Watering the Roots of the Liberty Tree


This song is Leon's tribute to/life story of Tom Paine, the 18th-century thinker and propagandist, in whom Leon has shown an interest over a long period. The song presumably has its genesis in a show which Leon and Roy Bailey did called The Liberty Tree, following an enquiry from the Tom Paine Society in Norwich. On stage, the show featured songs and dialogue, and included the politician, Tony Benn, in the role of speaker for Tom Paine.

Other than in live performance, it was first seen in the songbook, Bringing the News from Nowhere (1992), which remains the only publicly available record of the whole composition. Leon eventually recorded it for his 2010 album about Tom Paine, but it is presented in sections, verses extracted (and occasionally moved around) and inserted into the appropriate place in the narrative. Almost the whole song is present, but there are a few omissions from the printed version. The song received the same treatment when performed live for the DVD, No Gods No Masters, but was not listed on the packaging.


Recordings

Version 1 (2010)  The song is presented in more than a dozen fragments, interspersed throughout the album

Version 2 (2011)  Live performance,again in numerous fragments. Released in 2014


Sheet music