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Rather Be Alone

from NATIVE by John Ellis

/

lyrics

i’d rather be alone than
ever be in love again (love again)
i’d prefer remembering to
waiting for the bitter end (bitter end)

when i was a young man i
i was a young man i
i was a young man i
waited night and day (night and day)
for the love of my dreams to
finally come my way (come my way)

and when my turn finally came i
went down on one knee (on one knee)
and sooner or later i was
on both begging darling please (darling please)

then i was a free man
i was a free man
i was a free man
met the love of my life (of my life)
she took my broken heart and somehow
broke it two more times (broke it twice)

so i’d rather be alone than
take somebody’s hand (someone’s hand)
i’d rather be somebody’s memory than
be somebody’s man (someone’s man)

everywhere i go
everywhere i go
everywhere i go i
tread carefully around broken hearts (broken hearts)

everybody seems lonely wishing
they could go back to the start (to the start)
because we’re all born alone
maybe we’re better off staying that way (staying that way)

yes i’d rather be alone than
ever be in love again (love again)
i’m just kidding baby i
would love to be your friend (be your friend)

© John Ellis 2022

credits

from NATIVE, released April 27, 2022
Produced by John Ellis
Executive Producer: Duncan Brown
Recorded, engineered and mixed by Brent Quinton
Assisted by Dale Wardell
Mastered by Rogan Kelsey

Recorded at The Audio Suite, Westville, KwaZulu-Natal Feb-April 2021
Additional recording at the Atterbury Theatre, Pretoria March 2021 by Fuzz Senekal and at the United Rhythms Studio, Durban May 2021 by David Jenkins
Some extra recording happened in Durban North and Pietermaritzburg May 2021

String arrangement and orchestration for “Dogs”: Bryan Schimmel

Artwork: Aimee Lindeque
Art Direction: Antony Ellis

Words and Music: John Ellis
“Down Paradise”: John Ellis, Patric van Blerk, Fransua Roos
Published by Jellisongs/ Admin. by CNC Music
All songs © John Ellis 2021

These musicians played these instruments:
David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins (umhuphe, concertina, maskandi guitar) Maqhinga Radebe (maskandi guitar) Njabulo Shabalala (percussion) Victor Sithole (umqangala, udloko, umzaneno) Burton Naidoo (piano) David Klassen (drums) Rixi Roman (upright bass) Regardt de Bruin (konsertina) Shanjeet Teeluck (sitar) Vishen Kamraj (tabla) Barry van Zyl (additional percussion) Andy Turrell (snare drum and coffee) Ralitza Macheva (violin) Petya Koleva (violin) Kolio Koleva (cello) Ralitsa Pechoux (cello) John Ellis (guitar, singing, additional percussion)

“Native” was made possible by the AW Mellon Foundation through the “Rethinking South African Literature(s)” project at the University of the Western Cape.

Siyabonga:
All the wonderful musicians. Brent Quinton. Dale Wardell. Fuzz Senekal. Bryan Schimmel. Aimee Lindeque. Antony Ellis. Rogan Kelsey. Jill Flusk.
Siyabonga kakhulu:
David ‘Qadasi’ Jenkins. Susan du Toit. Duncan Brown, without whom this album would not exist.

For Liam, Bethany and Sadie: natives, too.

A Luta Continua.

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John Ellis Durban, South Africa

A singer-songwriter from Durban, South Africa, John has played his music all over the world. His fifth full-length solo album "Native"will be released on April 27 2022.

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