Get all 10 Henderson Sheppard releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Where and When and Wonderful (The MEDA Mix), The Great Unreal, The Aphantasic, Never the Fallen, Right Now, Where and When and Wonderful, King of the World (BandCamp exclusive bonus track), Quench - The Album, and 2 more.
1. |
Denying the Crown
04:18
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Once…
Twice…
This land is empty it never was before.
I expected a little more.
We made peace; we made war;
We made a prison of an open door.
My pride, it serves me ill.
And three times still I will deny the crown.
Bow down before them; accede to their demands.
They don’t need you to understand.
The night falls, the weak cry.
They make a fool of you before you die.
Your flesh corrupted even as you try,
To draw compassion from the needle’s eye.
So you walk through this wind, but it blinds those that stare,
And you dream of a time that is over now.
As the lords of carnage gather there.
And you don’t understand how this came to be true,
You believed in the progress they promised to you.
And this grim coronation will pass from one head to another.
The cursed to their raptures and revels.
My pride, it serves me ill.
And three times still I will deny the crown.
Beyond belief, beyond equality.
Behold the king, behold the mystery.
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2. |
Quench
05:02
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Believe in this asymmetry.
The blossom darkens as it touches me.
Half my life is worth less than the need to be more than you are.
My blood is singing now.
Soften the fire in the sky.
Soften the fire in the sky.
Like shades drawn across your eyes…
A sense of form returns to the sun-blind soul…
Who questions all they learned as the petals fell…
The beggar man gives thanks for his empty bowl and…
Larks sing to the tidal roar and everybody must choose which they will ignore.
Hold the whole world in your hand,
Take possession of its majesty.
Never have you been so far away from the light you desire.
Become the open hand!
Soften the fire in the sky.
Soften the fire in the sky.
Eyes wide facing from the light.
Into the soft earth planting rows of hopeful seeds.
I know that I am fooled as I taste the fruit,
And as I bite down it is only me that bleeds.
Can this be wisdom, to know the way and take another path from it anyway?
Soften the fire in the sky.
Soften the fire in the sky.
Eyes wide facing from the light.
Into the soft earth planting rows of hopeful seeds.
I know that I am fooled as I taste the fruit,
And as I bite down it is only me that bleeds.
Can this be wisdom, to know the way and take another path from it anyway?
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3. |
Messiah Complex
04:42
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You said a lot of things that were ignored.
You wanted nothing but to be adored,
And damn the fates of those that couldn’t see.
Now comes the hour for you to be what you’re meant to be.
(You know)
You are the one
(You know)
You are the one
(You know)
And you swim through the filth;
And you sleep with the dogs;
And you bless them with fire.
(You know)
You are the one
(You know)
You are the one
(You know)
You are the one
(You know)
You are the one
(You know, you know)
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4. |
Fall In
02:50
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Not the bravest boy you’d meet
A tender heart, a quiet & loving son.
More by fortune than intent,
Comes to the art,
And sentiment has won.
Seventeen, he’s knocking at the door.
She understands what he is looking for.
“I’ll never leave”
“I will be true”
“I’ll never leave”
“I promise you”
“I’ll never leave”
But the marching starts and then
The clamour grows so loud
Even boys must go be men.
Do your country proud!
Fall in
Don’t go looking back
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5. |
Bombs Over England
05:14
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Watch the skies, clouds are gathering.
Hear the distant engine roar.
Flight command, voices panicking,
Don’t control them anymore.
Flying over England
Falling over England
Recognise, the enemy within,
For they seek to do you harm
Populist, ex (fifth) columnist,
Take society by charm.
Flying over England
Falling over England
Bitter wind, false theology
Brutalising and malign
Acolytes of self-divinity.
Sacrificed in our own shrine.
Flying over England
Falling over England
Satisfy my curiosity,
As you look me in the eye,
Do you see souls in unity
Or wreckage over which you fly?
Flying over England
Falling over England
Flying over England (The damage done)
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6. |
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I can’t feel the air (nothing, nothing around you)
On the edge of the flames, (Nothing)
Burning bridges in other people’s names.
Making plans for the fall. (Nothing)
Unaware of it all.
Currents swept us and toys consumed us so.
Blindly, on we go
Crusading.
No time to listen and far too much to say,
On this the final day,
We’re fading.
I can’t feel the air (nothing, nothing around me)
And the more one denies
Invoked extinction/oblivion appears before their eyes
We reneged on the pact
“Not the right time to act”.
Please Pandora come down and stay our hand.
Footprints in the sand
Remaining.
We’re so eager to break open the jar,
Look how smart we are.
It’s raining.
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7. |
The Lash
03:44
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The cards fall where they’re meant to be.
Enterprise or austerity.
The whip hand as it comes to me.
The lash.
It’s writ large in your DNA:
The deck stacked in this power play.
The mute voice has the most to say.
The lash.
Hey!
I’m glad I’m living on the right side of town, right side of town, yeah.
Hey!
I’m glad I’m living in the right time, the right time.
And this ship is on fire.
No smoke yet here, but the lower decks are an inferno.
The calls for water go unheeded,
While the captain and officers drown themselves in wine.
One response when they call.
The lash.
Live their lives in our thrall.
The lash.
Beaten, broken and small.
The lash.
Watch them go to the wall.
The lash.
Turn our backs on them all.
The lash.
No relief as they haul.
The lash.
Let them lie where the fall!
The lash.
The lash, the lash, the lash, the lash
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8. |
Freeman
04:36
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Knew the numbers in the space around him;
All the atoms of the Sun.
Watched the universe through eye unfiltered,
Saw the road to kingdom come.
He was always one of the free men.
He was always one of the free.
Always without; never withheld.
Wove these slender threads of light before him,
As he kept pace with the hound.
Rode the hunter to the far horizon
Raised the Heavens from the ground.
He was always one of the free men.
He was always one of the free.
Always without; never withheld.
Dreamt the moment stretched to a timeless ocean.
Locked the angels into eternity.
Trapped the star-shine under the earth above them.
No one saw what he dared to see.
He was always one of the free men.
He was always one of the free.
Always without; never withheld.
He was always one of the free men.
He was always one of the free.
Always without; never withheld.
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9. |
A Better Lie
04:54
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My, the level of conversation has declined…
And I was hoping for more than just ‘a reckoning’.
It seem the time to make this right has passed us by.
The invitation’s been withdrawn.
It’s time time to find a better lie.
You’re never aware of what you’re doing.
You’re never around no more.
You never arrive
With all the promises of before.
It’s not where we’ve been, but where we’re going.
The future is clear no more.
We opened our eyes but didn’t understand what we saw.
And we lay claim to the truth like purchased property.
We see, reflected in different ways,
Like light through a diamond.
Is this an asset or a liability?
Within the ledger of my soul,
It’s more that just accounting symmetry.
You’re never aware of what you’re doing.
You’re never around no more.
You never arrive
With all the promises of before.
It’s not where we’ve been, but where we’re going.
The future is clear no more.
We opened our eyes but didn’t understand what we saw.
Break this. Remake this.
So no surprise.
The world is an airless place that I don’t recognise.
Is this where I want to stay?
You’re never aware of what you’re doing.
You’re never around no more.
You never arrive
With all the promises of before.
It’s not where we’ve been, but where we’re going.
The future is clear no more.
We opened our eyes but didn’t understand what we saw.
Break this. Remake this.
Stories come around, come around, stories come around.
Shadows of the past
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10. |
A Simple Act of Kindness
05:52
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What have you done?
No stars left anymore.
I’ll kiss you still
And say goodnight.
And like the Sun
The smallest act spreads light to every corner
Round the world.
Shadows be gone!
And for the boys
And for the girls
And for the world
This, I do.
And for the past
And for the now
And what’s to come
This, I do.
Hold out your hands!
I’ll be the buttonman.
This simple thing
All I can do.
And it will pass
Through every one of us,
Transforming all of us
A little thing
A simple act of kindness in a broken world,
And oh it changes everything
Trust me
To help you through.
And for the boys
And for the girls
And for the world
This, I do.
And for the past
And for the now
And what’s to come
This, I do.
And for the best
And for the lost
And for the rest
This, I do.
And for your sake
And for you all
And with my love
This, I do.
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11. |
Twice Around the Sun
05:04
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Fear in my heart,
What have I left to be frightened of?
My kingdom’s come undone.
Here at the start,
No horizon just an endless space
A path to the unknown.
Beyond the blame, begins the shame.
We’re all the same.
The clouds appear and then drift by
The birds are gone, I don’t know why
The moon moves slowly through the sky.
One and one makes ten
And here I go again around The Sun.
Ghosts in my mind
Was that ever how it used to be?
I really don’t recall
Laid in the dark,
Lost beauty and in bitterness.
The madness of it all.
Is there a way you can repay
This endless day?
I knew the lights would come and go
One day I’d witness their last show
But in the moment you don’t know.
Where has Heaven gone?
I journey blindly on around The Sun.
So we create and celebrate
This fragile state.
Then you realise one day
That the feeling’s gone away
And there’s nothing left to say.
Time passed justifies,
You open up your eyes and see the Sun.
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Henderson Sheppard England, UK
Midlands-based duo (Andy Sheppard and Matt Henderson) have been releasing music since 2019. Thoughtful, sophisticated, and
often dark, yet never losing a pop-sensibility.
Henderson Sheppard have had critical acclaim as well as UK and international radio play (Holland & Ukraine).
... more
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