Kt Tunstall's "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"

KT Tunstall is a terrific singer-songwriter from Scotland, of Scots-Irish-Chinese parentage. I first heard Tunstall's name last year on American Idol, when Katherine McPhee sang her song, "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree", very well, barefoot & accompanied by two men playing box drums (cajones). It was one of McPhee's--or anyone's--best performances of that Idol season, & it gave KT's career a well-deserved boost in the USA.
You can find Tunstall on the Web at www.kttunstall.com, www.myspace.com/kttunstall, & www.virginrecords.com/kttunstall/.

This is a live acoustic version of that song:



This is the radio single version:



These are the lyrics, pleasingly mysterious & contradictory, with a wonderful opening sentence:

Black Horse & The Cherry Tree (KT Tunstall)

(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
Well my heart knows me better than I know myself
So I'm gonna let it do all the talking.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
I came across a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
I felt a little fear upon my back
I said don't look back, just keep on walking.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
When the big black horse that looked this way,
Said hey lady, will you marry me?
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
But I said no, no, no,no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no,no-no-no
I said no, no, you're not the one for me
(ooooo,woo-hoo)
And my heart had a problem, in the early hours,
So I stopped it dead for a beat or two.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
But I cut some cord, and I shouldn't have done that,
And it won't forgive me after all these years
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
So I sent her to a place in the middle of nowhere
With a big black horse and a cherry tree.
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
Now it won't come back , cause it's oh so happy
And now I've got a hole for the world to see
(woo-hoo,woo-hoo)
And it said no, no, no,no-no-no
It said no, no, you're not the one for me
No, no, no,no-no-no
Said no, no, you're not the one for me
(ooooo,woo-hoo) (not the one for me, yeah)
(ooooo,woo-hoo)
Said no,no, no,no, no, no, no
You're not the one for me
Said no,no, no,no, no, no, no
You're not the one for me
Big black horse and a cherry tree
I can't quite get there 'cause my heart's forsaken me
Big black horse and a cherry tree
I can't quite get there 'cause my heart's forsaken me

"Lose This Skin" by Tymon Dogg with The Clash

This wild Irish rose of a song has been one of my favorite pieces of popular music since I first heard it in 1980 or so, on The Clash's Sandinista! LP. Tymon Dogg was a musician & busker from Liverpool who gave his young friend Joe Strummer some of his early lessons on guitar & ukelele. Mr. Dogg wrote this mysteriously wonderful song & sings it with a commitment & abandon that have never ceased to charm & touch me.

LOSE THIS SKIN
(Tymon Dogg)

Come with me, I won't hide
We're going on a ride
We meet each day, use time to see
While we're young and almost free
I've got to lose this skin I'm imprisoned in
Got to lose this skin I'm imprisoned in
Do not turn or hate to see
All the things you think we've got
Do not turn or hate to see
What happened to the wife of Lot
We're alone or so they say
We're not on our own in that way
When we're alone it's real tough going
We tend to take a part in someone else's play
Come with me, I thought he said
But that's not him anymore, he's dead
What's it like to be so free
So free it looks like lost to me
I've got to lose this skin I'm imprisoned in
Got to lose this skin I'm imprisoned in

Tymon Dogg is alive & well & still making music. Visit him on the web at www.tymondogg.net, www.tymondogg.com, & www.myspace.com/thequikening.