1. |
The Promise
04:09
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The Promise
When all the skies are turning gray
and the year begins to die
I will return from far away
to take you for my bride
When the fertile ground doth take it's rest
for to turn to life within
I can hear your voice, I can hear your voice
come echo down the wind
When all the leaves are turning brown
and the northern winds reply
I will return from the barrow downs
to take you for my bride
When the autumn's angel lifts her face
for to kiss away the sins
I can hear your voice, I can hear your voice
come echo down the wind
When the sorrowed widows lift their vales
For to ask the heavens why
I will return on billowed sails
to take you for my bride
When the beards of old men drink their fill
and their storied tongues begin
I can hear your voice, I can hear your voice
come echo down the wind
When all the fires brightly burn
For to warm the hearths inside
I will return, I will return
to take you for my bride
When all the skies are turning gray
and the year begins to die
I will return (I can hear your voice)
I will return (I can hear your voice)
to take you for my bride (come echo down the wind)
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2. |
All That You Are
02:37
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All That You Are
I don’t believe in magic but there’s magic in your eyes
I don’t believe in miracles but you are by my side
I don’t believe in fantasies but I believe in all that you are
I don’t believe in visions btu I behold you just as well
I don’t believe in sorcery yet I am in your spell
I don’t believe in wonder but I believe in all that you are
Oh take me out, I’m walking in a shadow
Read my heart or is it too dark to see
Tell me more about how much you really love me
I don’t believe in magic but there’s magic in your eyes
I don’t believe in miracles but you are by my side
I don’t believe in fantasies but I believe in all that you are
I don’t believe in visions btu I behold you just as well
I don’t believe in sorcery yet I am in your spell
I don’t believe in wonder but I believe in all that you are
Speak the truth, I’m searching for the answers
Hold me close I’m trying to believe
Once again I need to know you really love me
I don’t believe in magic but there’s magic in your eyes
I don’t believe in miracles but you are by my side
I don’t believe in fantasies but I believe in all that you are
I don’t believe in visions but I behold you just as well
I don’t believe in sorcery yet I am in your spell
I don’t believe in wonder but I believe in all that you are
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3. |
The Dawn of Bitter Moons
04:49
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The Dawn of Bitter Moons
My world was aching when I knocked upon your door
It opened up into a room of warmth and comfort where I felt secure
Indifferent to the cause
You took my inner fear and wrapped it in your love
The loss of innocence was more than I could understand or care about
Indifferent to the cause
I am spinning out of control
One more day is a chance to let go
I am spinning out of control
She left me long ago when I was so in love
I hadn’t notice that the touch was from a distant place of hers
Indifferent to the cause
The sense of one so dear slowly slipped away
And all remaining here is empty as the night before the dawn of bitter moons
I am spinning out of control
One more day is a chance to let go
I am spinning out of control
What was the reason for a prayer upon my lips?
My loss of inner faith was more than I could understand or care about
Indifferent to the cause
I am spinning out of control
One more day is a chance to let go
I am spinning out of control
My world was aching when I knocked upon your door
My world was aching when I knocked upon your door
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4. |
Visions In Time
02:30
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Visions In Time
Your love long longer the longer I wait
Tears all knowing fall from the ages of sighs
My hands cupped on the table
Filled with the liquid of lies
I won’t stand in your garden
Pretend that the flowers from heaven will give me the proof
I am not a fool, I am not a fool
I ask only for glimpses of truth
Your face dream dreaming while dreaming I lay
Your books of knowledge filled with impossible words
My hands touched by their silence
My ears rung by voices unheard
I won’t talk in your footsteps
Pretend that your falsehoods will cover what I shouldn’t see
I am not a fool, I am not a fool
I ask only your interest in me
Your bed soft softly now softly I weep
Come the morning our promise held out to the night
My hands stretched to the limit
Grasping at shadows in light
I won’t sleep with your virtue
Pretend that your foolish uncommon reflection will sigh
I am not a fool, I am not a fool
I ask only to let it pass by
Your laugh sad sadly now sadly I go
Heart sore and weary, dust on my tongue and my soul
My hands broken by indifference
My fingers worn down to the bone
I won’t reach for your distance
Pretend that the miles will all fall away as a sign
I am not a fool, I am not a fool
I ask only for visions in time
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5. |
Tangle
04:23
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Tangle
All my life is a tangle of the vine
knots and branches
from time to time will intertwine
Stone and wind have a meeting of the minds
testing justice
'til sand so fine from over time
In the early twilight is a fading scene
and our love dissolves as the evening turns to rain
all our precious moments don't amount to much
I have come to know this from the distance of your touch
Water catches then slowly drains away
leaving nothing
but rainy days will be that way
Love has motion it flows throughout our lives
changing
always just within sight then taking flight
In the early twilight is a fading scene
and our love dissolves as the evening turns to rain
all our precious moments don't amount to much
I have come to know this in the distance of your touch
I've seen a winter's night sky silent beauty
frozen yet alive
Reawaken passions once believed to have died
All my life is a tangle of the vine
knots and branches
from time to time will intertwine
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6. |
She's Alright
02:39
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She’s All Right
She was born upon a summer wind
And she would dance for me, twirl and spin
And her laughter sure did do me in
Along with that her Cheshire grin
She’s all right
As long as she dances she’s all right
She’s got everything she fancies
She’s all right, she’s all right
She captured once my sanity
Then she searched in vain my vanity
And when she returned my eyes could see
She knew myself in spite of me
She’s all right
As long as she dances she’s all right
She’s got everything she fancies
She’s all right, she’s all right
Falling down I took her in my arms
And we did dance at Yasgur’s farm
And all the world was magic charms
Growing up was never our desire
And as the years went by our fire
Did soar like heaven’s golden choir
She died upon a winter’s night
Then the angels sang and gave her flight
And when spring awoke, her spirit came
And I saw her dancing once again
She’s all right
As long as she dances she’s all right
She’s got everything she fancies
She’s all right, she’s all right
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7. |
I Let Her Go
03:52
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I Let Her Go
When the party finally ended and the company dispersed
she stood over by the windowsill gazing out at the world
I didn't want to talk to her, she didn't want to leave
as I continued to play my guitar she tugged gently at my sleeve
I tried my best not to notice as I sang down to my knees
some song without any meaning, no rhymes, no melody
she knew that I was avoiding any chance of laying ground
so, quietly, like a ghostly spirit, she began to dance around
That summer passed uneventfully as we shared my little loft
we'd hang on the roof and make love by the moon,
I guess I was going soft
there was something in the way she lay all naked in that light
she captured my intensity and kept it burning bright
When autumn came I was traveling, never figuring on getting caught
I didn't call, I didn't write, never gave it too much thought
You know it's true that every town begins to look the same
and every girl I tangled with knew nothing but my name
One morning out west of Albany I was playing the role of the creep
some redhead was putting on her clothes and I was still half asleep
she stood outside the motel door in the early morning gray
she didn't come into my room she just turned and walked away
The news of the world wasn't happening so I switched off the set
I shuffled around some letters and stuff and smoked a cigarette
the radio, the stereo, the pictures and the books
seemed every time I turned around there's something else I took
but what I hadn't counted on was what she left behind
an empty room full of loneliness in this empty heart of mine
she loved me once, she loved me where she's gone I'll never know
but I let her go, I let her go, I let he go
Steve Gilligan - vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, harmonica
Jon Cohen - drums
Rob Carlson - dobro slide guitar
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8. |
My Old Friend
03:11
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My Old Friend - in fond memory of Mark Cuccinello
You came in sight last winter’s night and I was so surprised
The moon shone from your fingers and the sun shone from your eyes
I cried a frozen river and I wept the bitter cold
When day arrived me still alive this story to be told
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
I searched the cemetery where we last spent Christmas Eve
The stones stood cold and silent as if urging me to leave
Past rows of unknown soldiers and sailors brave and true
I searched in vain and aching pain for the one that covered you
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
As I stood in doubt a light came out and shone down from above
And me expecting angels or a flight of golden doves
But what appeared struck deaf my ears and clove in two my tongue
And you led me where the ragged share hope for everyone
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
Old news plied faded glory, a song sung out of tune
Our ship came in to mortal sin the dark side of the moon
We stood upon the wall and looked defiantly around
But they stole our crown the wall came down and knocked us to the ground
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
Then barefoot and half naked we wallowed in the mire
The time had come for us to run but we were too damned tired
So I went off to college and you went off to war
And I never heard another word ‘til they knocked upon my door
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
My face it burned with anger my legs froze tight in fear
My heart felt certain danger my soul to numb to care
The sky burned fire orange, the grass all brown and dead
So I left them all to heed the call and I went back to bed
Hey my old friend, hey my old friend, I miss you my old friend
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9. |
The Thunder Rolling By
03:34
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The Thunder Rolling By
Sow the seeds of discontent and reap a harvest of hate
Watch the swollen rivers rise to flood an honest day
Couds move in to block the sun and color a sullen sky
So heed the cry in the coming night of the thunder rolling by
Roll the boys of summer out and bring in a winter wind
The freedom lost is not the cost it’s the spirit that’s done in
They say a man is not a man unless he learns to fight
And heeds the cry in the coming night of the thunder rolling by
Jesus died at 33 my father at 81
They both endured the shining sword and ridicule of some
But the sands will always shift again and cover the age gone by
So heed the cry in the coming night of the thunder rolling by
How best relate this thing called fate, how best to wait it out
Like fashions come, like passions go, like water falling down
So raise your eyes and scan the skies and watch for a blazing sign
And heed the cry in the coming night of the thunder rolling by
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10. |
Change
04:55
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Change
Change don’t come too easy around here
All the streets are paved with broken good intentions
All the signs are pointing up all the stairs are leading down
And the soul embracing cowboy fills his pocket of pretensions
Oh change don’t come too easy around here
Change don’t come too easy around here
Every former boy knows something’s got to give
When the orders of the day command the silence of the night
Where in heavens name is someone with a heart supposed to live
Oh change don’t come too easy around here
Change don’t come too easy around here
Once they’re on to you, you haven’t got a chance
Then the price of what you seek becomes the cost of what you’ve found
And the years will come and go before tomorrow takes a stance
Oh change don’t come too easy around here
Change don’t come too easy around here
There’s a crooked one in every lot you cast
Now the light up in the tower tells the dreamers to go home
As the once upon a time man sweeps the dust out of the past
Oh change don’t come too easy around here
Change don’t come too easy around here
The Holy Father says it’s time for us to quit
So lay your head upon the pillow, put your cares outside the door
And pray that no one runs off when the story doesn’t fit
change don’t come too easy around here
change don’t come too easy around here
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11. |
Take My Hand
04:52
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Take My Hand
The violence in your eyes has pushed the day away
Out to where the old north station stood
Up from barren soil came a crooked leafless tree
Let’s cut it down and chop it up for firewood
This tattoo tells a tale of strength unbidden
So button up your shirt boy and swear to keep it hidden
And take my hand I’ll lead you to a simpler better place
Take my hand we’ll cover every trace
The force of nature’s fury has left its mark on you
A punishment for seeking higher ground
Down through all the centuries the turning of the tides
For those who fail, the weak and frail, will surely drown
This pale expression’s only for a minute
So cover up your hurt boy or swear to meet me in it
And take my hand I’ll lead you to a simpler better place
Take my hand we’ll cover every trace
Now the best of all intentions was bound to take you in
A stranger dressed in old familiar clothes
A kiss from some forbidden lips, a danger far too real
Has left you worn and tired much too numb to know
Your story isn’t true but it’s a good one
So bury in this dirt boy your spirit of the hoodlum
And take my hand I’ll lead you to a simpler better place
Take my hand we’ll cover every trace
Take my hand I’ll lead you to a simpler better place
Take my hand we’ll cover every trace
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12. |
Take Down the Ribbions
02:34
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Take Down the Ribbons
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her hair is turning to gray
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her flower is starting to fade
the boys look beyond her when she passes by
the face in the mirror reflecting the tear in her eye
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her dresses are decidedly longer
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her memories are growing much stronger
the days in the schoolyard, the nights by the wall
laughing and gasping for air as she started to fall
in love for the first time, was it the last time
she loved for no reason
no reason to worry at all
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her mind is off somewhere else
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
she's lately been cruel to herself
she married a stranger who taught her to drink
turn on the TV and try like all hell not to think
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her hair is turning to gray
Take down the ribbons, take down the ribbons
her flower is starting to fade
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13. |
The Most Important Rule
02:53
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The Most Important Rule
The winter sun is about to set
and leave this world it's last regrets
and call the night reasons to forget
reasons come easy
anyway I know I've disappointed you
you thought your dreams had all come true
and dreams die hard don't it frighten you
love isn't easy
you've learned the most important rule
Wait and time will comfort you
and give you hope to start anew
a broken heart is wiser too
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Steve Gilligan Boston, Massachusetts
Steve Gilligan is best known as bassist of legendary Boston rock 'n' roll band The Stompers. He's released 4 solo CDs; "Jacobs Well", “Winter Rain”, “Dogpatch Garage”, and now "Next Someday", which rocks with a melodic energy found in the best from bands like Tom Petty & XTC. ... more
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