Let the river rock you like a cradle Climb to the treetops, child, if you're able Let your hands tie a knot across the table. Come and touch the things you cannot feel. And close your fingertips and fly where I can't hold you Let the sun-rain fall and let the dewy clouds enfold you And maybe you can sing to me the words I just told you, If all the things you feel ain't what they seem. And don't mind me 'cause I ain't nothin' but a dream. The mocking bird sings each different song Each song has wings - they won't stay long. Do those who hear think he's doing wrong? While the church bell tolls its one-note song And the school bell is tinkling to the throng. Come here where your ears cannot hear. And close your eyes, child, and listen to what I'll tell you Follow in the darkest night the sounds that may impel you And the song that I am singing may disturb or serve to quellyou If all the sounds you hear ain't what they seem, Then don't mind me 'cause I ain't nothin' but a dream The rising smell of fresh-cut grass Smothered cities choke and yell with fuming gas I hold some grapes up to the sun And their flavour breaks upon my tongue. With eager tongues we taste our strife And fill our lungs with seas of life. Come taste and smell the waters of our time. And close your lips, child, so softly I might kiss you, Let your flower perfume out and let the winds caress you. As I walk through the garden, I am hoping I don't miss you If all the things you taste ain't what they seem, Then don't mind me 'cause I ain't nothin' but a dream. The sun and moon both arise And we'll see them soon through days and nights But now silver leaves are mirrors, bring delights. And the colours of your eyes are fiery bright, While darkness blinds the skies with all its light. Come see where your eyes cannot see. And close your eyes, child, and look at what I'll show you; Let your mind go reeling out and let the breezes blow you, And maybe when we meet then suddenly I will know you. If all the things you see ain't what they seem, Then don't mind me 'cause I ain't nothin' but a dream. And you can follow; And you can follow; follow... --Jerry Merrick (?-2019), American singer-songwriter, famously covered by the late great Richie Havens on the 1967 album Mixed Bag
Oh all the money that e'er I spent I spent it in good company And all the harm that e'er I've done Alas, it was to none but me And all I've done for want of wit To memory now I can't recall So fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had Are sorry for my going away And all the sweethearts that e'er I've 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 Good night and joy be with you all Good night and joy be with you all. --Traditional song, sung at the wake of Jody Naifeh on December 21, 2019.
There's a man who's been out sailing In a decade full of dreams And he takes her to a schooner And he treats her like a queen Bearing beads from California With their amber stones and green He has called her from the harbor He has kissed her with his freedom He has heard her off to starboard In the breaking and the breathing Of the water weeds While she was busy being free There's a man who's climbed a mountain And he's calling out her name And he hopes her heart can hear Three thousand miles he calls again He can think her there beside him He can miss her just the same He has missed her in the forest While he showed her all the flowers And the branches sang the chorus As he climbed the scaley towers Of a forest tree While she was somewhere being free There's a man who's sent a letter And he's waiting for reply He has asked her of her travels Since the day they said goodbye He writes "Wish you were beside me We can make it if we try" He has seen her at the office With her name on all his papers Thru the sharing of the profits He will find it hard to shake her From his memory And she's so busy being free There's a lady in the city And she thinks she loves them all There's the one who's thinking of her There's the one who sometimes calls There's the one who writes her letters With his facts and figures scrawl She has brought them to her senses They have laughed inside her laughter Now she rallies her defenses For she fears that one will ask her For eternity And she's so busy being free There's a man who sends her medals He is bleeding from the war There's a jouster and a jester And a man who owns a store There's a drummer and a dreamer And you know there may be more She will love them when she sees them They will lose her if they follow And she only means to please them And her heart is full and hollow Like a cactus tree * While she's so busy being free -- Joni Mitchell (1943- ), Canadian singer-songwriter and artist, from Song to a Seagull, 1968
Fly silly seabird No dreams can possess you No voices can blame you For sun on your wings My gentle relations Have names they must call me For loving the freedom Of all flying things My dreams with the seagulls fly Out of reach out of cry I came to the city And lived like old Crusoe On an island of noise In a cobblestone sea And the beaches were concrete And the stars paid a light bill And the blossoms hung false On their store window trees My dreams with the seagulls fly Out of reach out of cry Out of the city And down to the seaside To sun on my shoulders And wind in my hair But sandcastles crumble And hunger is human And humans are hungry For worlds they can't share My dreams with the seagulls fly Out of reach out of cry I call to a seagull Who dives to the waters And catches his silver-fine Dinner alone Crying where are the footprints That danced on these beaches And the hands that cast wishes That sunk like a stone My dreams with the seagulls fly Out of reach out of cry --Joni Mitchell (1943- ), Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and artist, from Song to a Seagull, 1966
I was driving across the burning desert When I spotted six jet planes Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain It was the hexagram of the heavens it was the strings of my guitar Amelia, it was just a false alarm The drone of flying engines Is a song so wild and blue It scrambles time and seasons if it gets through to you Then your life becomes a travelogue Of picture-post-card-charms Amelia, it was just a false alarm People will tell you where they've gone They'll tell you where to go But till you get there yourself you never really know Where some have found their paradise Others just come to harm Oh Amelia, it was just a false alarm I wish that he was here tonight It's so hard to obey His sad request of me to kindly stay away So this is how I hide the hurt As the road leads cursed and charmed I tell Amelia, it was just a false alarm A ghost of aviation She was swallowed by the sky Or by the sea, like me she had a dream to fly Like Icarus ascending On beautiful foolish arms Amelia, it was just a false alarm Maybe I've never really loved I guess that is the truth I've spent my whole life in clouds at icy altitude And looking down on everything I crashed into his arms Amelia, it was just a false alarm I pulled into the Cactus Tree Motel To shower off the dust And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust I dreamed of 747's Over geometric farms Dreams, Amelia, dreams and false alarms --Joni Mitchell (1943- ), Canadian singer-songwriter, artist, and poet, from Hejira, 1976 A link to the NPR report on the tribute to Joni Mitchell's Blue performed by Brandi Carlile. A Live performance from 1979 by Joni Mitchell:
A dazzling cover by Roxana Amed and Pedro Aznar in Spanish:
There is peace for the restless one. There is peace for the restless one. She was on the verge of thinking, that her soul was lost and sinking. There is peace for the restless one. And you, you where my only hope, but could you really care for me. I even asked the Holy Ghost. Are you the one I love the most, are you the one to set me free? There is hope for the broken one. There is hope for the broken one. He was gone from the land, when cupid reached and took his hand. There is hope for the broken one. And you, you where my only hope, but could you really care for me. I even asked the Holy Ghost. Are you the one I love the most, are you the one to set me free? There'll be shame for the one so proud. There'll be shame for the one so proud. Pride comes before a tumble, let her live go on and crumble. There'll be shame for the one so proud. And you, you where my only hope, but could you really care for me. I even asked the Holy Ghost. Are you the one I love the most, are you the one to set me free? Oh but selfish will be the one crowned, selfish will be the one crowned, He will be crowned in poison ivy. Let the cries go on by me. selfish will be the one crowned. And you, you where my only hope, but could you really care for me. I even asked the Holy Ghost. Are you the one I love the most, are you the one to set me free? --Kate Anna Rusby (1973- ), English folk singer-songwriter, from Make the Light, 2010
Lover, there will be another one To hover over you beneath the sun Tomorrow see the things that never come today When you see me fly away without you Shadow on the things you know Feathers fall around you And show you the way to go It's over It's over Nestle in your wings my little one A special morning brings another sun Tomorrow see the things that never come today When you see me fly away without you Shadow on the things you know Feathers fall around you And show you the way to go It's over It's over --Neil Young (1945- ) Canadian songwriter and musician
