The Song Collector-Chumbawamba

[ti:The Song Collector] [ar:Chumbawamba] [al:ABCDEFG] [by:] [offset:0] [00:00.00]The Song Collector - Chumbawamba [00:08.91]The Folk Society meet on Thursday nights [00:12.82] [00:13.61]Clear their throats and put their coughs to flight [00:16.88] [00:17.96]To sing the dusty cobwebs from the room [00:21.77] [00:22.52]A repertoire both in and out of tune [00:26.19] [00:27.38]Don't assume a singalong or worse [00:31.00] [00:31.75]This history in song and countless verse [00:35.90] [00:36.50]Pays homage to the man who long ago [00:40.44] [00:41.14]Collected all the songs the singers know [00:45.07] [00:45.87]Collected all the songs the singers know [00:49.88] [00:55.78]Edward Alexander man of action [00:58.56] [00:59.91]Armed only with his reel-to-reel contraption [01:02.90] [01:04.22]One hundred years ago in mac and boots [01:07.08] [01:08.03]Set out to faithfully preserve the region's roots [01:11.38] [01:12.94]And every night in some small village inn [01:15.78] [01:17.55]Fortified with fortitude and gin [01:20.20] [01:21.88]Mr Alexander for a shilling [01:24.55] [01:26.09]Would thus record your song if you were willing [01:28.89] [01:30.32]Would thus record your song if you were willing [01:33.49] [01:34.71]So word got round and soon there formed a queue [01:37.70] [01:38.82]And the line of willing singers grew and grew [01:41.89] [01:43.51]Brass for oohs and aahs You can't go wrong [01:46.40] [01:47.49]When there's someone paying a shilling for a song [01:50.72] [01:52.19]When all his tapes are filled up Edward leaves [01:55.59] [01:56.30]There's a history preserved so he believes [01:59.68] [02:00.83]But all the so-called singers back inside [02:04.13] [02:04.81]They know they took a city scholar for a ride [02:08.26] [02:09.17]They know they took a city scholar for a ride [02:12.82] [02:13.69]For they shook the man for every coin he'd got [02:16.77] [02:18.38]With words and tunes all made up on the spot [02:21.03] [02:22.80]Invented tales not twenty minutes old [02:25.70] [02:27.03]So history like ale is bought and sold [02:30.20] [02:31.53]The old contraption's packed away and boxed [02:34.43] [02:35.55]And a century is marked upon the clock [02:38.68] [02:39.95]So tradition holds that Edward's great collection [02:43.19] [02:44.54]Is honoured with a weekly resurrection [02:47.61] [02:49.17]Honoured with a weekly resurrection [02:52.09] [02:58.06]And now the old Society sing the songs [03:01.24] [03:02.54]Word for word and kept where they belong [03:05.71] [03:07.03]As once again they eulogise the past [03:10.68] [03:11.39]You can hear the ghosts of history laughing last [03:15.41] [03:16.08]You can hear the ghosts of history laughing last