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The Life and Death of a Plant Hunter (Ribac​/​Newell)

from INTO THE GREEN (MUSEA​/​GAZUL 2017) by François Ribac and Eva Schwabe

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lyrics

Hokkaido blooms in the rains of Kew
Trees grace the garden
Tall cedars and the yew
These were my world
Dreams, like seeds must be
Sown if they are to flower
Far I’d go, as the ocean would roll
Just to say I had known them
Seas of species I sailed all alone
If unseen, how could we
Grow them at all?
Golden pine, magnolia, bamboo
From Shanghai, east to Kyushu

Latinised, my name
Shall be a fragile fame
For my crowded hours
Spent on these gems
Their stamens and stems
Live lived among their flowers
China tea – terrace to samovar
I introduced to India
Sail and trade.
Empires were not made, but grown
Underneath my gaze

Europe waits like a child at the gate
Eager for what I’ve brought him
Crysanthemum, the azalea or plum
Bay of Shimoda and Pagoda
Brought back here by botany
Green oceans away.

When the ship sails back home
I may not be with her
But you’ll see on this quay
Europe, all I give her:
Species recovered from Edens unseen
Let this be my inscription
And if in all the years to follow
Wind still blow
Then all the world shall know,
What I have seen
And if the ships still sail
From west to east, and home
My spirit will be with them,
In the wind
And when the tea is brewed
And flowers bloom outside
My spirit will be with them,
In the rain
Only this – not my name
Is all you need remember.

All my crowded hours
Spent on these gems
Their stamens and stems
Life lived among their flowers.

credits

from INTO THE GREEN (MUSEA​/​GAZUL 2017), released November 15, 2017
Cathal Coughlan: vocals
François Ribac: acoustic guitar, mandoline, piano
Dave Gregory: electric 12 strings guitars, neo steel guitars, lead guitars
Eva Schwabe: musical saws
Philippe Istria: cajon, maracas

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François Ribac and Eva Schwabe France

French composer François Ribac and german singer Eva Schwabe have been working together since the early nineties. Together they have created and performed various operas and plays as well as music for silent movies. Their records have been published by MUSEA (France) and No Man's Land (Germany) ... more

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