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Out Along The Midnight Coast

from Carry Me Over by Jim Lesses

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Completed Sunday, September 7, 2008

Like the song, Had Me A Dog (Sandy), I wrote this song while staying on the Greek island of Ikaria. In fact, the video was shot in the house my father built back in the 1930s before he left the island and migrated to Australia.

Like the previous song, I was using the same laptop computer I had dragged around, London, New York City, and Europe over several months, and I was still using beat up acoustic guitar with a cracked body and dead nylon strings.

lyrics

Out Along The Midnight Coast
© 2008. Jim Lesses. All Rights Reserved.


Out along the midnight coast, I went walking there,
Looking for a weeping ghost, moonlight in her hair.
Saw her on that barren shore, and to my surprise,
Heard her cry, No More, No More, as tears fell from her eyes.

She said, Old Man, lend an ear, to my tale of woe,
I have wandered many years, through the wind and snow.
Searching for the man I lost, when I was young and fair,
Pledging faith at any cost, before he left me there.

The day my love and I were wed, beneath an August moon,
I found him lying in my bed, and fell down in a swoon.
Saw another in his arms; the love he gave to her,
How he dazzled her with charms; how his voice did purr.

Saw the long blade at his side, saw it rise and fall,
Felt the cold steel cut my side, felt no more at all.
Ever since that fateful day (the ghostly wraith did cry),
I have pledged to find a way to avenge that bitter lie.

+ + +

Out along the midnight coast, I too had a tale,
About a man who used to boast, a man who had to fail.
This man turned his life around, tried to repay his sin,
For that one act became a sound that never stopped within.

This man did an evil act, when he was young and vain,
I won't deny this simple fact, or how it caused you pain.
But if you ever meet this man, I would that you forgive,
You hold the answer in your hand, it's time for you to live.

Out along the midnight coast, alone in all that space,
There before the weeping ghost; we stood face to face.
Saw the long blade at her side, saw it rise and fall,
There was nowhere left to hide, no place left at all.

Standing on that barren shore, no more telling lies,
When she cried, No More, No More, tears were in her eyes.
Saw her spirit taking flight, like dust before a storm,
Disappearing in the night, there to be reborn.

CODA:
Saw her spirit taking flight, like dust before a storm,
Disappearing in the night, there to be reborn.


Watch the video I recorded at the time here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTGj8n1Bmvg

credits

from Carry Me Over, released December 2, 2022

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all rights reserved

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Jim Lesses Adelaide, Australia

Late-bloomer, long-time lover of folk and rock music, singer, songwriter, composer, and world traveller. No longer performing, but still composing and creating. Favourite saying: Love The Life You Live - or Change It.

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