Francey's first live CD, The First set includes the stories behind the songs.

The First Set, Liner Notes

This recording was made on November 11, 2005 at the 39th Annual Kent State Folk Festival, at the Kent Stage in Kent, Ohio. The evening was presented by WKSU (89.7), hosted by Jim Blum and was web cast live as part of FolkAlley.com's 'Live from Folk Alley' online concert series.

Both Jim and the station have been unfailing supporters of my music. When asked to participate in this broadcast, sharing the night with my friend John Gorka, I was more than happy to accept. A great audience at a great venue made for a wonderful evening and I think this recording reflects just that. I hope you feel the same way too.

I would like to thank everyone at WKSU, FolkAlley.com, and the Kent State Folk Festival for making the night happen, and for capturing an evening of music by and for friends.

David Francey

1. Introduction by Jim Blum

2. Paper Boy Introduction

3. Paper Boy

Down to the agent's shop I'd go
I'd shoulder my bag down the Irvine Road
Past the council houses, row on row
When I was a paper boy
With the Daily Record and the People's Friend
I'd go down to the Sunnyside again
Under the bridge where the railway bends
When I was a paper boy
And my feet flew in the morning light
Racing the dawn as the sky grew bright
And everything in the world was right
When I was a paper boy
I'd walk the morning and the empty streets
Would ring to the sound of my own two feet
And I'd walk in step to my own heartbeat
When I was a paper boy
As the rain rolled down the back of my neck
I delivered the news of death and sex
Rhodesia, Speck and Malcolm X
When I was a paper boy
Crow in a tree top way up high
Hung as a warning, left to die
And the moaning wind in the morning sky
When I was a paper boy

Words and Music: © David Francey (Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, February 24, 1998)

4. Waking Hour introduction

5. Waking Hour

I wake to the radio morning news
Just as the day is dawning
And I watch from the window while a passing cloud
Dulls the hopeful morning
And I wonder will the girl I love
Come back with the morning
But the omen crow at the waking hour
Has given me fair warning

And the heart that's breaking
Never makes a sound

She was once my heart's delight
My need and my desire
She was my day, she was my night
My water and my fire
And I was once the same to her
When we still walked together
But the heavy heart at the waking hour's
Expecting heavy weather

And the heart that's breaking
Never makes a sound

I know love
I've seen love's face
I understand its sorrow
For every love I've ever had
Has always met tomorrow
Though I am Wednesday's child of woe
I try not to be ungrateful
But I was born at midnight black
With a heart that can be hateful

And the heart that's breaking
Never makes a sound
And the heart that's breaking
Never makes a sound
And the heart that's breaking
Never makes a sound

(May 31, 2000. Ayers Cliff, Quebec)

6. Ashtabula introduction

7. Ashtabula

Kelli drove us down the lake
On a bright Ohio day
And we looked across the railway yards
At the hoppers painted grey
That coal train from Kentucky, man
She's come a long long way
Down in Ashtabula
On a sunny summer's day

Walked down to the harbour
Down to the harbour side
Where the coal was piled up waiting
High and black and wide
And it's waiting for a laker, man
To carry it away
Down in Ashtabula
On a sunny summer's day

And the tilting bridge
Itself swings back
And sail is given way
And the cobbled streets
That climb the hills
Are fading red to grey

In the maritime museum
So high above the waves
The pictures of the past recalled
In black and white and grey
But the Masters and the ships are gone
Long since passed away
Down in Ashtabula
On a sunny summers day

(June 15, 2003. Madison, Ohio)

8. Broken Glass introduction

9. Broken Glass

Saw you standing in the cafeteria line
I'd have given the world just to make you mine
Saw you at your locker, in the high school hall
And it didn't take a minute for my heart to fall

When you hear a sound like broken glass
That's my heart every time that girl walks past
When you hear a sound like the rush of wind
It's just me catching my breath again

Saw you on the bus, on the way back home
You were sitting so pretty, sitting all alone
Couldn't think of anything much to say
Except I'll love you forever, 'til my dying day

When you hear a sound like broken glass
That's my heart every time that girl walks past
When you hear a sound like the rush of wind
It's just me catching my breath again

Seeing her now makes me think of then
And I remember how and I remember when
You'd go to a party hoping that she'd show
Then you'd dance in the darkness to Abbey Road

When you hear a sound like broken glass
That's my heart every time that girl walks past
When you hear a sound like the rush of wind
It's just me catching my breath again

(Under Bunker Road, Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, 1993)

10. Tonight in my Dreams introduction

11. Tonight in my Dreams

Tell me baby would it be alright
Would it be alright
If I saw you tonight
If I saw you tonight
Saw you tonight
In my dreams

Tell me baby would it be okay
We can get back home
By the break of day
If I saw you tonight
Saw you tonight
In my dreams

I ain't no liar
We can get higher
Than Heaven above
I'm telling you
Baby it's true
This must be love

We could go out, carrying on
Just dancing 'til dawn
With the radio on
If I saw you tonight
Saw you tonight
In my dreams

We could be dancing
To a radio tune
I'll kiss you all night
By the light of the moon
If I saw you tonight
Saw you tonight
In my dreams

I ain't no liar
We can get higher
Than heaven above
I'm telling you
Baby it's true
This must be love

Tell me baby would it be alright
Would it be alright
If I saw you tonight
If I saw you tonight
Saw you tonight
In my dreams

(June, 1994. Ayers Cliff, Quebec)

12. Fourth of July introduction

13. Fourth of July

I returned to the States one year after
The towers returned to the earth
And the sabers were drawn from their scabbards
They were rattling for all they were worth
And I understand how that could happen
I don't need to ask anyone why
It's September and I can't help but think that
It looks like the Fourth of July

Down on the shores of Lake Erie
They see the political slant
The pursuit of their happiness promised
By the stacks of the nuclear plant
Now there's flags flying on every lamp post
Red white and blue 'gainst the sky
It's September and I can't help but think that
It looks like the Fourth of July

It's the powers that be pay the piper
It's the powers that be call the tune
They want all of us up for the dancing
All howling away at the moon
But my ear's to the ground and I'm listening
I keep watch with a weather eye
It's September and I can't help but think that
It looks like the Fourth of July

(September 27, 2002. Chicago, Illinois)

14. Torn Screen Door introduction

15. Torn Screen Door

Late summer day and my
Love and I went walking
Over hills and fields
we walked, laughing and talking

Came across an old farmhouse
Standing broken and bare
It used to be someone's home
Now no one lives there.

There's a red barn standing
Held together with nails and dust
And a tired old Massey Harris
All wires and rust

Weeds overgrown in a garden
sown with care
It used to be someone's home
Now no one lives there

And through the crack
In the window pane
I hear the sound
Of the falling rain
Another farm being left run down
Another family moved into town

Had a life that they tried to save
But the banks took it all away
Hung a sign on a torn screen door
Nobody lives here no more

They worked their fingers
To the bone
Nothing left
They can call their own
Packed it in under leaden skies
With just the wheat
Waving them goodbye

Had a life that they tried to save
But the banks took it all away
Hung a sign on a torn screen door
Nobody lives here no more

(Ayer’s Cliff, Quebec, 1990)

16. Morning Train introduction

17. Morning Train

I met Jesus in the morning
He was waiting for a train
He said He thought it might be time
To come down and explain
How wrong it was to do some things
And do them in His name
He said, "After all, everybody's
Riding on this train"

I met Buddha on the subway
On the subway underground
Saw his smile slowly fade
I saw him look around
He said He wished we'd understand
And do so in His name
He said, "After all, everybody's
Riding on this train"

Met Allah on the El train
Above the city streets
We rattled down the railway line
And we looked down on the meek
He said He wondered why it was
Some never feel the pain
He said, "After all, everybody's
Riding on this train"

I saw the Devil standing
At the station in the rain
He had a smile upon his face
Self-satisfied and vain
Said, "Heaven is its own reward
I don't have to explain"
He said, "After all, everybody's
Riding on this train"

(September 2, 2003. Ans, Denmark)

18. Lucky Man introduction

19. Lucky Man

I saw you first in the smoky café light
Where I'd come in from the frozen winter night
And I saw a face that put the stars to shame
I loved you 'fore I ever knew your name
And my heart sank, lost without a trace
And it's a lucky man that gets to kiss your face
I've seen you shine in the summer, spring and fall
But it's winter when I love you best of all
And I've seen you in the spotlight hard and bright
And I've seen you in the shadows of the night
And when I see you coming I can feel my cold
heart race
And it's a lucky man that gets to kiss your face
I heard you singing to that empty hall
And I heard the joy that echoed off the walls
And I realized when all is said and done
That youth is never wasted on the young
And I don't believe the silence of this place
And it's a lucky man that gets to kiss your face

(Ayer's Cliff, Quebec, January 2000)

Credits

David Francey: Lead Vocals
Shane Simpson: Guitar, Backing vocals

Produced by: Jim Gilliland
Engineered and mixed by: Jim Gilliland
Recorded at: Kent State Folk Festival, Kent Stage, Kent, Ohio

Album Design: Amy Davie
Inside photo: Kelli O’Neill

To Ian MacGregor, for friendship above and beyond

Many thanks to Shane Simpson, for his patience, perseverance on the road and of course for his exceptional talent

Special thanks to Kelli O’Neill for helping the planets align

Thank you Jim Gilliland, Linda Fahey, Jim Blum, WKSU and Folk Alley, Chris Boros, Joe Gunderman, Chuck Poulton, Tom Simpson at the Kent Stage, John Gorka, Jimmie Wilson at WRUW out of Cleveland and many many more!

I would like to thank my lovely wife Beth Girdler and Amy Davie at Laker Music, Julia Davie, Colin Francey and my Ma, Marion Francey

FolkAlley.com is a listener-supported folk radio on the Internet, streamed world-wide 24/7. Visit www.folkalley.com to listen

« hide full description