We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.
/

about

Words and music copyright Jim Woodland

lyrics

St Peter’s Fields
© Jim Woodland

St Peter’s Fields in Manchester
On a day we need not name
Soldiers standing in the sunlight
One by one the people came
And the women were dressed in white
Wearing wreathes of laurel green
St Peter’s Fields in Manchester
1819.

And you would think that reform
Was a child that must be born
And you would think democracy
Would give us hopes of liberty
But do you think it’s true?
Have you heard the news?

Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On the fields of Peterloo
And the red upon the green grass
Sparkles like the morning dew
May your tears fall down like water
And wash the blood from you
Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On the fields of Peterloo


Someone tell me how it happened
I know even less than you
Their swords were out and sharpened
A hundred thousand pushing through
We were standing in the front line
Still I can’t believe it’s true
I saw her eyes, she saw mine
She was dead before she knew

Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On the fields of Peterloo
And the red upon the green grass
Sparkles like the morning dew
May your tears fall down like water
And wash the blood from you
Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On the fields of Peterloo


When you wake up in morning
Thank the star that shine on you
That the likes of Phoebe Webber
Always do the things they do
From the bloody streets of Dili
To the ghettos of the USA
From the haunted squares of China
To the graveyards of the cape
She will die again tomorrow
Just as she died yesterday
She will die until the sorrow
And the tears are washed
Now the green leaves of the laurel
turn a red and deadly hue
Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On the fields of Peterloo
Phoebe Webber has been slaughtered
On a street not far form you.

credits

from Live at Woodford '96​-​'97, released January 7, 1997

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Penelope Swales Boolarra, Australia

Penelope Swales has been articulating the human condition with passion and humour for 30+ years. She sings about politics, love, friendship, the unbreakable bond between us and dogs and the impact of the Internet on society. She won the 2019 Alistair Hulett Songs for Social Justice Award with “Cambridge Analytica”. “The Ides of March in Christchurch" was short-listed for the same award in 2020. ... more

contact / help

Contact Penelope Swales

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Penelope Swales, you may also like: