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The Belle and the Ruin

from Quiet Giant by Emma Langford

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skootenini Such a pure voice.
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  • "Quiet Giant" Limited Edition 12" Vinyl
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    This is your chance to add the album to your vinyl collection, as well as owning a larger version of the Quiet Giant artwork by Jacob Stack (it's very pretty).

    The stunning artwork for the album draws you in to a different world.
    It was created by Donegal artist Jacob Stack to capture the nostalgic, magical fairy-tale ambience of the title track, "Quiet Giant".

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Emma Langford's debut album "Quiet Giant" showcases ten tracks, set against a stunning backdrop of strings, percussion and piano.

    The songs dance lightly between genres, weaving a coming-of-age narrative that explores love, heartbreak, and wrestling with self-doubt.

    The album comes in a beautiful 4-panel digipack with a 4 page booklet, illustrated by Jacob Stack

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  • Full Digital Discography

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    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Abigail (Tomhas Ghobnatan), The Wexford Carol, The Winding Way Down To Kells Bay (With the RTÉ Concert Orchestra), Winter Nights, Birdsong (Arvo Party remix), At Seventeen, The Winding Way Down to Kells Bay (piano instrumental), Sowing Acorns, and 13 more. , and , .

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lyrics

9. The Belle and the Ruin

There was a bell in a tower,
she tolled on the hour each day,
and would call on the people to come and to listen.

Below on the earth stood a ruin so old
that the sun knew the stones,
and she saw through his doorways and windows it glistened.

And so, she looked down and she’d ring like a bell,
every syllable rang out to tell him her feeling,
and he gazed around, so amazed as she fell,
at each toll sweet and strong, and their love went on pealing.

Daily he’d wish for a window of hope,
she would throw down a rope, and their love would ignite.
His roots were strong in the ground, still he longed
to be where he belonged, in the clouds, by her side.
She heard his pleas, and her eyes longed to see
for the first that the whispers of lovers held truth;
so, the heavens they heard, and were moved to answer
to the cries and desires of the bell, and the ruin.

The crowd gathered round, and a grief-stricken hush fell,
no hourly song would ring out any longer,
the music was silenced.
The storm, it had crept in the black of the night,
and the lightning it struck like a sword
in the stone of the tower, and violently,
it cut her down, ever ringing she fell;
every syllable rang out to tell him her feeling,
and he gazed around, so amazed as she fell
at each toll sweet and strong, and their love went on pealing…
Their love went on pealing;
their love goes on pealing.

She’s but a shell now, she lies in the dirt,
no songs passed her lips since the night that the lightning came,
stole her away; but the holy men heard of the love ‘tween the two
so they cut out her silver tongue, buried her soul in his clay.

And so she lies down and she rings like a bell,
every syllable rings out to tell him her feeling,
and he gazes ‘round so amazed as she fell
at each toll sweet and strong
and their love goes on pealing…
Their love goes on pealing.

There was a girl in a tower,
she’d meet with the birds of the air
and the clouds that would skitter past hoping she’d see ‘em.
There was a boy on the earth at her feet
who would talk to the air, and the ground,
he would pray would rise up so she’d see him.

credits

from Quiet Giant, released October 18, 2017

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Emma Langford Limerick, Ireland

Emma is a Limerick-based songwriter with strong folk, traditional influences that shine through her work

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