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The Chapel Sessions: Volume II (We Teach Life, Sir)

by Dan Simpson Quartet

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    CD of Volumes 1+2 of The Chapel Sessions in a pretty, hand-printed, hand-made case, and signed sleeve notes and lyrics, and photos and official cover art on the sleeve note book.

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1.
Mr Chanter (Distraction 2) 01:58
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My name is Mr Chanter, sir, I work here in the town I’m the one who mans the bar you see, makes your head spin round and round I hear the stories of the people that go there Like the man who came in yesterday, as sad as he could be His mother had just died at the age of only 53 And though I may console him, he’d never forget (repeat) And then there was the lady, came in only yesterday Crying her eyes out as her husband sailed away Sailing on his sailing ship, her love went far away Or the oldie who just sat there, not a sound did he make Just sat and drunk enough to fill a lake I never knew his name, nor where he was from (repeat) And these are the reasons I stand before you now Because however bad I feel, I am not sad However bad I feel, I am not sad
2.
Sweet England 02:29
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As I was a-walking one morning in Spring To hear the larks whistle and the gully-birds sing I heard a sweet maiden a-making a moan “But alas, I’m a stranger a long way from home I came from sweet England with my mother and Dad And I thought in America all could be had Of gold, and of silver, and acres galore And I’d never meet hunger and poverty more But alas for sweet England, my father is dead And my mother can earn, but there’s little for bread I dream as I gaze o’er the far distant main For some fine sheep to take me to England again Now my mother is dead, and I’m left all alone But if I were in England, no more would I roam And my aunt’s in the country, and she loves me amain So won’t some ship take me to England again Sweet England again (repeat) There’s a neat little cottage with a rose at the door And there with my aunt I would live my life o’er I’d nurse her in sickness, and tend to her pain And thank God I’m back in Sweet England
3.
Butterfly 02:59
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I have a friend, a good friend Typical long haired teenager - you know the kind But recently, I’ve been worried for his personal state of mind Because he just can’t stop drawing butterflies on his arm No he just can’t stop drawing butterflies on his arm He says he’s trying to stop, but I still see the blood dripping down from his arm The scars left over are a constant reminder of the ever-worsening plot I just wish he’d stop drawing butterflies on his arm Please stop drawing butterflies on your arm And though they fly away, they’ve left a print A neater sign than anyone can mint And cover it up with a coat and scarf when winter comes Cos no-one wants to see those butterflies
4.
We Teach Life Sir (Shouty Song) 02:49
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Stayed up late at night crossing all the Ts Perfecting how I said my Bs and Ps I read up on my resolutions, all these human solutions To tell people of this thing that we call war I tried to stay all apolitical While the situation remained apocalypitical But nothing could prepare me for a man who would stare me in the face and ask me just one simple thing Why do you teach hate to your children? Why do you teach hate? Oh no, Sir Oh no, Sir We teach life, Sir We teach life, Sir How can I get it into you There's a difference between Green and Blue On one side there's the occupier, the next the occupied Oh no, Sir Oh no, Sir We teach life, Sir We teach life, Sir How can I get it into you There's a difference between Green and Blue On one side there's the occupier, the next the occupied Oh no, Sir Oh no, Sir We teach life, Sir We teach life, Sir You think because you're a democracy you can take our land? You think because the torah said so, you can kill my Dad? When the rest of that book is filled with beautiful imagery, you think that you deserve a land when really it's just plain to see Oh no, Sir Oh no, Sir We teach life, Sir We teach life, Sir
5.
Dan Simpson - Shalom (Interlude) 01:19
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6.
Romeo Shark Bait (Cliched Love Song) 03:51
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It’s been a few months now, so I’m ready to write this song It’s about the things that happen in life, and the things that go wrong I am not still angry, but it’s still on my mind And I don’t want it to stay that way Cos it wasn’t me, you said, it wasn’t what I did wrong We both needed to be strong I was brilliant, you said, you were lucky to have me But we just couldn’t be It’s strange how quickly things can change from love to hate One minute I was romeo, the next I was shark bait You were just not ready, but I can’t afford to wait Cos I’m too tired to carry on Cos it wasn’t me, you said, it wasn’t what I did wrong We both needed to be strong I was brilliant, you said, you were lucky to have me But we just couldn’t be “I’ll get over her”, they said, but you know what? I never did “There are plenty of fish in the deep blue sea” but you’re the only one for me And don’t think that’ll ever change Don’t think that’ll ever change And though you may not hear this song, at least it’s out there And even if it hurts to hear, I still think it’s fair Cos I still get a twinge inside when I see your smiling face But life, life goes on Cos it wasn’t me, you said, it wasn’t what I did wrong We both needed to be strong I was brilliant, you said, you were lucky to have me But we just couldn’t be It’s been a few months now, so I’m ready to write this song It’s about the things that happen in life, and the things that go wrong I am not still angry, but it’s still on my mind And I don’t want it to stay that way

about

The Chapel Sessions are a set of releases to showcase new tracks arranged or written by me (Dan Simpson), in live recordings with my quartet. They are by no means finished, but the releases display how they sound at this stage of the journey. They’re all recorded in chapels or other places of worship, as these are often very tranquil buildings with good acoustics, which always helps. They are basic recordings, which may be a bit rough around the edges, but we are very proud of them. Hopefully they’ll let you (and us) remember what our songs sound like, and we hope you enjoy them.
We Teach Life, Sir is the second volume in this series, recorded at St John’s Church in Hillingdon, West London, in April 2015.
Compared with the first EP, this one is, perhaps, more melancholy. Writing this, I’ve realised that it is, in places, downright depressing. But, I hope that a feeling of hope perpetuates through, along with indignance and (eventual) acceptance. I often feel sad songs are the most beautiful, and I hope this highlights that a bit.
OPEN TRACKS IN A NEW TAB FOR INDIVIDUAL TRACK INFORMATION

credits

released June 18, 2015

All tracks written by Dan Simpson, except Tracks 2 and 5, which are trad arr Dan Simpson
All tracks are copyright Dan Simpson 2015
Quartet arrangements by the Dan Simpson Quartet, obviously with quite a lot of input from the individual playing each instrument, and they’re very clever and do fancy improvised bits
Performed by the Dan Simpson Quartet
Produced by the Dan Simpson Quartet
Engineered by John Ide and Matt Ide
Mixed and mastered using Ableton Live by Dan Simpson
Cover design, album design and photography by Rhii Rendell
The Dan Simpson Quartet are Dan Simpson, Matt Ide, Dave Ide and Alex Walls
With thanks to St John’s Hillingdon for their building and piano, John for enduring the tedium, Rhii and Andy Rendell for being ever-faithful and ever-talented, Lucy Ladyman, Eleanor Greenwood and Rhii for being the closed-beta group for the record, my parents for taking me to many a music festival and thus cursing me into a life of attempting to make music, Lucy for her constant support, and of course Matt, Dave and Alex for being mad enough to give up their time to help me. I’m really grateful.

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Dan Simpson London, UK

Dan Simpson is quite good at playing music, but less good at writing a bio in a very small number of characters.

'Go watch my videos of Danzi, cos he's a reasonably decent musician sometimes' - Rhii Rendell

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