Music
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Earth Town Square
$15.00
| 1. | Ocean Mary | Play | Ocean Mary
There’s a street in a river town
And on that street is Mary’s house By the house is a deep ravine And running there is a magic stream Laughing over the sand and rocks It runs the length of Mary’s block Another mile to the riverside And a thousand more to the ocean wide Now, down in that ravine one day By the water, Mary lay Put her hand in the shallow stream And Mary had a magic dream She imagined that, inside her, stirred All the waters of the earth Every puddle, every creek And every one of the seven seas She could feel the fishes roam In her fingers and her toes And in her chest, the Gulf Stream flow Now, ever since her dream that day People say that Mary’s changed But they sympathize when they suppose It must be strange to be the ocean She senses when the salmon swim And hurricanes lick her skin Asia tickles her left arm And the moon above tugs her heart Her front is day, her back is night She recollects the dawn of life Tidal waves run up her spine And lightning tingles when it strikes She can feel the fishes roam In her fingers and her toes And in her chest, the gulf stream flow And all this happened, so it seems Because of Mary’s magic stream But some will say that lakes and wells And even rain can cast a spell And every water drop you ask Tells a tale of oceans vast So careful when you take a drink There’s magic in the kitchen sink |
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| 2. | Awake | Play | Awake
Clouds are swift
Rocks are ancient Mountains are high, oceans great Winds are restless Trees are patient And you my child are awake Waves are crashing Rivers churning Planets twirling, stars ablaze Storms are raging Atoms whirling And you my child are awake CHORUS: To perceive these wondrous things To count the beats of a blackbird’s wings To tell a story and dance and sing All the splendors Of creation Are very happy that you came Because they needed Someone to see them And you my child are awake CHORUS: Seeds are hopeful Dewdrops fleeting Oak trees are crooked, Redwoods straight And they are not known To the sleeping But you my child are awake You my child are awake You my child |
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| 3. | Elijah Jones | Play | Elijah Jones
I saw a gravestone of a man long dead
His name was Elijah Jones and his gravestone read “I walked this good earth, I had my time And now it’s your turn, your chance at life” Now most epitaphs speak of the deceased But this dead man’s words seemed to refer to me And so that evening at that gravesite I pondered the meaning of a chance at life We’re like sparks rising from some great fire We flicker brightly, then we expire And for that fleeting glow, we pay a price Of pain and sorrow for a chance at life But that fire burns on, it does not cease It made Elijah and it made me And I like to think that, on the day he died Its burning flames gave him comfort and light And if I were an angel above the clouds Singing God’s praises in a shining gown I’d dream of rain storms on summer nights And trade my wings for a chance at life I’d dream of rainstorms on summer nights And trade my wings for a chance at life I saw a gravestone of a man long dead His name was Elijah Jones |
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| 4. | Blue Boat Home (choral version) | Play | ||||
| 5. | Blue Boat Home | Play | Blue Boat Home
Though below me, I feel no motion
Standing on these mountains and plains Far away from the rolling ocean Still my dry land heart can say I’ve been sailing all my life now Never harbor or port have I known The wide universe is the ocean I travel And the earth is my blue boat home Sun, my sail and moon, my rudder As I ply the starry sea Leaning over the edge in wonder Casting questions into the deep Drifting here with my ship’s companions All we kindred pilgrim souls Making our way by the lights of the heavens In our beautiful blue boat home I give thanks to the waves upholding me Hail the great winds urging me on Greet the infinite sea before me Sing the sky my sailor’s song I was born upon the fathoms Never harbor or port have I known The wide universe is the ocean I travel And the earth is my blue boat home |
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| 6. | The Play | Play | The Play
When I go outside at night
And look up and the stars are bright Sometimes I lay on the ground And imagine that the sky is down And if the earth should then let go I’d fall into the stars below I’d fall into the stars below And when I see the red sunset In it’s quiet splendor, I reflect That that sun’s not going down at all But the earth is turning somersaults And through a sunlit sea it trails And we are on that great big whale We’re riding on that great big whale CHORUS: When I try to grasp the simple fact of this existence And think of all the fantasies and fairytales and wishes None strike me as more unlikely or magnificent than this is Hands and faces seen up close Galaxies through telescopes Crimson hillsides in the fall And more astounding than them all Are pondering minds with eyes that see These are deep mysteries Deep mysteries CHORUS: Like a strange, enchanting play of impossible dimensions The setting and the stage run light-years in all directions And the breathless scenes and the storyline defy comprehension And when I think of all the roles In this production, all I know is I’m in the cast, but could it be I’m also in a front row seat To sit in my amazement, gazing To ooh and ahh and sigh and say My, what a wonderful play My, my, my, my... |
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| 7. | Earth Town Square | Play | Earth Town Square
Once, we were lonely islands
Divided by horizons A hundred thousand tribes surviving, scattered far and wide Hearing only stories Of distant territories Peering out across the miles between our shorelines Then, we harnessed nature’s forces Straddled backs of horses Waging wars and crossing borders as our numbers grew We bought and sold and traded Oceans were navigated And fates entwined by rails and roads and telephones, and soon We cracked the code of flight Spoke via satellite at the speed of light, and Now, it’s feeling like a small town With six billion people downtown At a little sidewalk fair In Earth Town Square There are Germans selling Audis Filled with gasoline from Saudis To Australians sipping Kenyan coffee in their Chinese shoes Argentines are meeting Mongols Over french fries at MacDonald’s And the place looks strangely tiny when you see it from the moon And there’s music in the park, kalimbas and guitars Bagpipes and sitars Now, it’s feeling like a small town With six billion people downtown Even Babel can’t compare To Earth Town Square And as each hour goes by, ten thousand more arrive And the din gets louder on Main Street Where you can watch downtown boom And wonder if we’ll make room For everybody there In Earth Town Square |
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| 8. | Skyblaster Man | Play | Skyblaster Man
Skyblaster Man
There in the lights of the midway he stands Mustache and tattoos, caught in the thralls of his carnie dance Entrancing passers-by, daring that they take A turn on his dangerous ride Making them see that the magic that he commands Makes them feel like they’re flying Skyblaster man Skyblaster man Taking the tickets they have in their hands Their faces like many in the towns along his carnival caravan Dollar thrill-seekers and brief death-defeaters who Come from their comfortable lives To be spun around, and turned upside down And reminded that they’re alive Skyblaster man To be convinced you’re alive It’s a mighty big job for a three minute ride So he brings his powers to bear As if he’s in prayer While they’re in the air And when they land They stand in a daze and stagger and laugh And he knows at that time, by the look in their eyes that a few understand But will they remember, he wonders as he Very carefully helps them all down As if in his care, he’s aware of the much greater Perils of life on the ground Skyblaster man |
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| 9. | Crawl In | Play | Crawl In
Footsteps
A knock Then next to the bed Does my frightened young daughter appear, and say “I’m scared, Papa A nightmare woke me up and I can’t sleep Could I sleep with Mama and you?” “Crawl in my darling It’s nice and warm, and there’s plenty of room And that dream won’t be harming you here” And so we sleep And hold back the demons and ghosts till the morning arrives They seem to flee more easily Faced with a foe like the three of us there Side by side “Of course my darling Just sqeeze in between us, here’s a pillow for you And don’t worry now darling, don’t fear” The mother we run to, the lover we cling to The bedside we seek in the night It’s a walk down the hall that we make when we’re small And we make for the rest of our lives And at dawn, with our clothes We put on our best brave faces and go our separate ways And hold fast to the hope That at the day’s end, we can put them away again And hear someone say “Crawl in my darling It’s nice and warm and there’s plenty of room And bad dreams won’t be harming you here Crawl in my darling Just squeeze in between us, here’s a pillow for you And don’t worry now, darling, don’t fear” |
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| 10. | Brown County Fair | Play | Brown County Fair
There is music on CDs
Magazines of all kinds And computers and TVs For amusing the mind But in the late days of the summer Nothing nearly compares To just seeing each other At the Brown County Fair You can meet Lawrence Little And taste his prize pickles, home grown And hear Grace play the fiddle Who’s just seven years old There are girls boys are teasing In the carmeled apple air Of the warm August evening At the Brown County Fair If the stock market fails you Give the ring toss a try And if loneliness ails you Stick around for awhile There’s a band playing later And you can dance in a square Promenade and greet your neighbor At the Brown County Fair And if you’re tired of walking You can sit with your slush And pass the time people watching And you might fall in love With the face of a stranger The young and old strolling there Across the unhurried acres Of the Brown County Fair There’s a light inside of people Sometimes seen in the eyes And it hides like a recluse In these complicated times But some say that it shines out A bit more easily there And for just five bucks, you can find out At the brown county fair Some say that it shines out A bit more frequently there For just five bucks, you can find out At the Brown County Fair |
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| 11. | Winter Woods | Play | Winter Woods
I fly sometimes
Through the frozen trees In the winter woods In their robes of white Chanting silently In the winter woods Like a forest abbey choir Whispering hymns of snow and ice In Excelsis to the cold And Hosanna to the sky Hosanna And holy trees They know when I’m In the winter woods And they bid me to sing And I comply In the winter woods But I stumble in my turn Because I cannot find the words In that church of birch and pine The only word that comes to mind Is “beautiful” Like a forest abbey choir Whispering hymns of snow and ice In Excelsis to the cold And Hosanna to the sky Hosanna So quietly I sing “beautiful” in the winter woods And the trees agree They all agree In the winter woods We all agree In the winter woods Amen. Amen. |
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| 12. | Astronaut Dreams | Play | Astronaut Dreams
Maggie Jane has a family
And makes a good salary Her life is quite ordinary Except for her astronaut dreams They happen when she is sleeping They happen when she’s awake They come like abductors who sneak in And carry poor Maggie away CHORUS: Suddenly Maggie Jane is floating high in space Up among the super novi and the bright nebulae And the earth is just another point of light, far away Keep busy say the doctors Clean house, turn on the TV And they give her pills to stop her From having her astronaut dreams But the Universe still keeps calling And haunting her daily routine And defenses are slim when the light years creep in And then steal her away beyond reach CHORUS: And that world of her work and her bills and her children Is a tiny place in a remote solar system And the size and the scope of the space where she floats Is so big, so very big So if you run into Maggie And meet with an eerie stare Don’t think she’s cold if you get no hello Because Maggie Jane may not be there |
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| 13. | Coming Home | Play | Coming Home
When trees are turning
Chimney smoke is curling Fallen leaves are swirling I’ll be coming home When geese are wending Apple branches bending When the summer’s ending I’ll be coming home When Autumn’s first frost Glistens on the corn stalks The bales of hay and sweet squash I’ll be coming home And hill and meadow Are crimson, rust and yellow When the fruits of August mellow I’ll be coming home CHORUS: And rest will greet me Love will receive me And joy, like a deep red wine Fill my heart I have been trodding The furrowed fields of summer Footsteps heavy under The seeds I’ve come to sow When some have sprouted And I have hoped and doubted And every bushel’s counted I’ll be coming home CHORUS: Nights will be cold then Foxes in their holes then Skies awaiting snow when I’ll be coming home When hearths are burning Tables set with sterling I will be returning |
Like his previous studio CD "Million Year Mind", Earth Town Square was co-produced by himself and percussionist Marc Anderson, who also performs on most of the tracks. The collection features 12 songs (10 previously unrecorded), with many guest muscians including Peter Ostroushko, Dan Newton, Prudence Johnson, and Dirk Freymuth, and others.
