Howard, Ben - Quiet Me Down Lyrics

This song would fit the noonday dream album

Has he released this song ?

This is perfection.

RRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr. Can count on me, still.

I was disappointed that this wasn't on the new album. Its such a beautiful song

My upcoming album is inspired by Ben's music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNyJMmA2Sh0
Thanks For all the good music.

I'm still wishing to have a studio recording of this song, I love it sooooo much. No chance now! Prefer this to new songs released from Noonday Dream.

Ben I would do anything to have some sort of downloadable/streamable version of this song. A live version of this would be epic, I mean the intensity of this is not something a studio can hold or capture

Nice one https://youtu.be/w252Cesq75w

I have a theory. This song is the finished one from the pick and go video with ben howard on youtube just search "pick and go Ben howard". It looks pretty similar to it concerning the chord shapes.He must have noticed how many wanted this song to be finished.

mervan gn I disagree it’s a different tuning - I suspect he would have written this when he wrote all his other songs in DADGAD

Does anyone know anywhere he's playing some time soon? Been waiting years on him

Aaron Smith Same. I think he joined a band now “A blaze of feathers” maybe he’s gonna give some concerts then

He has been confirmed for 3 festivals. 2 in Spain in July, don’t remember about the other

He just released a new single. Full album comes out june 1st

"Sorry..."
"It's okay"
This, other little sounds from the crowd, and the slight reverberation as if he was singing from a far, darker space around has become a part of the song for me. Don't know if we'll get to listen to the studio version but I know that every Ben Howard performance, every of his stage alterations, even of the same songs, make me feel different and most of all, at times like this, when all else is crumbling down, at least they still make me feel

I really need this song in studio quality! Hopefully he will release it one day.

Rein Ridder Still patiently waiting

I'm so glad someone recorded this and uploaded it. What an amazing performance.

Hope to see this released at some point, love it!

BEN FUCKING HOWARD....... NO BETTER, CANT GET BETTER, PURE TALENT AND EXELLENCE!!!

This song makes my heart do funny things. So many feels with Ben.

My dream is to come at his action

rare? GFY

? huh? I haven't heard this anywhere else?

Ben Howard's music is eloquent poetry put to rhythm and music. So much talent in one human being.

I Love this guy <3

There´s safety in the firin’ line
There´s black ice on the road
I´m sleepless in the night time hours
Of a boat breached out at the storm
We lost the light of the mornin’ star
And we wonder where’s the way
The hoard is gathered in fervor now
They all shout words they can´t say

Darlin’ don´t you worry
About the crowd
Cause they still tear at their tongues
Oh, quiet them down
Darlin’ if you´re leaving
Don´t leave me alone
Darlin’ if I´m losing again
Quiet me down
Cause I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it
I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it

There´s safety in the firin’ line
There´s black ice on the road
A thorn in each and every side
Of her white dress already sold

Darlin’ don´t you worry
About the crowd
Cause they still tear at their tongues
Oh, quiet them down
Darlin if you´re leaving
Don´t leave me now
Darlin’ if I´m losing again
Quiet me down

Cause I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it
I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it

And you
I wont let you down
And you
I wont let you down
And you
I wont let you down
And you…

c c.c Lyric meanings?

There's safety in the firing line.
This reminds me of a couple of things.
A firing line is the forefront of battle. Safety on the forefront is rather hard to get.
The safety is a moments rest while the world is laid in ruin. The chance of still getting hurt or killed is still high.
(i first thought of a firing squad. Which offers a different kind of safety. Most guns used by a firing squad have blanks in them. So when they shoot the man sentenced to death, they can all live guiltfree of having killed the man. "My gun probably fired a blank". A safety from guilt. This explanation doesn't fit but it is poetic. So i chose to type it out, anyway... )

There's black ice on the road.
This reinforces the first line. Black ice is slippery ice that can't be spotted easily. Unforeseeable danger. One moment you're driving, the next you've lost all control and lay at the mercy of destiny.
This builds the idea of not being safe.

I´m sleepless in the night time hours
Speaks for itself. This fits the theme of not feeling safe.

"Of a boat breached out at the storm
We lost the light of the mornin’ star
And we wonder where’s the way"
These sentences are connected. They tell about a boat that's taking on water in a storm. And even worse, they've lost the light of the mornin' star. The stars where used by sailors to navigate in times where modern technology didn't exist. The mornin' star is a name used for some of the brighter celestial objects. However it was not used much for navigation, the North star was used for that. That detail aside, the stars where not visible and therefore they were lost.
Small detail, the beginning "Of a boat..." suggests that " i'm sleepless in the night time hours" is about being sleepless because of the "being lost feeling" from the boat scene.

"The hoard is gathered in fervor now
A mass of people is being very lively. Imagine a group where lots of people talk and move, lots of commotion. "A hoard" suggests that these are not well mannered people.
"They shout words they can't say. " The words that are used are perhaps profanity or maybe things that are not nice to say. You can't be sure yet, as you don't know what hoard he means.
Who are these people and what do they want? We don't know. Perhaps this nameless group is a metaphor for negative noise in daily live. The things that go wrong, the people that call you names, the heap of things that can overwhelm you sometimes. However i don't know this.


"Darlin’ don´t you worry
About the crowd
Cause they still tear at their tongues
Oh, quiet them down
Darlin’ if you´re leaving
Don´t leave me alone
Darlin’ if I´m losing again
Quiet me down
Cause I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it
I´ll have plenty of time
To think about it "

Now he talks to his Darling. This is vague.
He wishes to not be alone while suffering because of the "hoard".
She can make him feel calmer. Ease the distress.
This situation is quite normal, a person that comforts there partner. Helps them feel better.
We might imagine scenes where Ben feels distressed. A gig that didn't go well or a thing in his personal life. Perhaps a crowd at a gig that was displeased and started to talk loudly over the music. However it doesn't need to be that. But it could be.
Special note: Cause they still tear at their tongues. It produces a very carnal image. Tearing at a tongue. It gives a more demonic flavor to the "hoard". I like the colorful language.


"There´s safety in the firin’ line
There´s black ice on the road
A thorn in each and every side
Of her white dress already sold"
THe last two sentences suggest he feels pain because a white dress already sold. Well, a white dress is the symbol of a wedding. Perhaps something went not quite right in a romantic relationship. and that causes pain. Perhaps the uncomfort, the stress in the song, is caused by relationship problems.
Maybe it's a mixture of a outside influences and that influencing the relationship.
Just conjecture but it could be.

The rest of the song is nothing new except for "i won't let you down'. A promise to his Darling. Perhaps a last attempt at saving their relationship.

I love how Ben always portrays his songs with an epic Outro. 
God knows how he does it, ABSOLUTE GENIUS!!

Absolutely, that's why I desesper to have a proper concert of him in Blu Ray to really enjoy his music in high quality, and not this shitty YouTube stream... It's a shame that nowadays all band just show themselves on festival and doesn't offer us real high quality live...

Love bens darker music.

theres safety in the (?)(light)
theres black ice on the road
im sleepless in the night time hours
we were (both reached out at) the storms
we lost the light the light of the morning star
we were wonder wheres the way
the horde is gathered ? further now
they all shout words they can't say

darling -?
about -?
cause they'll tear at their tounges
oh quiet me down
darling if you're leaving
don't leave me out/(loud)?
darling if I'm losing again
quiet me down

cause i'll have plenty of time
to think about it (x2)

theres safety in the (fire light)?
black ice on the roads

i give up

@aa1234 there´s safety in the firing line
there´s black ice on the road here
I´m sleepless in the night time hours
and the boat breached out at the storm
we lost the light of the morning star
and we wonder where is the way
the hoard is gathered further down
they all shout words they can´t say 

darling don´t you worry
about the crowd
they still tear at their tongues
Ohh..quiet them down
darling if you´re leaving
don´t leave me alone
darling if I´m loosing again
quiet me down 
cause I´ll have plenty of time
to think about it
I´ll have plenty of time
to think about it 

there´s safety in the firing line
there´s black ice on the road
a thorn in each and every side
and a white dress already sown
 
darling don´t you worry
about the crowd
they still tear at their tongues
Ohh..quiet them down
darling if you´re leaving
don´t leave me out
darling if I´m loosing again
quiet me down 

cause I´ll have plenty of time
to think about it
I´ll have plenty of time
to think about it

And you
I wont let you down
and you
I wont let you down
and you
I wont let you down
and you

I heard this song for the first time live, in Portland Oregon, and it was amazing. I would love to see this song featured on an EP or just some sort of studio version.

What Time Signature is this song in? It sounds like 3/4 or more like 6/8, I can't tell. Can anyone confirm the time signature?

@Teddy Belair It's 12/8 (i.e. 4/4 with a triplet feel).

At 4 minutes😍

Just love this guy

click the link to learn this song on guitar! - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K___ujN7lV0

best in the uk by a long way in my opinion :-)

+scouse27 Best out there currently, not even close IMO

No doubt

this will be on his deluxe version of the album. The audio line is deleted because Island Records doesnt want people coming on here and downloading the song before it is released. These record companies hold youtube to a contract for this reason. It will be recorded and released. I personally think he's working on a music video for it

+Clay Crookham what does "audio line" mean? I hope you are right - I love this song

+Clay Crookham yeah right... then why is the audio line available again?

lol you lost me when you said he was working on a music video for it

Unfortunately you were wrong. I wonder how many songs he's written that we are unaware of! :(

i fucking love this

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO

Check out Gallery 47...Top singer songwriter

Magical <3

This isn't a new song. It got cut from the album "I forget where we were". I don't think he will ever release a studio version of this song. 

@Suna1988be That video was recorded before his latest album came out, lots of new material since... He won't play Soldiers live anymore lol. I'd be extremely surprised if he did.

@Jackson Tarrant IFWWW came out October 20th 2014... That gig where he played Soliders was in December 2014. 

@Suna1988be You're right I thought it said 2013. Still don't believe he will ever play it live again.

Jackson Tarrant you know that he has actually released a studio recording of the burden right? Only he released it under the band name of "corsaire" for an OST to the surf documentary called "spirit of akasha" I have it on vinyl ( one of my most valued vinyls)

I'll have plenty of time.