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Donald Livingstone - The Duncraig Piano

from The Skye & Lochalsh Community Album Project by Louis Barabbas

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about

Inspired by a story in Plockton about how the former housekeeping college at Duncraig House donated a huge piano to the village hall which was so big it filled the stage and made events quite difficult. Apparently it ended up being pushed into the sea but no one can quite agree where/when/how.
Recorded by local musicians as part of the Culture Collective project funded by Creative Scotland and co-ordinated by local events charity SEALL. Profits from album sales go to Alzheimer Scotland.
www.seall.co.uk
www.culturecollective.scot

lyrics

I came here for quiet
The sky at this hour has such hues
One can lose all a man’s worried ways
But left with more questions than answers
I’ve not slept in days
As I walked on the shore
There I swore I saw ivory keys in the weeds
Not the kind for a door
Imagined their notes
Ringing beneath the boats on the waves
I looked out to the West
As I pondered the rest of those eighty eight levers
With hammers of felt
And smelt the first catch of the morning
Drift in on the breeze

I could ask someone how it was done
Someone who saw or somebody’s son
Surely they know
Why won’t they tell me
How the Duncraig piano
Wound up in the sea?

That’s not the whole of the story
Ignore me if I’m rambling on
Something’s wrong something’s not right at all
I understand that the grand
Was once a gift to the Hall
Don’t mention dimensions
The tension I bear
How I tear out my hair
For the doorway’s so small
How did it fit?
Was it done bit by bit?
Did the room open wide
With a hinge in one wall?

I could ask someone how it was done
Someone who saw or somebody’s son
Surely they know
Please tell us all
How the Duncraig piano
Got in Plockton hall

When it came from the castle
Did it rain? Was it dark
Did it roll on its own or get pushed in a cart
Did each pothole and stone
Make its tone go a little more sharp?

I could ask someone how it was done
Someone who saw or somebody’s son
Someone must know
Just how did they take
The old grand piano
All the way from Duncraig

However it got there
It rots there down on the sea floor
With old oars and the keels of wrecked ships
All stripped of its varnish and garnished with kelp
While the whelks make their marks on its lid
The size of a skiff and the shape of a rudder
I give a small shudder and picture the strings
With all the fish tails playing scales to the whales
While crabs clap along as they sing

I could ask someone how it was done
Someone who saw or somebody’s son
Surely they know
Why won’t they tell me
How the Duncraig piano
Wound up in the sea?

credits

from The Skye & Lochalsh Community Album Project, released August 4, 2023
Written by Louis Barabbas

Lead vocals: Donald Livingstone
Drums: Alan Cleobury-Jones
Piano: Jacqui Ross
Double bass: Keri Skye
Trumpet: Douglas Strachan
Guitar: Louis Barabbas  

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Louis Barabbas Manchester, UK

Louis Barabbas is a writer, performer and firefighter, best known for caustic love songs and energetic stage shows.

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