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The Feral Crow (Scott Ainslie)

from The Feral Crow by Scott Ainslie

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about

I was working on a benefit concert to raise money for a battered women shelter in Wytheville VA, having to highlight the need without revealing the location of the shelter (which could be life-threatening to the women there and their children). As I was pondering that, I heard a WV public radio program on the proposed Mountain top-removal mining. These two things merged. Inspired in part by Ted Hughes "Crow."

lyrics

The Feral Crow (Scott Ainslie)

I’m gonna blow off the top of this mountain
And fill up the valley below.
Before we get done, the dust will block out the sun
And we’ll peel back the layers of coal.

She was both young and beautiful;
Unspoiled, high and low.
But they’ve killed her babies in her nest:
She is the feral crow.

It’s a clean cut when the knife is sharp.
It’s the dull knife, leaves a scar.
And how she shines, both black and blue;
Her talons, cruel and sharp.

One night, her beak will crack the earth
And swallow it in the dark.
It’s a clean cut when the knife is sharp.
It’s the dull knife, leaves a scar.

There’s a yellow band around her eye,
Just like a wedding ring.
The farmer he will track her down
And kill her before she sings.

It’s a clean-cut when the knife is sharp.
It’s the dull knife, leaves a scar.
And so she moves from pine to pine,
A sorrow, in her breast.

And she’ll put out the miner’s eyes…
And put coal dust in his chest.
And it’s a clean-cut when the knife is sharp.
It’s the dull knife, leaves a scar.

I’m gonna blow off the top of this mountain….
And fill up the valley below.

credits

from The Feral Crow, track released September 22, 2004
Scott Ainslie: Diddley Bow, Acoustic Guitar, Clawhammer Banjo & Vocals
Scott Petito: Bass, Synthesizer Pad & Octave Mandolin
Jerry Marotta: Drums, Percussion
Marc Shulman: Electric Guitars
Leslie Ritter: Harmony Vocal

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about

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Scott Ainslie Brattleboro, Vermont

A long history with older black blues and gospel players in the mid-South marks Ainslie's work deeply. He transcribed all of Robert Johnson's recorded songs for "Robert Johnson/At The Crossroads" (Hal Leonard, 1992) and has a teaching DVD on Johnson's music. A fine songwriter with a social conscience and a belief in the power of music to move and inspire, Ainslie's voice is a great force for good! ... more

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