Anne Gair

DEBUT ALBUM

Debut album ‘Cigarettes and Smokescreens’ available now as digital download, limited edition white label vinyl, and CD from Bandcamp and live shows. It is now also on all streaming platforms. This page is where you will find exclusive information, lyrics  and images

Album of the week - Celtic Music Radio Nov 2025

Third place - Album of the Year

Nominated - SAY Award 2026

“In ‘Cigarettes and Smokescreens’, Gair has delivered a remarkable debut … it flows as confidently as the incoming tide” (Neil King, Fatea Magazine)

“(White Horses) What a lovely song, beautifully written. A masterpiece” (Paul Johnson, Folking.com)

Never Be Mine

At 20 years, she thought she was a princess and marry James Dean
He woo-ed her with flowers and a washing machine
He said he was her king and would make her his queen
And 50 years on, she wonders what the hell that means

And the waves roll in, and the sun still shines
And the lazy birds sing the same song ah ah ah ah ah…
She hoards her hopes in boxes in the depths of her mind.
She hides them ever so well so they’ll never be found.
She polishes her dreams and writes them on the soles of her shoes.
She cries to the wind...and she howls at the moon.

She says - ‘Save me, unfetter me
This future should not have been mine

And the waves roll in, and the sun still shines.
And the lazy birds sing the same song ah ah ah ah ah…

 I thought I’d be a dancer
 I thought you’d be a silver screen star.
I thought we’d have ten kids
And drive the latest sports car
I thought we’d see the world 
And share a bed under the stars
I thought we’d rent a spaceship
And travel to Mars….

One day he came to her and said, ‘I need you to be free
I know you’ve spent your whole life looking after me.’
She said, ‘My bones are tired and I’ve got chains on my feet
You’re all I’ve ever known, and I’m too afraid to leave’

And he said, ‘Save me, unfetter me.
This future should not have been mine.’

 

Look at the picture now
I don’t know how it came to this
House full of broken dreams
And cigarettes and smokescreens

He likes all the old haunts
Half smoked joints
He’s got a mouth full of
Crooked compliments
She spoke in perfect paragraphs
Now epitaphs of who….

She used to be
She used to be

He’s rotten
And she’s smitten
This is going to be a long
Slow burn
Til there’s only embers to remember
The girl…..

She used to be
She used to be

Look at this picture now, of broken dreams, I don’t know how
He likes all the old haunts, full of crooked compliments (Cigarettes and smokescreens)
She toasts the devil and the deep blue sea and sits alone in her finery
You know this is going to be a long slow burn (Embers to remember)

She used to be
She used to be

 

I don’t know when
You’re going to let me in
I’m just a child
In this old skin
Take it from me
You don’t know everything
So many blank spaces
Still to fill in

But I know I love you still
Please know I love you so

And the stars, they shine for you
And the universe is aligned for you
And the skies are blue for you
And the whole world is waiting for you

I promised myself
Not to hold on
You’ve got to lace up your own shoes
If you’re going to move on
Take it from me
I don’t know everything
I’ve so many blank spaces
I’m trying to fill in

But know I love you still
Please know I love you still

And the stars, they shine for you
And the universe is aligned for you
And the skies are blue for you
And the whole world is waiting for you

 
 

Oh Jimmy

Oh Jimmy

Favourite son

Nothing but luck since he was born

Tall and handsome

Full of charm

He was born under a real good sign

But he howls like a dog ow-ow

 

Oh Jimmy 

Wed the love of this life

And still it wasn’t enough

Every day he preened and said

I deserve so much more than I’ve got

And he howls like a dog ow-ow

 

The grass looks greener on the other side

I’m gonna give my luck a try

 

Oh Jimmy 

Be happy inside

You’ve a mighty fie woman by your side

You’’re full of whisky, ego led

Don’t you know its all inside your head

And then he cried like a dog ow -ow

 

The grass looks greener on the other side

I’m gonna give my luck a try

 

Oh Jimmy

You can’t fool me

I’m not that blind you see

I see you running round the town

You’re trying to be a hoochie-coochie man

And then then he howled like a dog ow-ow

 

The grass is greener on the other side

Im gonna give my luck a try

 

Oh Jimmy

Your woman’s gone

When you went out and you had your fun

She doesn’t need your live that bed

You’ve lost the best thing you’ve ever had

And then he cried like a little dog ow-ow

 

The grass isn’t greener on the other side

And I cast my love aside

The grass isn’t greener on the other side

Don’t cast your love aside

 

No no - no no no no no

Uh uh - uh uh uh uh uh

Ooh ooh - no no no no no

No no

 


 

Kitchen Dancing

Oh won’t you come over and dance in the kitchen with me
We’ll have some fun and we’ll make something nice for our tea
Oh won’t you come over and cut some shapes with me
Cos I love your face and I like your company

We’ll fall in la la la la la la la la love
La la la la love, fall in love

I’ll do the Moondance and you do the cha cha cha
I’ll play the spoons and you play the oom pah pah pah
I like my salad and you like your steak tartare
I’ll shake me hips and you shake your ooh lah lah lah

We’ll fall in la la la la la la la la love
La la la la love, fall in love

We’ll fall in la la la la la la la la love
La la la la love, fall in love
La la la la love, fall in love
La la la la love
Fall in love

 

You aim your insults at my forehead
My shield was a smile
But you sure got me on the rebound
In the quiet dark of the night
They came reeling through the air
Caught me unaware in the shadows
Piercing slumber and shattering peace

You put your sadness on my face

I see your smile, your face
From a different place, with a different hue
Fostering mistrust
Now you’re wolf running, words hurling
As they tumble through the air
Til they fall one by one 
And get tangled up in my hair

You put your sadness on my face

You're not bringing me down
Bringing me down
Bringing me down
You're not bringing me down
Bringing me down
Bringing me down

You watch your face 
As you smile n the room
My God
You always seem so confident
But you bring me down every time

You put your sadness on my face.

You're not bringing me down
Bringing me down
Bringing me down
You're not bringing me down
Bringing me down
Bringing me down

 

White Horses

He is a bear
I love the weight of him
He is an island
And I melt into his shore

And oh how he watches
As I glisten and I crinkle in my skin
And oh how he holds me
When my white horses come crashing in to him

He is a lighthouse
And he guides me home to safely
He is my anchor
And he saves me from drifting out to sea

And oh how he watches
As I glisten and I crinkle in my skin
And oh how he holds me
When my white horses come crashing in to him

And we toast to the devil and the deep blue sea
And we cherish the moments that lie in-between
Cos he's safe and he's warm
And he's always home to me

And oh how he watches
As I glisten and I crinkle in my skin
And oh how he holds me
When my white horses come crashing in to him

And we toast to the devil and the deep blue sea
And we cherish the moments that lie in-between
Cos he's safe and he's warm
And he's always home to me

Yes he's safe and he's warm
And he's always home to me

 
Anne Gair Vocals, Guitars
Maria Quinn  Piano
John Inglis Electric Guitar (2,4,6,7,9)
Ian Murray    Bass (2,4,6,7,9)
Alan Thomson Fretless Bass (1,3,8)
William Bowes Drums (2,4,6,7,9)
Paul Jennings  Drums (1,3,8)
Kirk Lothian Hammond (6,9)
Maria Orlowska Cello 
Lesley Woodbrooks Violin 
Ewan Mains  Trumpet