Lyrics When The Haar Rolls In - James Yorkston

When The Haar Rolls In

You asked me to jump the 45 measured feet into the water
But I am no folly built for your lazy pleasure
If only it were so
Your hands were fairly stone cold as you placed them on my neck
We climbed off the train at Birnam
We anchored our city living to our rural past
High above the fields of Killiecrankie we made up rhymes and names for passing
polite strangers
You dared me out of earshot, faces beamed behind backs
MacGregor pulling on his lead to climb more snowed up steps
My winter jacket cast me out as a well dressed loon
Existing on the margins, exciting to be sharing Christmas with you all
I thought I’d see you up the Birks O’Aberfeldy, as if some common thoughts
would bring us together 10 years later
For nothing really just a look just to drink you in
I carry your memory like a big bag full of feathers once stuck in the back of
my throat but now a warming dream
Finally
I’m more concerned about keeping the neighbors cat out of my garden than who
you may or may not be fucking
And who may be dancing a jig in the middle
How stupid I was believing in fate and fairness and all the big questions that
I could not answer so I busied myself with the flippancy of art
(Instrumental Chorus)
The genius is the subtlety of the waves lapping on the shore slowly taking over
the dry shale
With it’s salty tongue like a lounge singer
And uppity nonchalance uncaring for the land it’s reclaiming uncaring for the
crowds it’s drawing
The next day I shall walk in it’s wake
Discovering the bones and the pottery once a native of this shoreline paying a
visit to the coast hoping to be recognized by descendants of descendants and
taken in and loved
Discovering the bones and the pottery once a native of this shoreline paying a
visit to the coast hoping to be recognized by descendants of descendants and
taken in and loved
From Baltimore we sailed hoping to escape my temper
I put you in a song wrapped you up with cotton wool
I cast you as an angel battling my demons
Cold bloodedly you took your opportunity
A North London Hogmanay the year my faith was shattered
A sunken city came alive with fireworks
Eager to please I sang like a stranger and me and my Taig friends we drank you
under the table
And the music you swore by it was nothing it was terrible
Scared by the noise of your shrieking the dog chased ghosts in the kitchen
He tore up newspapers and ate all the jam
And the glassware you collected was smashed and lilting on the floor
(Instrumental Chorus)
When the saddening sweeps through me like a stubborn sea wind
When I’m feeling my worst and the best news in world fails to move me
I cannot bare your touch or to share a word
Or gossip or humor well that’s when I need you most
Just to be here to be quiet and warm and free with the drink
Until I forget such moments exist
When the haar rolls in it’s just a question of waiting it out
And that’s when the music I swear gets me through
I close my eyes and everything is okay
When the haar rolls in it’s just a question of waiting it out
And that’s when the music I swear gets me through
I close my eyes and everything’s is okay
From Baltimore we sailed hoping to escape my temper
I put you in a song wrapped you up with cotton wool
I cast you as an angel battling my demons
North London Hogmanay the year my faith was shattered