MUSIC LINKS:
• Bandcamp
• Soundcloud
BLOG:
• Sign up for John Reed’s blog here.
LYRICS:
Beyond the valley, beyond the fell
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Beneath the clouds, beneath the sky
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Shaped by folds of rock and time
Constant martyr to mankind
Now it’s for us to decide
Where its future lies
Fires burn, buzzards fly
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Bitter cold, bracing wind
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Shaped by folds of rock and time
Constant martyr to mankind
Now it’s for us to decide
Where its future lies
Distant storm clouds gathering
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Weather systems whistle in
Sights to see but not to speak of…now
Shaped by folds of rock and time
Constant martyr to mankind
Now it’s for us to decide
Where its future lies
THE STORY BEHIND MOORSCAPE:
Moorscape is John Reed’s debut album. It evokes the atmosphere, imagery, sounds, social and political history of Britain’s moorlands. Our moors were once largely forest, and have seen massive change over the last few hundred years. Their current shape comes from a mix of deforestation due to the need for timber as a construction material for both buildings and ships, and the enclosure of land by the monasteries in the Middle Ages, and then more formally from the 18th Century onwards. Landless labourers were forced to live on the margins of private estates where land was poor and food was short. 4,000 enclosure acts were passed that converted land out of common ownership into the exclusive private property of the landed gentry.
The parallels with society in today’s Britain are evident: the poor being marginalised and made to pay for the lifestyles of a small minority of extremely wealthy people. If there is hope in Moorscape, it comes from the fact that life runs in a series of cycles, and that people of all races, creeds, abilities and incomes can experience nature, love, and the joy of living, as well as the hardships and sadnesses that seem to come with the territory. And that a better cycle will one day return.
Britain has 860,000 acres of heather moorland. That represents 75% of what remains in the world of these fragile landscapes (source: http://www.moorlandassociation.org ). The title track delivers the message that unless we act now to conserve and preserve these wonderful wildernesses, they will be lost forever. Once gone, they cannot be recreated.
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