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CLEAR HORIZON
by Jan Harmon
(words in parentheses are Kris’ inadvertent substitutions)
Winter (morning) calls a clear horizon
Like the sea calls to the port (shore)
Like the sky calls to the desert
Like the love calls to the heart
Mornin’, mist on the corn
Middle of the USA
Here’s where I was born
Here’s where I’m goin’ to stay
Iowa, Iowa, winter, spring, summer and fall
Come and sing, come dance with me
To the beautiful Iowa Waltz
We take care of our old, take care of our young
Make hay while the sun shines
Plantin’ our crops, singin’ our songs
Growin’ until harvest time
Iowa, Iowa, winter, spring, summer and fall
Come and sing, come dance with me
To the beautiful Iowa Waltz (repeat chorus)
THE DUTCHMAN
by Michael Smith
The Dutchman's not the kind of man
Who keeps his thumb jammed in the dam that holds his dreams in.
But that's a secret that only Margaret knows.
When Amsterdam is golden in the summer,
Margaret brings him breakfast, she believes him.
He thinks the tulips bloom beneath the snow.
He's mad as he can be, but Margaret only sees that sometimes.
Sometimes she sees her unborn children in his eyes.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
The Dutchman still wears wooden shoes,
His cap and coat are patched with the love that Margaret sewed there.
Sometimes he thinks he's still in Rotterdam.
He watches the tug-boats down canals
And calls out to them when he thinks he knows the Captain.
Till Margaret comes to take him home again
Through unforgiving streets that trip him, though she holds his arm,
Sometimes he thinks he's alone and he calls her name.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
The winters whirl the windmills 'round
She winds his muffler tighter
And they sit in the kitchen.
Some tea with whiskey keeps away the dew.
He sees her for a moment, calls her name,
She makes the bed up singing some old love song,
A song Margaret learned when it was very new.
He hums a line or two, they sing together in the dark.
The Dutchman falls asleep and Margaret blows the candle out.
Let us go to the banks of the ocean
Where the walls rise above the Zuider Zee.
Long ago, I used to be a young man
And dear Margaret remembers that for me.
CHELSEA MORNING
by Joni Mitchell
Woke up, it was a Chelsea Morning and the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window, and the traffic spoke the words
They came ringing up like Christmas bells and rapping up like pipes and drums
Oh, won’t you stay, we’ll put on a day, and we’ll wear it ‘til the night comes
Woke up it was a Chelsea Morning and the first thing that I saw
Was the sun through yellow curtains, and a rainbow on the wall
Blue, red, green and gold to welcome you, crimson crystal beads to beckon
Oh, won’t you stay, we’ll put on a day, there’s a sun show every second
Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today
And the streets are filled with passers-by
And pigeons fly, and papers lie,
Waiting to blow away
Woke up, it was a Chelsea Morning and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey, and a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch, and stuck to all my senses
Oh, won’t you stay, we’ll put on a day, and we’ll talk in present tenses
And when the curtain closes, and the rainbow runs away
I will bring you incense owls by night,
By candlelight, by jewel light,
If only you will stay
Pretty baby won’t you wake up, it’s a Chelsea Morning
LOOKIN’ FOR TROUBLE
by Steve Goodman
The first time you take a drink it makes you spit and sputter
Shiver and shudder, mumble and mutter
But the next one tastes so sweet it makes you want another
Now you’re drinkin all the time
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Trouble will find you,
Trouble will find you, trouble will find you.
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Let me remind you
‘Cause you sure don’t have to look too hard
The first time you shade the truth you want to run and hide
Your tongue gets tied. Your mouth gets dry.
Then you start thinkin maybe no one knows you’ve lied
Now you’re shady all the time
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Trouble will find you,
Trouble will find you, trouble will find you.
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Let me remind you
‘Cause you sure don’t have to look too hard
Trouble will pin a tail on you and follow you all around
It’ll get you when you’re number’s up
And when your guard is down
The first time you fall in love the skies are sunny
They call you honey. Your jokes are funny
Then they get bored, then they get restless, then they’re up and gone
They leave you cryin’ all the time
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Trouble will find you,
Trouble will find you. Deaf, dumb and blind you.
Don’t go lookin for trouble. Let me remind you
‘Cause you sure don’t have to look too hard
Trouble in your own back yard
SHIVER ME TIMBERS
by Tom Waits
Well I’m leaving my family. I’m leaving all my friends.
My body’s at home but my heart’s in the wind.
And the cloud’s are like headlines upon a blue front page sky
My tears are salt water, the moon’s full and high.
And I know old Joe Conrad would be proud of me
Many before me been called by the sea
To be up in the crow’s nest, singin’ my say
Shiver me timbers, let’s all sail away
And the cloud’s lifting, the sand’s shifting I’m drifting on out
Old Captain Ahab’s got nothin’ on me
Follow me. Don’t swallow me. I’m travelin’ alone.
The water is my daughter. I skip like a stone.
Won’t you please call my family and tell ‘em not to cry
My goodbyes are written by the moon in the sky
Sayin’, "Nobody knows me. I got no reason to stay.
So shiver me timbers, I’m sailing away."
….La la la…..
It’s a sane passion that I have for you
A sane, sane passion
My boiler’s burnin’ but my mind is on
And when it’s right you’ve got a feelin’ that you can’t shun
Not losin’ any of my hard-earned independence, and I’m
Not losin’ any of my precious self-control
If there’s a heaven then I swear that I’ve ascended
If hell is fire then the devil’s got my soul
But it’s a sane passion that I have for you
A sane, sane passion
My boiler’s burnin’ but my mind is on
And when it’s right you’ve got a feelin’ that you can’t shun
It’s not the seethin’ body yearnin’ of a lust-filled night
No wild abandon on a love-stained, rumpled bed
That has me churnin’ and a rumblin’ like I just can’t stop
It’s the high power voltage that you feed my heart and head
And it’s a sane passion that I have for you
A sane, sane passion
My boiler’s burnin’ but my mind is on
And when it’s right you’ve got a feelin’ that you can’t shun
If you’re not foolin’ yourself about the things you need
Then, babe, you’d better take a second look around
"Cause when it comes to knowin’ how to let you be yourself
There’s no one better than me that can be found
And it’s a sane passion that I have for you
A sane, sane passion
It’s a sane passion that I have for you
It’s a sane, sane passion
FAITHLESS LOVE
by J.D. Souther
Faithless love like a river flows,
Like a raindrop fallen on a broken rose,
Down in some valley, where nobody goes,
Where the night pours in, like a cold dark wind.
Faithless love like a river flows
Faithless love where did I go wrong?
Was it tellin’ stories of a heartbreak song,
Where nobody’s right and nobody’s wrong?
Faithless love will find you, with its misery entwine you.
Faithless love where did I go wrong?
Well I guess I’m standin’ in a hall of broken dreams.
I guess that’s the way it sometimes goes.
And any new love seldom turns out like it seems.
I guess the feelings come and go.
Faithless love like a river flows
Like a raindrop fallen on a broken rose,
Down in some valley, where nobody goes.
Faithless love has found me,
Thrown her chilly arms around me.
Faithless love, faithless love like a river flows.
CAN’T GO HOME
by Brewer & Shipley
Lately I’ve been passin’ days
Singing songs that I’ve never sung before
And here it comes, the sunrise, and I can’t close my eyes
Though I’m feelin’ so tired
Makin’ up a thousand rhymes
‘Bout a place that I thought I knew so well
And here it comes, the sunrise and I can’t close my eyes
Knowin’ I can’t go back home
I can’t go home. I can’t go home.
I wanna go home, home again
Lady Luck she was a friend
But she died when the frozen winter fell
And here it comes, the sunrise, and I can’t close my eyes
Knowin’ I would wake up here.
I can’t go home. I can’t go home
I wanna go home, home again
I can’t go home. I can’t go home
I wanna go home, home again
Ooh….ooh…ooh
I wanna go, I wanna go home again
Put your hearts in paper boats you can release them at the shore
And watch the ocean take them. Let them go.
Paper keels upon the water, barefoot watching from the shore
Paper sails on the horizon. Let them go.
Let them go. Let them go.
Paper keels upon the water, barefoot watching from the shore
Paper sails on the horizon. Let them go
We have labored in the moonlight. We have little left to show
There’s an imprint on a pillow. Let it go.
Catch your breath against a window. Leave a footprint in the snow
Put your promises on paper. Let them go
Let them go. Let them go
Catch your breath against a window. Leave a footprint in the snow
Put your promises on paper. Let them go.
Let them go…..
LEAVE IT LIKE IT IS
by David Wilcox
Now, when the paint jar tipped off of the table
You watched while it started to fall
Glass popped, shattered and splattered
And paint spray hit the wall
Bright blue glossy enamal
Across the kitchen floor
You said, "Good god, look at that pattern
I’ve never seen that before
Leave it like it is. Never mind the turpentine.
Just leave it like it is. It’s fine."
Well, when the paint dried you gave it a title
You called it "Kitchen Blue"
A white frame painted around it
And gallery lighting too
Rich folks come over to dinner
They all want one of their own
They say, "How much?" and, "Who’s the artist?"
And, "My what a beautiful home!"
Leave it like it is. Never mind the turpentine.
Just leave it like it is. It’s fine.
Now, most folks suffer in sorrow
Thinkin’ their just no good.
They don’t match the magazine model
As close as they think they should.
They live just like the paint by numbers
The teacher would be impressed
A lifetime of following lines
Till their just like all of the rest.
Leave it like it is. Never mind the turpentine.
Just leave it like it is. It’s fine.
On roads through meadows of daisies
Soft bushes, and lines of ponderosa pines
The mountains’ horizons
Timeless like memory, like music, like dreams
Frees me from the boundaries,
The boundaries of time
And in my mind, I’m loving you again, loving you again
And in my mind, I’m loving you again, loving you again
Nothing and everything is as it seems
Both so busy saving the world
We only had time to love, to be lovers in our dreams
Nothing and everything is as it seems
And in my heart, I’m loving you again, loving you again
And in my heart, I’m loving you again, loving you again
Past is prologue. History tells.
Everything changes life along.
Vietnam, John Lennon then
Imagined war and love in one song
And in my soul, I’m loving you again, loving you again
And in my heart, I’m loving you again, loving you again
On roads through meadows of daisies
Soft bushes, and lines of ponderosa pines
The mountains’ horizons
Travelin' at night, the headlights are bright
And we’ve been up many an hour
All through my brain came the refrain
Of home and its warmin’ fire
And home sings me of sweet things
My life there has its own wings
Fly over the mountains, though I’m standin’ still
The people I see they come in between
The cities and tiring lights
And the planes come and go, but inside you know
The struggle will soon be a fight
But home sings me of sweet things
My life there has its own wings
Fly over the mountains, though I’m standin’ still
Traveling at night the headlights are bright
But soon the sun shines through the trees
Around the next bend the flowers will send
The sweet smell of home in the breeze
And home sings me of sweet things
My life there has its own wings
Fly over the mountains, though I’m standin’ still
Oohh……
SONG OF BERNADETTE
by Jennifer Warnes, Bill Elliott & Leonard Cohen
There was a child named Bernadette
I heard the story long ago
She saw the Queen of Heaven once
And kept the vision in her soul
No one believed what she had seen
No one believed what she heard
That there were sorrows to be healed
And mercy, mercy in this world
So many hearts I find
Broke like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you
Won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
We've been around, we fall, we fly
We mostly fall, we mostly run
But every now and then we try
To mend the damage that we've done
Tonight, tonight I just can't rest
I've got this joy inside my breast
To think that I did not forget
That child, that song of Bernadette
So many hearts I find
Hearts like yours and mine
Torn by what we've done and can't undo
I just want to hold you
Won't you let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
I just want to hold you
Come on let me hold you
Like Bernadette would do
ALL YOU CAN DO
by Martha P. Hogan
You pour your dreams out. The hours go slowly.
You punch in the only remembrance of what you held high
And relinquished will fade in the daylight.
You work and collect your pay.
All you can do is see the harvest through.
What you reap is never the price you have paid.
All you can do is see the season out
And the leaf will die, and the fruit will drop.
You poured your heart out to one who recalls
All the love you have called she refused.
You confuse every moment of moonlight with magic, no true light.
It’s tragic, no stars in her eyes.
All you can do is see the harvest through.
What you reap is never the price you have paid.
All you can do is see the season out
And the leaf will die, and the fruit will drop.
No one can promise you’ll die when you’re sleeping,
Not cry when you’re keeping yourself fine and free.
There’s no reason to search for another way out,
Only hope you can shout when you leave.
All you can do is see the harvest through.
What you reap is never the price you have paid.
All you can do is see the season out
And the leaf will die, and the fruit will drop.
THE PARTING GLASS
traditional Irish/Scottish
Oh, all the money that ‘ere I spent
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that ‘ere I done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I done for want of wit
To memory now I can’t recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Goodnight and joy be with you all
Oh, all the comrades that ‘ere I had
Are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that ‘ere I had
Would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I’ll gently rise and I’ll softly call
Goodnight and joy be with you all
Oh, sweet sadness, you’ve come to me again
Well I’ve grown to believe that you and I
Are gonna be lifelong friends.
Well, you rise with me in the mornin’
And you lie with me at night,
And you wrap your heavy arms around me and whisper,
"Babe, I’ve got you tight."
Oh, sweet sadness, I’ve seen you all around
Where there’s loving' and grieving and struggle
There your roots are found
Well, I’ve tried my level best to shake you
And it’s got me on the run
But I have this funny feeling, when my head starts reeling,
That the chase has just begun.
Yeah, I know I’m always yearning for some happiness,
And I know it’s time I had my share,
But you’ve been my home now for so many years
To leave you wouldn’t be quite fair.
Oh, sweet sadness, you’re here where you belong.
Well, you lift me up and you tear me down
And you fill me with my songs.
If there’s pleasure to be found in heartache
Then, I guess that’s where I’m at,
But then everywhere I go sweet sadness is there
To be my welcome mat.
Yeah, I know there’re those who’d give me all their time and care
And I know that I’ve turned down a few,
But when you’ve lived with sadness your whole life long
It’s hard to try on somethin’ new.
Oh, sweet sadness,
Oh, sweet sadness,
I’m singin’, oh, sweet sadness,
I guess it’s me and you.
PERHAPS YOU’LL UNDERSTAND
by Kris Gannon
For quite some time I’ve longed
To write for you a song
And even now, I wonder if I can,
But I will try to find
The words that will explain myself
And hope that you will understand.
I’m not a poet, and I don’t know all the words to use,
I only know I want to be your friend.
So I will try to find the words that will explain myself
And hope that you will understand.
Some people say they care,
They say they want to know you, well,
I wonder if they really do.
For, all my life, I’ve tried
To be, to find, to know, to love
To have a friend who’s really true.
And when I say I love you, I really mean I do.
And how I hope, I pray that you will love me too.
And so I try to find the words that will explain myself
And hope that you will understand.
And when I say I love you, I really mean I do.
And how I hope, I pray that you will love me too.
And so I try to find the words that will explain myself.
Perhaps, perhaps you understand
FUNERAL DIRGE
by Kris Gannon
What a funny little world
Every day a little death
Loving someone
And hating, in one breath
Fly, oh fly my battered heart
Burn and bleed and beg for more
Thirst for things that will not be
Hunger from your very core
Come away you weary child
Hide alone inside your head
Sleep, the silent pain will pass
Know that now your dream is dead
Fly away
PATTERN OF PAIN
by Kris Gannon
She’s trapped in a broken down mind these days.
She’s lost in a pattern of pain.
She wanders a maze of insecurities
That ends in a sea of insane.
She’s given up talking to friends now.
She’s taken to being alone.
She masquerades utter indifference
For tending the seeds that she’s sown.
She knows she is courting desertion.
She’s hoping the wounds soon will mend.
"The answer to all is assertion,"
She tells herself time and again.
She’s trapped in a broken down mind these days.
She’s lost in a pattern of pain.
A hazy collection of memories
Is all of herself that remains.
At twenty-three, sweet Mattie took the role model wife
At twenty-six, became the perfect loving parent.
Her energy and care she poured into her family,
And with her relatives and friends she'd always share it.
But sometimes in the mornin’ she would waken with a sigh
And had to have a little drink to start the day.
She kept a private bottle hidden in the bathroom cabinet
To help to keep those housewife blues away.
But Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
Locked inside the closet, she couldn’t open up the door.
While safe within our bubbles, we couldn’t see another’s troubles,
So Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
Mattie’s husband knew his wife was drinking on the sly.
He sadly watched and silently he bore it.
If sometimes Mattie seemed to lose a bit of her control,
Out of courtesy, her friends chose to ignore it.
When mother flew into a rage or broke down into tears,
Then the children would be told she wasn’t well.
As long as outwardly she could perform what was expected of her,
Inside she could live her private hell.
But Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
Locked inside the closet, she couldn’t open up the door.
While safe within our bubbles, we couldn’t see another’s troubles,
And now Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
Now a mother gives stability and lifeblood to her home,
By knowin’ how to nurture and restore.
But all those arts are far to sparse to fill a yearning soul,
And only cage the bird whose wings were meant to soar.
So deep within her solitude, she found a loyal friend,
One who freed her to become just what she felt.
And who’s to say that dying was too high a price to pay,
When those nearest her were still too far to help.
So, Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
Locked inside the closet, she couldn’t open up the door.
While safe within our bubbles, we couldn’t see another’s troubles,
So Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
No, Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore,
Like so many others do when life becomes a chore.
Good intentions didn’t save her. There’s so much we never gave her,
But Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
But now Mattie won’t be drinkin’ anymore.
I don’t want no cool companion,
Don’t wanna answer to none but myself.
I ain’t lookin’ to be tied up, or turned on, or dried up,
Or classified and put on a shelf.
I don’t want no mornin’ paper.
I don’t want no evenin’ meals.
I just wanna go my way, say what I have to say
And feel the way that livin’ feels.
If I’m lonely, well that’s my choice.
If I’m down, it’s not the first time I’ve been.
In the mornin’ I’ll shake my fist and shout in my loudest voice,
"I’m strong again!
I’m strong again!"
I don’t want no full-time employment.
I don’t want no nine to five.
I don’t wanna click my heels, suppressin’ what I feel,
That hardly keeps my soul alive.
I don’t care ‘bout fame and fortune.
I don’t care if I’m ridin’ high.
Just give me space to grow, I’ll go when I can go,
And don’t you worry, I’ll get by.
If I’m lonely, well that’s my choice
If I’m down, it’s not the first time I’ve been
In the mornin’ I’ll shake my fist and shout in my loudest voice,
"I’m strong again!
I’m strong again!
Strong again,
I’m strong again.
I’m strong again."
DREAM, CHILD
by Kris Gannon
Seems like yesterday, sat talkin’ with a woman child
Her eyes reflected knowledge of a life jumbled and wild.
And I wondered, as I looked at her, if she knew of her own worth,
If she saw herself as equal to all those who walk the earth.
Dream, child, may all your dreams come true.
Cling fast to them, let no one tell you that they’re not for you.
Dream, child, make every moment yours.
Run, laugh and play, and sing life’s joys
Until your spirit soars.
She’d known her share of sorrow, though her years were very few.
I wondered, was there any bump or scar that would be new to her.
And, yet, through all her troubled times, there burned a flame so pure.
I felt as though her heart would grow, the hate and pain endure.
Dream, child, may all your dreams come true.
Cling fast to them, let no one tell you that they’re not for you.
Dream, child, make every moment yours.
Run, laugh and play, and sing life’s joys
Until your spirit soars.
And so, my little girl child, I have said what’s in my heart
I knew the day would come when you and I would have to part
I leave this song for you, so that you might forever know
There’ll always be someone who cares when you are feeling low,
An outstretched hand to welcome you, a heart that’s full of love,
And prayers for you, most every night, to all those up above.
Dream, child, may all your dreams come true.
Cling fast to them, let no one tell you that they’re not for you
Dream, child, make every moment yours.
Run, laugh and play, and sing life’s joys
Until your spirit soars
Oh, let her spirit soar.
When the evening comes, I still think of you.
And when the hard times roll around
I still want your love to see me through.
Well, I know that you’ve found another
And I’m hoping that she will be true,
But till morning comes again, I still think of you.
When I’m all alone, I still shed some tears.
And when my friends have all gone home,
Sometimes I wish that you would still be here.
Well, I know that our paths have parted.
I can see. At least that much is clear.
But when I am all alone, I still shed some tears
When tomorrow dawns, I’ll be on my way.
With my guitar and a song,
I’ll rise again to face another day.
Though hope for a life with you lingers,
I will gather my strength while I may,
And when tomorrow brings the sun, I’ll be on my way.
And when tomorrow brings the sun, I’ll be on my way.
Why is it that everyone buys the pitch
You’ve got to have another person to make your life rich?
Well, here I am by myself, rich as I can be.
Why should I be looking at someone else
When I’m barely beginning to see myself
And I’m finding the pleasure of liking what I see?
I make my own choices
For good or for ill
Pay heed to my voices
And trust in my will
There’s a harvest to be gathered
And I’m gathering my fill
Why do friends assume my life’s incomplete
When I’m sharing my heart with whoever I meet?
Singing songs and telling stories
Gaining wisdom through a stranger’s eyes.
And if a body wonders, have I said it all?
There’ll be answers to your questions when you come to call.
The key is always in the asking,
And my honesty’s the prize.
I make my own choices
For good or for ill.
Pay heed to my voices
And trust in my will.
There’s a harvest to be gathered,
And I’m gathering my fill.
Now, the solitary path is not for all to take
And for those of us who do, there’re sacrifices that we make,
We’re without the joys and comforts that a loving partner gives.
But if peace and self assurance are the signs of health,
Then whose life is lacking and whose has the wealth?
For there’s wisdom in the knowledge there’s another way to live.
I make my own choices,
For good or for ill.
Pay heed to my voices
And trust in my will.
There’s a harvest to be gathered,
There’s a harvest to be gathered,
A harvest to be gathered,
And I’m gathering my fill.
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