John Broomhall/additional lyrics by John Thompson
Time is a tempest and we are all travellers
We are all travellers, we are all travellers
Time is a tempest and we are all travellers
Travelling through the storm.
Our cities are crowded, our forests are falling
War clouds above, angry voices are calling
Five minutes to midnight, there's no time for stalling
It's time to share our load.
So lift up your voices and sing of the wind and rain
Sing of the wind and rain, sing of the wind and rain
Lift up your voices and sing of the wind and rain
Travelling through the storm.
Time is a tempest and we are all travellers
We are all travellers, we are all travellers
Time is a tempest and we are all travellers
Travelling through the storm.
One of my favourite contemporary Australian folk songs. Learnt from the Keith McKenry/Alan Scott recording "Travelling Through The Storm" in 1997. Alan only sang the first two verses on the album and so I wrote the third verse, later recording it with Martin Pearson on Never the Twain: Live at the Pod.
I've subsequently recorded it twice more with Nicole Murray on cloudstreet albums (Dance Up The Sun and Clouds on the Road. The recording above is from the second of these CDs, recorded live in Brisbane at the Judith Wright Centre for Contemporary Arts, with the help of Rebecca Wright, Belinda Ford and an enthusiastic audience of singers.
A great song - I love the version on "Dance up the sun" which can almost move me to tears sometimes. This rendering does have a raw energy though. I'm really enjoying the series. Many thanks.
ReplyDeleteRichard & Chris, Bedford UK
I have many great memories from the National Folk Festival over the years I've been going, and one of the greatest is of you and Martin singing this with an audience rising as one to join in on the choruses at the packed-out Budawang one year. Thanks!
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