Neptune

[Jim Malcolm]

Jim Malcolm sang his own song Neptune in 1995 on his Greentrax album Sconeward. A live recording from Glenfarg Village Hall in November 2003 was released in 2004 on his album Live in Glenfarg. Jim Malcolm noted on the live album:

The first time I sang this song—to my old friend Stephen Penman—he wet himself laughing and I was unable to sing it again for well over a year. It’s really meant for a girl to sing, and Kate Rushy made a great job ofit. It’s also bloody hard to play.

The Poozies with Kate Rusby in lead sang Neptune in 1998 on their Pure Records album Infinite Blue. They noted:

This song was suggested to us by Davy Steele.

Uiscedwr sang Neptune, “a particularly relevant song in today’s ever changing world”, on their 2009 album Fish Cat Door.

Lyrics

Jim Malcolm sings Neptune

Neptune, I think I’m in love with the sea
How do I woo you and make you love me
I’m drenched by your passion
Enthralled by your anger
Becalmed by your beauty
How do I make you love me?
But when he spoke, it was a plea not a roar
If you want my love, then go and tell them all:

Don’t oil my beaches, don’t slaughter my whales
Don’t cross me with diesel, cross me with sail
Give me some time to heal up my wounds
Give me more poison and I will die soon.

Neptune I don’t understand what you fear
Here round my island the waters are clear
I live from your riches, your birds and your fishes
I never would choke you, what do you need from me here?
But then he spoke of all the change caused by me
Your damage seems small, but let me recall
That in your grandfather’s day there ran salmon
You could walk on their backs
Now what’s left of great shoals
Those that slip through the cracks
Now the salmon’s in cages, gorged on fishmeal
Sucked from some other sea by cruel profiteers, so…

Don’t oil my beaches, don’t slaughter my whales
Don’t cross me with diesel, cross me with sail
Give me some time to heal up my wounds
Give me more poison and I will die soon.