The band is one of the few outfits still burning with the fire of punk, but managing to combine it with the ideals and knowledge of English folk music - a balancing act they've made into a fine art over the years. And they have deep roots in the U.K. folk scene, emerging from both the Whitstable Oyster Co. Ceilidh Band, which formed in 1975, and Fiddler's Dram, a group put together in 1973 by Dave Arbus, whose fiddle work had graced releases by East of Eden and the Who.
Prosser, Telfer, and Taylor were also in Fiddler's Dram, whose moment of fame arrived in 1979 with the British hit single "Day Trip to Bangor" - released after they'd split up. They reconvened for a last album when Kearey joined them. He also became part of the band's alter ego, the roots-oriented Oyster Ceilidh Band, as they'd now become. With Fiddler's Dram no longer extant, the members put their energies in the newly renamed Oyster Band in 1981, playing gigs around England and self-releasing albums on their own Pukka label.
The band returned in 2003 after the longest recording layoff of its career with Rise Above, which included eight originals and two English traditional numbers, and featured the work of Irish piper James O'Grady throughout.
In 1990, the band collaborated with renowned folk singer June Tabor for the album Freedom and Rain and a tour.
Current Lineup:
Chopper - bass guitar, cello, vocals
John Jones - melodeon, lead vocals
Alan Prosser - guitars, viola, vocals
Ian Telfer - fiddle, English concertina, vocals
Dil Davies - drums
http://www.oysterband.co.uk/
A Time of Her Own
Oysterband Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She moved in a time of her own
And her laughter and light streamed into my life
And my days filled with green and gold
It's so hard to love, it's so easy to lose
What you hold right there in your hands
When the power it brings goes out of control
She moved me to tears, she stripped away years
Turned my dark night into day
Now all that is gone like the soft winter sun
And turned all my green into grey
The lyrics of Oysterband's song A Time of Her Own seem to be describing a person who has had a significant impact on the singer's life. The person moved with a sense of fearlessness and individuality that was inspiring to the singer. They had a unique sense of timing and lived their life on their own terms. The person's presence brought joy and vitality to the singer's life, representing the colors green and gold. However, despite the depth of the connection, the singer laments the inevitable loss of what they cherished. It can be interpreted that the person's impact on the singer's life is now just a memory, symbolized by the metaphor of the green fading into grey, leaving the singer in a sense of melancholy.
Line by Line Meaning
She moved without fear, she moved within me
She acted courageously and confidently, and her actions were a part of me
She moved in a time of her own
She had her own unique rhythm and way of doing things
And her laughter and light streamed into my life
Her happiness and vitality brought positivity into my life
And my days filled with green and gold
My days were filled with new life and riches because of her influence
It's so hard to love, it's so easy to lose
It can be challenging to sustain love, but easy to let it go
What you hold right there in your hands
What you believe you have control over
When the power it brings goes out of control
When you are no longer in control of the impact and influence of that power
And is no longer yours to command
And you have lost the ability to direct or manage it
She moved me to tears, she stripped away years
She had a profound emotional effect on me and lightened my soul
Turned my dark night into day
She brought hope and brightness into a time of despair and confusion
Now all that is gone like the soft winter sun
Her presence and influence have disappeared like the gentle fading of the sun in winter
And turned all my green into grey
She took away the vibrancy and life from my existence and replaced it with dullness
Writer(s): Alan Prosser, John Longley Jones, Alaric James Neville
Contributed by Cooper R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.