Hands and Mind
Lyrics
The sun sent out its silent rays
To pierce the West Moor gloom
Where tireless hands worked round the clock
In a single lonely room
A mind sparked and a mighty shadow
Touched the Great Lime Road
To stretch along the eternal path
On which history’s dreamers strode
Spinning cogs and whirring gears
Turned that wondrous mind
To speed-filled dreams where water steams
Through the mighty hands of time
Those hands were soon put to the task
Of burying a wife and child
But if the cottage lacked a woman’s touch
That mind was not beguiled
With the pain of loss weighing heavy
The hands toiled harder still
The one-roomed house became a 4-roomed home
While the mind refused to still
Spinning cogs and whirring gears
Turned that wondrous mind
To speed-filled dreams where water steams
Through the splintering cracks of time
He took his son’s hands in his own
To birth a new sundial
On a block of wood the gnomon stood
Beneath a sun’s bright smile
Over a plaque to remind the world
From the cottage’s stone wall
What those hands and mind achieved and gave
For the benefit of all
Spinning cogs and whirring gears
Turned that wondrous mind
To speed-filled dreams where water steams
Through the drifting sands of time
Ambitious goals stirred and reeled
And spurred that glorious mind
To steam-fuelled schemes where invention streams
Throughout all space and time
(Gary Miller)
© 2017 Whippet Records
Copyright Control MCPS/PRS
Notes
Gary was commissioned by Northern Voices Community Projects to write 'Hands and Mind' for 'Follow The Sun', a book published to mark the bicentenary of the Stephen's sundial at Dial Cottage in Killingworth.





Publications
Video Clips
Gary performing 'Hands and Mind'
at Whippet Records HQ, Belle Vue House, Ferryhill,
County Durham, England, on 2nd March 2017.
at Whippet Records HQ, Belle Vue House, Ferryhill,
County Durham, England, on 2nd March 2017.