Get all 14 Ensonglopedia releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Ensonglopedia of the Human, Nature Under Lock(down) and Key(change), Ensonglopedia of British History, Ensonglopedia of Plants, Ensonglopedia of Animals, Ensonglopedia of Science, The Element in the Room: A Radioactive Musical Comedy about the Death and Life of Marie Curie, Albert Einstein: Relativitively Speaking, and 6 more.
1. |
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Personally I like a really really dense forest.
In this land I’m a visitor, a foreigner, a tourist.
I think it’s wicked to be picking through a thicket
Flicking nettles with a stick.
The unpredictability’s one thing I find exciting.
The shimmering forest canopy is ever so inviting.
And I am happy hurdle-hopping when I’m not in
-side my habitat of brick.
Some may prefer to be
Lounging beside the sea
Checking out lapping waves
Seeing how clouds behave
Some may be hilltop drawn
Some may seek fields at dawn
Some people lurve
A good nature reserve
Some might hang out and veg
By a nice boundary hedge
Some find it not so harsh
Out on a windy marsh
Some think their time’s well spent
Down on their allotment
Some think the park
A bit of a lark
Watching kiddies catching Frisbees and the doggy chase a stick
Some may quite like to sit
On a bench for a bit
Watching from time to time
Squirrels and beetles climb
Up an oak tree
But me,
I know where I prefer to be:
Picking through a thicket flicking nettles with a stick.
It’s not everybody’s cup of tea but it gives me a kick.
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2. |
The Anthropause
03:38
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Earlier this year
Oh dear
A new virus did appear
And once it hit our nation
Oh damnation!
It completely changed the lives of our entire population.
With the bold ambition
Of breaking the transmission
We took the decision
To call an intermission
From constant activity
And reign in our liberty
To cut the probability
Of all-out misery.
And while we waited
Til the virus had abated
Nature was elated!
A name for this era has been designated:
They’re calling it the…
ANTHROPAUSE
It’s given nature freedom to recover while we’ve stayed indoors
The ANTHROPAUSE
Six months or so for the weeds to grow and the planet to heal its sores
It’s emptied our purses
Oh curses!
A small part of which the state so kindly reimburses.
I don’t wish to be a moaner
But oh Corona!
I can’t even see my friends! I’ve become such a loner!
And as we wallow in furlough
We’ve let the year go fallow
And though for some it’s an inferno
For nature it’s hallowed
For as the human curtails
His aeroplane trails
And his trains on the rails
Nature proudly unveils
What they’re calling the…
ANTHROPAUSE
The cawcaws of jackdaws have drowned out the four-by-fours
The ANTHROPAUSE
It might not last long enough to replenish the carbon stores
The ANTHROPAUSE
But it might just give us the time to re-examine our mores
The ANTHROPAUSE
The ANTHROPAUSE
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3. |
The Weeds
00:55
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The Goldenrod
At Foundry Wood
Is taking over the wildflower bed
As we were stuck
At home it could
Continue unchallenged its flowerbed spread
Wild clematis
When left in peace
Will climb at ease
Upon the trees
The stinging nettle
Will show its mettle
By picking paths
On which to settle
The weeds are pleased
They think it grand
To be unrestrained by the garden shears
But will they be
Allowed to stand
Once pesky humanity reappears?
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4. |
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In lockdown,
We count the clock down,
Livin’ our lives in a ghost town.
This key change
Was always gonna be strange,
But there are many ways to wipe off that frown.
I got really really good at knowing which plant’s which,
And which butterfly
I watch flutter by.
I’m rich in knowledge of each creature in the ditch
And can identify
Each flower I espy.
It’s never too late to learn a new skill,
And it gives me a thrill
To tell species apart at will.
I feel closer to nature
Now I know its nomenclature.
It is less of a stranger,
And that’s nothing but brill.
Lockdown, keychange.
I kept pet cabbage white caterpillars
In a pot, watched them get fat, fed them dinners,
I saw them construct their cocoons
Like little balloons, then pretty soon, late one afternoon
I said “Woah! Get a load of this! Metamorphosis!
Is this a metaphor for us, showing what’s in store for us?
When our lockdown’s unlocked
Will we be shocked
To discover the wings that freedom brings?
Lockdown, keychange.
I do
Kung Fu
In the park
After dark.
It had gone a bit tits-up for a baby blue tit
So I rescued it.
I indulged in strange behaviours
Like sharing seedlings with my neighbours
And going wild swimming
In the River Leam.
My mind is brimming
And I just can’t stem
The feeling of connectedness
And utter bliss as I do this.
All tension is released
And I am totally at peace.
Lockdown, keychange.
Occasionally I feel an overwhelming
Sense of foreboding,
And am in need of helping
Of recharge, reloading,
So I sit under a tree
And I become the tree
And the tree becomes me
And that way I’m happy.
I take in all the beauty
That I can see
In a simple blade of grass.
Even the sound of water running
Can be truly stunning
Turns out I am loving being
In lockdown,
We count the clock down,
Livin’ our lives in a ghost town.
This key change
Was always gonna be strange,
But there are many ways to wipe off that frown.
Lockdown, keychange
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5. |
Foundry Wood
02:18
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Under section 106 of the Town & Country Planning Act
A triangular strip of land between two active railways tracks
Was leased to the community for a peppercorn a year
And for that we give a loud resounding cheer.
Hip hip hooray for Foundry Wood!
For every day it does such good!
It does as much for its community as any woodland could!
This place is an oasis
That’ll never stay in stasis
That’s why we say hurray for Foundry Wood.
29 minutes walk from the very heart of Engerland
In a tranch of land twixt railway lines twixt Leamington and Birmingham
One day as if by magic a lovely woodland did appear
And for that we give a loud resounding cheer.
Hip hip hooray for Foundry Wood!
Since 2012 it’s proudly stood
Doing as much for its community as any woodland could!
This place is an oasis
That’ll never stay in stasis
That’s why we say hurray for Foundry Wood.
What used to be a railway siding
Is now some public land providing
Peace and tranquillity
Toilet facilities
And a range of activities
To suit all proclivities
And there’s even the distinct possibility
That it’ll unlock your creativity
So today we say hip hip
Hooray for Foundry Wood!
For every day it does such good!
It does as much for its community as any woodland could!
This place is an oasis
That’ll never stay in stasis
That’s why we say hurray for Foundry Wood.
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