> Lal Waterson > Songs > At First She Starts

At First She Starts

[Lal Waterson]

This song was sung by Lal Waterson and accompanied by Charles O’Connor, fiddle and Oliver Knight, guitars on the album Once in a Blue Moon. A second recording with another tune is on Lal & Oliver’s second album, A Bed of Roses. Here, Lal is singing and Oliver playing the piano.

Cover Versions

1. James Yorkston on Migrating Bird: The Songs of Lal Waterson (2007)
2. The Unthanks on Here’s the Tender Coming (2009)

Lyrics

Lal Watersons sings At First She Starts

First she starts and then she’s startled.
I see that light in her eyes
Didn’t you realise you were a bird,
At dawn when you woke with air in your throat.

Chorus:
So far doe-ray-me
Sing to me loudly,
Serenade me,
Mess with the melody.
Light and shade
All my eyes can see.

Oh but you are the phrase at the end of the bar,
a long and high refrain.
Hanging around for the choir to strike sound,
So’s you can holler your joy and your pain.

Chorus