Written for the hat-makers at Mountcastle Hats as part of 'The Music Shift', a workplace songwriting project held in conjunction with the Queensland Council of Unions. A special thanks to the delegates and members of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union for sharing their stories with us.
lyrics
Keep It Under Your Hat
I saw a man in a hat walking down the street
He pulled the brim way down and kept his eyes low
Like there was something that he didn’t want me to know
Keep it under your hat, don’t you let it show
It’s not the kind of thing I want you to know
I saw a room full of hats, all the latest styles
I had to try on a few, did they suit me?
I checked the mirror to find what I couldn’t see
Keep it under your hat, don’t you let it show
It’s not the kind of thing I want you to know
Sometimes you can sing what you cannot say.
You can’t always buy back what you give away.
In every stitch and piece of braid there’s a human touch,
In every seam the secrets of someone’s life
I saw a pile of old hats no-one wears anymore,
They made me open my eyes, think of years ago
They were telling me things few people care to know.
So keep it under your hat, don’t you let it show
It’s not the kind of thing I want you to know
I felt the cold winds of change tingle down my back.
I had to pull down my cap, keep my head low,
I was facing things I didn’t want to know.
Keep your ear to the ground, and keep your head down
It’s not the kind of thing I want going ’round
Sometimes you can sing what you cannot say.
You can’t always buy back what you give away.
In every stitch and piece of braid there’s a human touch,
In every seam the secrets of someone’s life.
credits
from Satellites,
released March 3, 2017
Words and music: Lachlan Hurse and Sue Monk
Guitar and vocal: Sue Monk
Electric bass: Lachlan Hurse
Tenor sax and clarinet: Ross Gwyther
Puerto Rican cuatro: Rob Stewart
Drum kit: Dan Simpson
Congas and percussion: James Harper
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Rob Stewart at Fruitbat Studios, Salisbury, Qld, Australia with the assistance of Mark Smith (Real Productions) adn Dave Mash Parnell (Mash Pro)
Jumping Fences is an enduring musical partnership between Sue Monk and Lachlan Hurse. Their original works contain imagery
and styles that reveal both an incisive insight into Australian life and a long association with Latin American culture.
Performances feature Sue's rich voice, her rhythmic guitar technique and the colour of Lachlan's innovative bass style....more
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