 10,000 steps
At first I was a little unsure
Felt I needed to be doing much more
Over time my doubt went away
My mood improved and so did my weight.
Then browsing in a local book store
Found a map full of walking tours
No longer thought of A to B
I took a walk to see the sea
I never really gave it much thought
That my hobby could be taking a walk
Now if you ask about what I love
Walking is the thing I think of.
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12. |
Not Everyone
01:33
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Felt I needed a song
To celebrate people that don’t have hobbies
They just get along
Living life as they please and it makes them happy
Not everyone reads
Not everyone plays
Not everyone collects things
Not everyone sews
Be it seeds or clothes
Not everyone has hobbies
Some people make an art
Out of taking a bath or going shopping
Even watching TV
Takes energy and serious willpower
Not everyone swims
Not everyone likes
Spending time in a gym or riding a bike
Not everyone wants
To be doing similar things for the rest of their life.
Felt I needed a song
To celebrate people that don’t have hobbies
They just get along
Living life as they please and it makes them happy.
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13. |
Skydiver
02:36
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Leaping from the aircraft at around 10,000 feet
Fall to the earth for a minute or two until a parachute is released
Try to be birdlike, soaring through the sky
Adrenaline flows from my nose to my toes
Aware that I might die
Oh I find
I’m most alive
At those times
Where I might die
Parachute down safe to the ground
And I want to go again
Felt so alive at the start of the dive
When we leapt from the plane.
Oh I find
I’m most alive
At those times
Where I might die
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14. |
Paintball Massacre
02:04
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I shot you
Yeah I got you
On your shoulder
With my paintball
Then you me
Unfairly
Cause I’d shot you already
So I stopped you
And asked you
Reasonably
For an apology
But you shot me
Repeatedly
More importantly
Unsafely
So I shot you
Pretty paint job
Really went to town
On your trousers.
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15. |
Dark Room
02:47
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She spends time in the dark room
In the company of a red light and the chemical fumes
An enlarger shines her negative
On to photographic paper that is light sensitive.
She enjoys the developing bath
As the picture emerges on her photograph
Then into the fixing tray
She takes a lot of care to rinse the chemicals away.
This is more than some work
The dark room is her church.
Many friendships have passed her by
She devoted her energy and most of her time
To a dark room where the sun can’t shine
A sweet sacrifice she has made with her life
This is more than some work
The dark room is her church.
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16. |
The Hobbyist
01:51
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In grandma’s spare room
Under the bed
Was a toy railway
That my father had made
An oval of track
An N-gauge train
That we played with for hours
Again and again
Under the tree
On a small patch of ground
Is a circuit of track
But no train to go round
The garden train
Was his ultimate dream
But it wasn’t to be
And it remains incomplete.
He showed to me
That a hobbyist
Creates everything with love.
He showed to me
That a hobbyist
Creates everything with love.
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17. |
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Let’s go out in the middle of the night
Take a walk in the countryside
Leave behind all the city lights
See the stars that are shining in the sky
Share my binoculars if you like
We can save up for a telescope sometime
Isn’t strange how the stars that we see
May be dead in their own galaxy?
But the light is still travelling tonight
It’s as if they have never even died
Share my binoculars if you like
We can save up for a telescope sometime
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gingerjamesfair Bournemouth, UK
Just happy to be making and sharing.
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