Return Me
by Emily Barker
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Get all 25 Emily Barker releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Flight Path Rhymes, Machine, A Dark Murmuration of Words, Return Me, Shadow Box, Precious Memories, Sweet Kind of Blue, Anywhere Away (Songs from the Jake Gavin film 'Hector'), and 17 more.
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about
I started, once again, to ask myself if it is time at last to return to my first home – by the Blackwood River where I grew up and where my family still live. It's a question that seems to have no answer, despite the number of songs I have dedicated to it.
This year everyone's life has taken another, unexpected existential turn – I've talked to friends who have found themselves asking similar questions and perhaps struggling to put a finger on where that safe place is that they would return to if they could.
For me, it's not just a physical place, it's also a moment in time – ‘home’ is my childhood: naïve and splashing in the river after school on hot, summer afternoons where crickets clicked a casual tempo and life felt immortal. I feel incredibly fortunate to have those memories, like a luxurious soft blanket I can wrap myself in when the worries mount up.
I hope you are safe and well, and that this song can give you pause for thought and help connect you with your own safe place, wherever that may be.
lyrics
(words: Emily Barker; music: Emily Barker and Ted Barnes)
Return me to where my eyes first glimpsed
Sun-kissed folds of your Blackwood lips
I’ve been gone so long
Time is moving on
Come with me to another land
Our skin can thin together hand in hand
I’ve been gone so long
Tell me will you come?
The hues of your summer haunt my way
I feel the path we’ve known begin to stray
Chosen journey many selves ago
Turned to me with a mind of its own
Am I following?
Knowing where I’ve been?
I’ve loved this movement every coast to coast
Fell for others but I love you most
I’ve been gone so long
Tell me will you come?
The hues of your summer haunt my way
I feel the path we’ve known begin to stray
So come with me to another shore
We can learn a new way to mourn
Are you following?
Knowing where you’ve been?
credits
license
tags
about
Emily Barker UK
Emily Barker is the award-winning songwriter and performer of the theme to BBC TV’s Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh. Her music is a blend of roots influences from country to English folk via 60s pop.
shows
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Sep 16London, UK
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Sep 29Glasgow, UK
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Oct 01Salcombe, UK
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Oct 01London, UK
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Apr 08London, UK
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Apr 09Stroud, UK
discography
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Apr 2021 -
Dec 2020 -
Sep 2020 -
Jun 2020
contact / help
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RELAY (Vol. 1) for Music Venue Trust #SaveOurVenues
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WALK AWAY, WALK AWAY
by GILL SANDELL & CHRIS T-Tsupported by 13 fans who also own “Return Me”
Two favourites here: Cactus Tree, for the bitter-sweet mature folk (hey, it's Joni, guys!), and Hit The Ground Running for my old die-hard inner garage rocker!
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Light The Boats - Album 2013
by Gill Sandellsupported by 12 fans who also own “Return Me”
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Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison LemkeBig, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
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The Living Room Sessions
by John PrineFunds from the sales of this single by John Prine, Margo Price, & Jason Isbell will benefit the ACLU.
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Tides of a Teardrop
by Watchhouse (formerly Mandolin Orange)The forthcoming album from Mandolin Orange blends rustic Americana melodies with aching, orchestral arrangements.
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SONGS OF OUR YEARS
by Gill Sandellsupported by 11 fans who also own “Return Me”
This is so beautiful in so many ways. The voice, the lyrics, the music. I read somewhere that this is considered neo-folk, Nope! It is called good, really good music. Well done Ms Sandell!
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