Lay for the Day6th September

1620: a small ship called the Mayflower sets sail from Plymouth with a band of emigrants bound for the American colony of Virginia. After a stormy eight-week crossing they make land a good deal further north than they intended.

Up Shook of All [Hear it here]

Unto a land I’ve never seen
I sailed again last night.
The midnight sky was deepest blue,
The stars were mayflower white.
Climb, climb – I heard the call.

The eagle and the thunderbird,
They battle as they fly.
The eagle claws are lead and gold
And ghosts of freedom cry,
“Climb, climb, lest you should fall
Back in the Up Shook of All.”

Back in the Up Shook of All
The grass and the buildings grow tall.
Back in the U S of A
You get what you want night or day.
Back in the Up Shook of All
The bellhop’s tears flood the hall.

The lights across the tracks blew out,
They feed the babies tar
And Fanny done the Locomotion
On the hood of Clark’s cool car.
She climbed, climbed, she had a ball
Back in the Up Shook of All,
Back in the Up Shook of All.

The earth is green as cowboy prayers,
That tiny jewel globe.
The bombshell blonde she stowed away
On board the Venus probe.
She climbed, climbed, lest she should fall
Back in the Up Shook of All,
Back in the Up Shook of All.
She climbed, climbed – she heard the call.

Words and music by The Children
from Play

The Lay Reader: an archive of the poetic calendar