1. |
The Entwife
05:18
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Oh come and see, we gladly cried!
The woods awake, the day alive,
The sun was dappled on the vine
And we our roots
And branches all entwined.
And love grew wild as roses
Shouting scarlet summer songs,
And we went crowned with leaves of gold
And robed with grasses long,
To make our vows among the boughs
When we were young and strong.
Oh come away! From distant lands,
The whispering of the river ran
Where far beyond the farthest stand
I heard the earth
Call out to ask my hand.
And love must go where seeds are sown,
So life begins anew
And I alone must take the road
As I am meant to do
Though leaves will turn and embers burn,
Still I remember you.
You come to me in dreaming time
When tree and flower are pale with rime,
The winter-silver stars align
In forms unknown
Above my restless mind.
But love is true, and ever through the night
Her watch is kept
With memories of the willows
Where the wind once wept,
Until the hour we wake to find
That we have only slept.
I'll come to thee in splendor rare
When dew is on the maidenhair,
When spring at last is born again
Then every knee
Of every heart will bend
For love that blooms eternal
In the rooms of green and shade,
The altar of the morning
Where our wordless song was prayed
All clothed in light, as fair and bright
As when we first were made.
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2. |
Courage, Dear Heart
03:46
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It's been a long time coming
You know the days they pass so differently
A million miles from home
And there's a long line running
Down the years from where I've been
To where and when I still don't know
But oh,
I'm gonna roll in holy water,
I'm gonna dance like Eve's own daughter
At the dawning of creation
For a breath like ocean flowers came to me in lonely hours
And bid me rise above my station
And it cried: courage, dear heart of mine
There is a lioness in you and she is ready, It is time.
Let us ride to meet the morning, hear us singing as we go
We will wake the deepest magic sleeping underneath the stones
We will stir the soul rejoicing in the prison of its bones
And we will love like we have never known the meaning of alone
So take courage, dear heart of mine
There is a heroine in you and she has waited all this time
To hear you say
I can be brave
Say I can save this weary world
Say I believe we must be free
Who will believe again with me?
I will keep my faith in friendship, and be kind at any cost
And be a valiant protector of the little and the lost
We will seek the silver apple in the wilds of the west
Speak with bird and beast abounding in the land that we know best
And when the winter lay behind us
When the road has reached its end
We will find the hidden way
And we'll begin our dreams again
So take courage, dear heart of mine
You are a queen of once and always, now and ever, for all time
Courage, dear heart of mine
There is a lioness in you and she is ready, it is time.
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3. |
Waiting for a Hero
05:35
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Scarlet rose and silver thorn
Grow around the tower where she was born
Creeping up the sunlit walls, shadowing the lonely halls
And covering the solitary door
And it's there a home she keeps
Held in thrall by spell and sorcery
She will never taste the sun, or wander where the waters run
Until her true love comes to set her free
Through a thousand other heroes
Past an endless, faceless wall
She is watching through the window
For the only face that matters at all.
Now and then he hears her name
Now and then he wonders what she'd say
Then he laughs so hard it hurts--
Dreaming only makes it worse--
He wouldn't have the courage, anyway
Just another night alone
In a dirty tavern by the road
He drains a drink to drown the tears,
and thinks of all the wasted years
Since last he had a story of his own
And he doesn't even know
And he's never been a hero
No, he's never been a hero
Anywhere to anyone
But her
So he wanders home
And he sits alone
And he dreams of all the feats
That other men do
And she waits for him to come
'Til the candlelight burns low
And every night she says,
"Perhaps tomorrow."
Just another night apart
Just another pair of lonely hearts
Praying for the day to come
And the strength to be in love
Waiting for some kind of life to start
And you never even know
When she's waiting by the window
That it's your name she is whispering
That you've always been her hero
And she will never taste the sun
Or wander where the waters run
Until her true love comes
To set her free.
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4. |
Voices
03:22
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When I worry I have nothing new to say
I go and ask the ocean
with her everchanging song
and she says oh, my daughter--
do it anyway.
I have listened just a while
I have sung so very long
But when you sing with me, it’s something I have never heard before
The ringing of the rocks around the waves upon the shore
There is a voice that wakes the water in your veins
And brings to life all breathing things
It shifts and shapes, it moves and makes, it bends and breaks
And takes its place here
Forevermore
When I fear that I am drifting in the dark
I look out to the stars,
alone and shining distantly
And they say oh, my darling,
hold on to your spark
what you touch is changed forever
though you may not always see
But from the highest places, all your hidden colors show
The fire in your eyes will set the universe aglow
There is a brightness that surrounds you like the dawn
And it goes on and on and on
And love creates the light that takes a human shape
Its ways to wander
Itself to know.
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5. |
Death is Not a Stranger
03:58
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Don’t say I lost the battle
On the day I lay my weapons down
I made this peace with my own hands
I take it with me to the ground
And I laugh because I know
That when he finds you in the end
You see that Death is not a stranger
He's an old, old friend.
Death is not a stranger
He's the brother at your back
The striking hawk, the wolf that runs
Beside you when the moon is black
So follow close, and follow fast
Gone is gone and past is past
Right here and now, and nothing else remains
And the horn is the only refrain
Don’t grieve that I have fallen
When the hour has grown late
I will rise and give my greetings
To the bringer of my fate
And I stand because I know
That when she finds me in the end
I’ll see that Death is not a stranger
She’s an old, old friend
Death is not the robber
She's the shepherd in the night
Standing in the clearing
Keeping everything in sight
See her there and see her well
And take her hand and let her tell you
All you fear and all you long to know
Then take up your banner and go
See the roses in the ruins, see the endless singing sky
Hold steady to the faithful heart
That's not afraid to die
Set your sight on the fields of the blood of the ages
And reap every seed you have sown
Hear your enemy cry for the face of his father
And remember the face of your own.
Death is not a stranger
Just the last long ride you make
To some new world when this old world
Has taken all the worlds can take
Or else into the silent dream
Of shadow-light along the Beam
To watch and rest and rise to watch again
I will seek for that grace
I will welcome its embrace
And I’ll see you, I’ll see you, my friend
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6. |
Fantasia
03:59
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Make a wish
Take your time
Give any name to what you find
Come to me
My loving unbeliever
I was never superstitious
But if I had the choice
I'd call the court magicians
To show you in the mirror
To speak in your own voice
Make a wish
Take your time
Give any name to what you find
Stay and see
What wakes before the dreamer
All worlds have their beginnings
Some stories have no end
Some stars will tear the velvet sky
To fall into the ocean
And still some songs may mend
And all we have cradled
And all we have crushed
And all we have loved into diamonds or dust
It is here in the void on these pages
The last grain of sand in Fantasia
Make a wish
Take your time
Give any name to what you find
Come to me
My loving unbeliever
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7. |
Wonderful Star
03:53
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Stillness and quiet
Here they surround me
Suddenly spying a faraway gleam
Lanterns of fire
How they astound me
Flickering, dancing,
Alive, it would seem
Night will not tame you, yet I dare to name you
Maker of miracles, furnace of dreams
Mira, Mira, wonderful star
Strange in my reckoning, fair in my sight
Fortune upon you, whoever you are
And lucky the seeker who glimpses your light
Long have you traveled
Ages on ages
Leaving a shimmering path as you go
Infinite places
Teach me your patience
Teach me to treasure what I cannot know
Down through the centuries counting your mysteries
Will you return again, someday?
Someday
Mira, Mira, lady of lightness
Hidden in shadow as galaxies wheel
Cast off your raiment of heavenly brightness
Splendid in all that you choose to reveal
Mira, Mira, wonderful star
Strange in my reckoning, fair in my sight
Fortune upon you, whoever you are
And lucky the seeker who glimpses your light
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8. |
Under a Grapefruit Sky
05:07
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I didn't mean to fall so far so fast
How could I have guessed?
I never dreamed a dream so sweet could last
Long past the morning
Up until now they'd all just end the same
Heartache and pain
Then you came to me like a sunburst through the rain
All without warning
Under a grapefruit sky, I will be waiting
For the rest of my life if I have to
I don't know why, maybe it's fate we found each other
But now that I have you
Up in the grapefruit sky, I will be soaring
On the wings of the love that you've brought me
I don't know much, but if I try I can be ready
That's what you've taught me
So many things I've wished that I could say
I'd wait for the day
Hoping that I might somehow find a way
To show you my feelings
Now just like a storybook, you read my face
And I lose my place
Holding your hand, my heart begins to race
And my head is reeling
Up in the grapefruit sky, we'll be together
Me and you, you and me, ever after
One thing I know: if you say yes, I'll make you happy
I will live for your laughter
And I'll dry your tears, and hold you at night
When you need me
I'll be here
To make it all right
Under a grapefruit sky, I will be waiting
For the rest of my life if I have to
I don't know why, maybe it's fate we found each other
But now that I have you
Now that I have you, it's all right
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9. |
My Dandelion Friend
04:57
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I smiled at a sunflower, but it turned up its face
I reached for the roses, but they only made me bleed
The forget-me-nots said, "Remember your place,
If you ever belonged, you belong in the weeds."
But you took me in, my dandelion friend
There by your side I would find
There is shelter in the wind
Storm after storm, when the whole world is reborn
I will be with you again.
The sky is our highway, we go as we please
Carry our stories in the satchel of a seed
I know when I hear it, aloft on the breeze
The song in your heart is the music I need
You took me in, my dandelion friend
Now we are many
And ever unbroken, we will bend
Row upon row, how the dandelions grow
And we will rise up again.
You took me in, my dandelion friend
There by your side I would find
There is shelter in the wind
Year after year, I return to find you here
I will find you again
My dandelion friend.
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10. |
Sam at the Green Dragon
04:42
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There’s talk of heroes in the Shire these days
The victory to last a thousand years
Yet when they raise a glass
to that proud company and true
There is a name I seldom hear
Too good for losing in the noise of war
But once the battle cries have ceased
Then let it ring out clear
through all the ages of the world
In moments of quiet and peace
Think of him when there are fireworks
And when you dance away the hours
When all the lambs and foals go grazing
Most of all when there are flowers
If it weren't for Master Frodo
For the burden that he chose
There would be no elanor
And there would be no rose.
Them who'd speak ill can come and find me
They didn't see the things I saw:
The one who walked before,
who bore the weight of doom
And met the beast, and fought it to a draw.
You can call me Sam the Brave, and sure, I thought it
I'd have a sword of fire to free the land
But he went lonely through the fire,
and held the eye of hate
And the mercy that would save us stayed his hand.
You always talk of how I carried him
Don't you forget he carried me
So if you drink with me tonight
It's to his memory
Think of him when lanterns light the hill
And when you gaze on stars above
When you sing your songs and stories still
Most of all when you're in love
See, if it weren't for Master Frodo
For the burden that he chose
There would be no Elanor
And there would be no Rose.
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11. |
Frodo's Song
04:27
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Wind is in the east, across the water
Grey the waves that softly seek the harbor
There a white ship waits to bear me far away
Far beyond the old wounds and the dwindling day
And in your eyes
That see they cannot follow
Sorrow takes hold
My friend, I know
But silver on the hills, the rain returning
Golden light upon the face of morning
Green has come again, and soon the flowers grow
Spare a loving hand to help them as they go
And in your eyes
I see the years run onward
Long with a love
That overflows
Stand with me, to look awhile together--
Night was deep, but morning shines forever
We are meant to live, and will be whole again
And I will carry, far as any heart can wend,
What your eyes
In all their kindness show
I know now, my friend
It has no end.
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