Unicorns

As some of you may have noticed, this poor ol' blog has been limping along rather forlornly of late. The heavy, darkening greens of late summer are never particularly attractive to my eye and, beneath the dreary skies we've been having, they've done little to tempt me to take many photos or go to new places. Usually August is saved for me by visiting folk festivals, agricultural shows and open gardens, but this year most of my alternatives are closed by King Covid. So I've been looking for my music online.

British folk music occasionally throws up a good songwriter, though most of them are little known outside the parochial world of the folk enthusiasts. The rest of the planet may consider them as "uncool" but some of their songs will have a lifetime beyond the realms of passing fads and fancies. Here is Mr Bill Caddick, sitting in his caravan, with his song "Unicorns".

Unicorns - a song written by Bill Caddick

We were travelling north to sing and play
For friends that we had never met
Been working hard and didn't speak
The sky was grey and threatened wet
And I dreamed that I saw unicorns
Dreamed I saw them wild and white
Their sudden beauty lit the world
Like a star will light a winter's night

Pure as love with manes of milk
They danced and pranced and cried aloud
Bright as rainbows round the stars
Their eyes were soft and sad and proud

And I wept for the wild and dirty world
To which this beauty now was lost
And cursed the hungry mind of man
That feeds the future at such cost
My head was bowed, my eyes were closed
When in my ears their voices rang
And these few words lodged deep inside
And in my very soul they sang

We never went away
You always knew that we were near
Remember how to look for us
You'll see we were always here

I raised my eyes to seek them out
The world was empty all around
The rain came tumbling from the sky
It drowned all dreams upon the ground
And when they asked me why I wept
Like one who for his dead love mourns
The only answer I could give
I dreamed that there were unicorns

We never went away
You always knew that we were near
Remember how to look for us
You'll see we were always here.

Take care.