The Wild Places

I was walking alone through the lofty San Juans
With a heart full of light and a head full of songs
I was thinking of time and how much it will cost
To recapture the souls that we surely have lost

In the cities and towns there are millions who dream
But the traffic's so loud that you can't hear them scream
There's a heaven on earth that so few ever find
Though the map's in your soul and the road's in your mind
So many mountains before us, so many rivers to cross
Where is the wisdom to bring back the vision we've lost

Can we gaze with the wonder of children
Into the deafening night
Has it gotten so dark that we cannot remember the light
When you sleep on the ground with the stars in your face
You can feel the full length of the beauty and grace
In the wild places man is an unwelcome guest
But it's here that I'm found and it's here I feel blessed
 

Forefathers

They came from Scandinavia, the land of midnight sun
And crossed the North Atlantic when this century was young
They'd heard that in America every man was free
To live the way he chose to live and be who he could be
Some of them were farmers there and tilled the frozen soil
But all they got was poverty for all their earnest toil
They say one was a sailor who sailed the wide world round
Made home port, got drunk one night, walked off the pier and drowned

My mother was of Scottish blood, it's there that she was born
They brought her to America in 1924
They left behind the highlands and the heather-covered hills
And came to find America with broad expectant dreams and iron wills
My granddad worked the steel mills of central Illinois
His daughter was his jewel, his son was just his boy
For thirty years he worked the mills and stoked the coke-fed fires
And looked toward the day when he'd at last turn 65 and could retire

(Chorus)
And the sons become the fathers and their daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand
And we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander, the lineage survives
And all of us, from dust to dust, we all become forefathers by and by

The woman and the man were wed just after the war
And they settled in this river town and three fine sons she bore
One became a lawyer and one fine pictures drew
And one became this lonely soul who sits here now
And sings this song to you

(Chorus)
By and By By and By
 

Song Of The Sea

Broken clouds along the blue horizon
The sun is setting and the wind is dying down
Outward bound, there is music all around
Can you hear it...it's the, the song of the sea
Soundings taken at the edge of darkness
The widest silences the heart can ever hear
You can steer to the stars along your lee
Set you bearings to the, the song of the sea
Oh and the song is as ancient as the days
And the winds upon the waves
Let it carry you away, so far away

Trim my sails to greet the breaking morning
Past the headlands to the rolling open sea
And it comes to me, I have never felt so free
As when I'm listening to the, the song of the sea
Oh and the song is as ancient as the days
And the winds upon the waves
Let it carry me away, so far away

Some were meant to watch the world from windows
And never look beyond the road beneath their feet
But for me, I was always meant to be
One forever chasing the song of the sea
The song of the sea...the song of the sea
 

Anastasia's Eyes

There's thorns on the cactus tree, there's thorns on the rose
There's thorns in the heart of me that nobody knows
They tear at the flesh until the tears start to rise
They form in my heart but they fall from Anastasia's eyes
And I was lost in the wilderness without courage or hope
I was setting my signal fires and watching the smoke
When out of the smoke appeared the sweetest surprise
And I knew I'd been found when first I looked into Anastasia's eyes

There's thorns on the cactus tree, there's thorns on the rose
There's thorns in the heart of me, that nobody knows
But finally I've found out where my salvation lies
It lies in the love that lives in Anastasia's eyes
It lies in the love that lives in Anastasia's eyes
 

Blind To The Truth

In the overcrowded cities where the nights are bright as day
You spend your weekly paycheck and turn your eyes away
From the crisis we've created with our self-indulgent ways
Living like there's no tomorrow, well that just might be the case
Now they're tearing down the forests and the jungles of Brazil
Without a second thought about the species that they kill
But extinction is forever and still the forests fall
And push it ever closer to extinction for us all
But you're so...

Blind to the truth, blind to the truth
And you can't see nothin'
'Cause you're so blind to the truth, blind to the truth
And the judgment day is coming

Now the politicians bicker on the early evening news
Pledging their allegiance to whoever they can use
The corporate bosses snicker as they watch the profits soar
They don't care what they make next month just as long as it is more
They take our farms and marshlands, drive nature to the wall
Just so they can build another Goddamn shopping mall
And it doesn't seem to matter if they cannot see the stars
As long as they can keep on building obsolescent cars
They're so...

Blind to the truth, blind to the truth
No they can't see nothin'
They're so blind to the truth, blind to the truth
But the judgment day is coming

Now you cannot drink the water and you cannot breathe the air
The sky is ripping open and you still don't seem to care
The soil is tired and toxic and unable to provide
The clock is running out and there is nowhere left to hide
Now there's laws that we must live by and they're not the laws of man
Can't you see the shadow that moves across this land
The future is upon us and there's so much we must do
And you know I can't ignore it and my friend neither can you
Unless you're...

Blind to the truth, blind to the truth
And you can't see nothin'
You're so blind to the truth, blind to the truth
But the judgment day is coming
 

Lovers In A Dangerous Time

Don't the hours grow shorter as the days go by
You never get to stop and open your eyes
One day you're waiting for the sky to fall
The next you're dazzled by the beauty of it all
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

These fragile bodies of touch and taste
This vibrant skin, this hair like lace
Spirits open to the thrust of grace
Never a breath you can afford to waste
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time

When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Sometimes you're made to feel as if your love's a crime
But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight
You got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight
When you're lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Lovers in a dangerous time
Oh-oh Lovers in a dangerous time....
 

Rhythm Of The Rain

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
Now the only girl I've ever loved has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
Little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart

Rain please tell me now does that seem fair
For her to steal my heart away when she don't care
I can't love another when my heart's somewhere far away
Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again

Oh the only girl I've ever loved has gone away
Looking for a brand new start
Little does she know that when she left that day
Along with her she took my heart
Rain won't you tell her that I love her so
Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow
And rain in her heart
And let the love we knew start to grow (whoa-whoa)

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain
Telling me just what a fool I've been
Oh, I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain
And let me be alone again
When the rain comes they run and hide their heads
They might as well be dead
When the rain comes....
 

Bones In The Sky

Up through the branches
The stars shine above on the arroyos and mesas you loved
And as the moon rises, the black mountain mourns
For the old friend he'll look on no more
Jacks-in-the-Pulpit, bones in the sky
Long winding rivers that never ran dry
And the secrets she gathered from the wild blowing sands
Breathed in her heart and her hands

I sing to your spirit where all my dreams dwell
The vision--the freedom, the life lived so well
And I sing in your canyons and the echoes ring clear
And I wish somehow you may still hear
 

The Spirit Trail

The light is long the sun is low
I'm riding fast across this dusty road
But I don't want to be, no I don't want to be
Above the ridge an eagle flies in lazy circles in the western skies
I want to fly with him I want to walk the spirit trail

I've seen them come I've seen them go off to the oilfields and rodeos
To find a better way, they leave their native soil
But I can hear a different song
The drum within my heart is beating strong
I want to follow it, I've got to walk the spirit trail

(Chorus)
Let every creature I see (whoa) be a brother and a friend to me
Let every step that I take leave the footprints of a warrior
Along the spirit trail...
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo

They took the land, they took control
They robbed my father of his very soul
To be like one of them, to be like one of them
But I was born a native son
And I will never be another one to give it all away
I've got to walk the spirit trail

(Chorus)
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo

(Chorus)
 

Ever On

May the trail rise up to meet you
May your heart rejoice in song
May the skies be fair above you
As you journey ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on--ever on

And in this planetary circle
We are but a single stone
Spinning on our fragile axis
Through the endless night alone
Ever on--ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on

May your love be there to guide us
May it always keep us strong
May we walk within your footsteps
As you lead us ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on--ever on
Ever on