Owen Parfitt of Shepton Mallet

 Owen where you going to?

Owen, Owen where you going?

Owen, Owen where you know it's snowing too

Oh and the wind is blowing strong

Owen where you going to?

For it's here you do belong

Oh Owen where you going to?

You've been gone so long

I wish that I was knowing too

Where it is you've gone

I haven't seen you in many moons

And the blue one's coming on

I need you in my life Owen

I need you to be strong

So Owen where you going to?

Oh Owen now where you gone?

Owen where you going to

And Owen where you gone?

You had a great adventure didn't you

When you were so young

Many battles you fought in

And many women's hearts you won

Now Owen where you going to

Oh Owen where you gone?

Your body it is broken too

I can't believe it's gone

The loving and the fighting

In the corners have undone

All that mother gave you

That nature that stood strong

Oh Owen where you going to?

Owen where you gone?

Listen to the heart beat of the Sheepey call

Listen to the fast feet run along the prison wall

The padding of the white sheep

Across the green grass fall

Owen why'd you fall asleep

Before you could count 'em all?

Sometimes in my dreams of you

You return back home

But in them you're a younger man

Without a broken bone

If I could mend your broken heart

I'd fix it in a blink

Bring back the twinkle in your eye

That shone when you'd wink

But I am no magician still

I'm just a woman in a window sill

Asking Owen where you going

Owen what was your will?

The Ballad of Pirate William Watts

 

I was born C in the town Shepton Mallet

Appren F tice to a pipe maker G man

In C Oakhill where I found my Am vocation

I Dm wandered G around that sweet C town

 

Then a C sudden disaster hit the nation

The sun F was hidden by G a hand

I C lost my job and turned to (Am) stealin

Trans(Dm) ported to (G) Van Diemen’s (C)land

 

Chorus

Caged (Am) canaries sing of freedom

A bird in the (Dm)  bush is worth two in the (G) hand

On a (Am) ship we were (F) condemned men

(C)  Down in Van(G)  Diemen’s (C) land

 

In that (C) hell hole I found Ester

Trans(F) ported for ten years(G) long

For(C) stealin a loaf for her (Am)family

On (Dm) prison island (G) we got(C) along

 

(C) Living was rough, dying easy

We (F) never had enough cash in (G)hand

So I (C) made and sold bootleg (Am)whisky

So (Dm) we might (G) escape Van Diemen’s(C) land

 

Chorus

Caged (Am) canaries sing of freedom

A (Dm) bird in the bush is worth two in the (G) hand

On the(Am) ship we were (F) condemned men

(C) Down in Van(G) Diemen’s (C) land

 

(C) Lashed by the law when they caught me

(F) Two hundred or more I could not (G) stand

(C) I swore to friends and (Am) family

(Dm) That one day I’d (G) escape Van Diemen’s(C) land

 

(C) Next time I bootlegged I was running

From town (F) to town and formed a (G) gang

(C)  But the lawmen who caught me were (Am) cunning

And the(Dm)  judge told me(G)  I would(C)  hang

 

Chorus

Caged(Am) canaries sing of freedom

A bird in the bush(Dm) is worth two in the (G) hand

On a(Am) ship we were condemned (F) men

Down (C) in Van(G) Diemen’s (C) land

 

 Part 2

On a (C) brig to Macquarie Harbour

Death (F) sentence for us they(G) say

At anchor (C) the crew went (Am) a fishing

And we (Dm) cons (G) mutinied (C) away

 

(C) Now we were free canaries

(F)  Pirates bound for New Zea(G) land

(C) Lost our way we met with (Am) Samurai

(Dm) Picture me pipe(G) man in(C) Japan

 

Chorus

Caged(Am) canaries sing of freedom

A bird in the bush(Dm) is worth two in the (G) hand

On a(Am) ship we were condemned (F) men

Down (C) in Van(G) Diemen’s (C) land

 

(C) we knew our British hunters

We(F)   scuppered the ship off (G) Canton

And (C) pretended to be (Am) survivors

Of another (Dm) wreck but (G) that crew came (C) along

 

(C) Caught again we were arrested

Put back (F)   on a ship for(G) England

Oh (C) but my trial went (Am) unattested

They hung (Dm) me as the (G) last pirate (C) man

 

(C) My name is William Watts the pirate

The last(F) man for piracy to(G) hang

For (C) stealing a pigeon I was (Am) sent to prison

That (Dm) place called (G) Van Diemen’s (C) land

Chorus:

Caged(Am) canaries sing of freedom

A bird in (Dm) the bush is worth two in the (G) hand

On a(Dm) ship we were (F) condemned men

Down (C) in Van(G) Diemen’s (C) land

The story of Owen Parfitt

 Owen, where you goin, where you goin Owen?

I'm going down to the Sheppey to wash my soul clean

I've been living the high life, but now I feel low and mean

I need to get goin before I am seen, 

Oh my sister, my sister

Now I'm feeling green

Owen where you going?

Owen, what have I done

I only tried to love you better

than anyone, 

I only wrote you a letter

Like a mother to a son

Owen where you going

Now the day is done

I'm going on out to the wind and rain

I'm going on out and won't be back again

Now my limbs they are weary and

My thoughts they are numb

Now I'm going, I'm going, 

going, now I'm gone

Owen yes your life is yours

You don't owe it to no one

But what would our father want from us?

To love each other and ourselves

Owen now you're going, 

going, going gone

It seems the hardest task of all

Dear sister to forgive myself

For what I've done

Now I must get going

Yes I'm going, going

and now I'm gone

Amulet

 It was all such a swirl

Of boys and girls

And people and thinking

And blood

It was all I could do

To dance in my shoe and

Try not to slip in the mud

But the music were great

Oh the band they were late

Late on the beat to arrive

But

I liked the rhythm

And the beats they were swinging

And the Jazz it flowed into the night

But she was a sleeper

Because of that a keeper

I know

I'd love her to be mine

But she's a big weeper

I mean my eyes not she

Per every salted wounded 

slug on the line

I'm a great loser

In love I'm a bruiser

I come up black and blue 

All the time

But at least when I dance

I have half a chance of

Having fun

While I'm in my prime 

I'd rather be in Shepton Mallet

 Oh I could be in Ryad or Rome

I could be in Cadiz or Lyon by the Rhone

But there is no place that I would rather roam

Yes, I'd rather be in Shepton Mallet

I could be in Trinidad in May

Or Costa Rica drinking from a beaker

On any other day

But it's not the sunny seas nor the cool mountains glades

Oh I'd rather be in Shepton Mallet

Shepton Mallet is a winner in my book

You don't need to be a good looker

To see that I've got hooked

It's the way that Collett park just rolls down to the brook

Oh I'd rather be in Shepton Mallet

Sure there are more Rhinos in Botswana

And I'm sure you could find a diamond down in Asia minor

But I know the orient has nothing near or far 

On the shining star that's Shepton Mallet

Oh Shepton is a king among kings

It's even an apple bitten in the chapel wings

It's fluted, suited, double-newted

Well-pursuited, barrel-booted

Queen of queens is Shepton Mallet

Oh I don't say you should never travel

But what you have here and now

Is what's a wonder to unravel

The present is a gift of the swift

and the heart is a land of the past that's never missed

So light em if you got em

and hold your loved ones fast

For there's no place I'd rather be

Than Shepton Mallet

Shit it and Smell it, alright!