Song picture
BOC 16 Swallow (1969)
Like
Playlist
Comment Share
Free download
A finger-picked folk song
folk finger picking
Artist picture
Singer-songwriter, arranger and producer: acoustic contemporary folk but ranging into rock/blues/country/jazz/humour...all very eclectic, I'm afraid!
Martin Stirrup Singer/songwriter An old folkie who got back into it... These days I sing and play guitar(s) and other stringed instruments, then score and orchestrate where appropriate. My taste becomes increasingly eclectic ranging from finger-picked folk through country to soft rock mixed in with a few more alternative and eccentric numbers, including the odd novelty foxtrot...
Song Info
Genre
Acoustic • Acoustic Folk
Author
Martin Stirrup
Rights
Martin Stirrup
Uploaded
January 06, 2026
Track Files
MP3
MP3 8.6 MB • 320 kbps • 3:45
Lossless
WAV 37.8 MB
Meta Data
BPM
110
Beat
4/4
Story behind the song
Another first term’ song with a picking style stolen from Ray Brockman (who presumably stole it from somewhere else). I quite often played this one at the club as it worked well for solo guitar. For some reason I recorded this with lots of spacey interweaving lead acoustic guitar lines in the background so it’s ended up sounding a bit trippy here I’ve pulled it back a tad from the original version!
Lyrics
See the swallow floating on the wind Forces of nature he’s suffering Flying to his lover high in the sky Feathered mystery fly for me be my eye Feel the water flowing through your hands Silvery creature eating the land Bearing its offerings down to the see Sacrificing all so that some may be free A severed hand makes no demands as it lies there in the cold But what’s the use it has no excuse it might just as well be gold Touch the distance between our minds Search for the vacuum you’ll never find The sound of your breathing echoes in my skull Using all the power it contains to the full
Comments
Please sign up or log in to post a comment.