1. lulu ~ Lulu lived her life like a child, wrapped up in arms that she kept all around her - then one day she passed by a man who smiled as she held out her hand to him - and he said, "that's very nice, but no thank you, I'm doing fine, all alone here, doing fine on my own here." And she looked into his eyes for that lonely part but no, he wasn't lonely, just alone, and as she turned and walked away she wondered, "maybe I can change that way."
Lulu she packed up her bag, opened the door and tipped her hat to him - then she said, "ah my dear, I'm so scared, I can't bear to sail this ship on my own. I need some sign 'long the way, I need someone to hold my hand to point me where I should be going."
And as he turned and walked away she was looking at his face she was waiting for him to stay to turn back to the place they knew - And she looked into his eyes, he said, "goodbye, now you're alone but don't feel lonely on your own across the sea I'll still be near to you."
A hundred days 'cross the sea she was gone - she walked by herself to search for her home - she walked by herself till one day a boy caught up to her side... he held out his hand but she shook her head and just smiled... and she said, "that's very nice but no thank you, I'm doing fine all alone here, doing fine on my own here." And he looked into her eyes for that lonely part but no, she wasn't lonely, just alone, and as he turned and walked away he wondered, "maybe I can change that way. (AN)
2. door to door ~ when do the windows glow and the farmers keep their faces clear... can you see their eyes from here? Sitting room for blinking youth un-prepared for a channel change away, changing way too late; soaking coverage up to ears and sewing seeds of research answers gained, youthful eyes roving wide out in the world... Bills flutter to the floor, politicians spread them out so thin, all we want is peace led children; Pork rinds barreled inside sterile propositions so that we can change, but we stay the same; we half laughed while looking back to times when the insane were restrained, with the crazies put away not running the world... So I'm going door to door to meet all the real citizens and learn their true opinions; Voices muted choices split in twos that we can't ever understand and they rule the land; homeland families wearing 'jammies watching censored news so they can learn when it's their brother's turn to die out in the world... (DN)
3. three long afternoons ~ I saw you were standing there a fistful of sand said you'd never leave from this place where we had played for three long afternoons. The broken sticks were bent and covering a roof of gold we'd had imported from Spain -- let's keep on playing for three more days... And you saw me like a starling, swimming through the leaves; they're turning colored shades, and you turned me into yesterday... Armed with an oath, "I am no enemy," they're hiding with swords and waiting to break at the seams, but I can see right through their cloakscreens. So take my hand and take my bow and string a straight line that will let them know that we're piling sand up round our home of gold... And you flew me like a firefly, lightning in the eyes; it's bursting into flames, and you burst me into yesterday... Now the bell is ringing for you to be leaving this day with the moonbeams moonbeams hide me there, 'hind the stairs, 'till the next day, we'll cover out eyes 'till we know we're safe and away... And you flew me like a firefly, lightning in the eyes, it's bursting into flames, and you burst me into yesterday... (AN)
4. little window open up ~ yesterday was emptied between speeding cars and the cover of a willow weeping gracefully into the echo of a sound that was spinning out loud/ the message slid down the street and whispered through the apple trees/ some old broken joker said there's no more luck/ but to all deaf hopeless homesteaders let a little window open up/ Moonlight bouncing off eager open eyes that haven't seen a shadow but glaring gazing to the sky instead of looking down to dancing feet under the ground/ the hopeful are out in the street laughing under apple trees/ some old broken joker said there's no more luck/ but to all deaf hopeless homesteaders let a little window open up/ A framing shapeless shoulder waits for peasant children to come and have a cry but it's just too late/ and mold grows on paper trails that should have shown the shoulder to be too frail/ but innocence plays in the street and dreams about the apple trees/ some old broken joker said there's no more luck/ but to all deaf hopeless homesteaders let a little window open up... (DN)
5. play me a time ~ mother mother play me a time when I was four years old - you sewed me a tail and I swam through the sea to your arms when I got cold - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a whale who could swim through the sea - close your eyes now go to sleep (go to sleep, go to sleep, close your eyes now go to sleep)... father father play me a time when I was barely eight/please open the lands of trumpets and kings in books where I am safe - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a girl who could fly on her wings high above and see everything (everything, everything, she could fly and see everything)... brother brother play me time when I was only twelve - we shouted our dreams from our fingers that reached to the top of every shelf - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a game that we played on a stage, thought the lights would never fade (never fade, never fade, thought the lights would never fade)... misilala play me time when I was seventeen - let's talk by the stairs about worries and cares and lives we hope to dream - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a tear that you'd lost as you ran from the weight of somebody's plans (as you ran, as you ran, from the weight of somebody's plans)... darling darling play me a time when I was twenty-one - we sat upstairs but we where back there to a time we'd never known - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a dance as you sat next to me, closed our eyes till we could see (closed our eyes, closed our eyes, closed our eyes till we could see)... please oh please won't you play me a time for I am just now here - I have so long to hear your lovely song now whisper it in my ear - and you sang, and you sang, and you sang to me 'bout a time where the people held on to their smiles and their eyes opened up like a child's - like a child's, like a child's, and their eyes opened up like a child's! (AN)
6. the cowboy's lament ~ As I passed by Tom Sherman's barroom/Tom Sherman's barroom so early one morn/I spied a young boy all dressed in his buckskins/Dressed like a picture, all fit for his grave/So beat the drum lowly and play the fife slowly/beat up the death march that carries me along/take me to the prairie and fire a volley o'er me/for I'm a young cowboy dying alone/"Once in my saddle I used to go dashing/Once in my saddle I used to ride high/But these things are behind me, left there behind me/My brother, he fell in my arms" the boy cried... Someone please write to my grey-headed mother/Her heart to the flag, her hand placed in fear/Then to the other far dearer than mother/Who will bitterly weep when she finds I am here... Quick cast me a net, my hours are leaving/I've felt the cold lead in my side where I lay/Oh mother, my brothers are falling around me/They say I'm a cowboy, and dying today... Oh bury beside me my gold-colored medal/My ring in my hand and gun at my side/Over my coffin lay a bottle of brandy/That the cowboys may drink as they carry me down...(AN)
7. the whistler ~ Lend me your ear and I'll tell you a tale, a man who still whistles on the waves up ahead, listen to the waters as they sing his long-awaited story/He rose up one day to feel that things were long past due, looked inside, saw shadows of places he'd be going to, he looked behind for a moment, then said, "I will not look that way again"/So roll the land to where I lay, lady, fist still raised to the sky, hand to your heart, you'll remember me in tales as they carry me on by... /The man set out for his city cast in gold/ bade farewell to his mother, said, "take care at home."/he kissed goodbye his darling, said, "We'll one day meet again."/He sailed through the bay, out to a stormy night armed with his father's pistol strapped to his side, to face the open sea he had to take the roughest waves as his ride... He stood his ground out on the open deck, through sheets of rain, the wheel he set direct ahead, and the wave that brought him over was the best and biggest he had ever seen... So child as you take a ride out on the open sea, don't be afraid when you do hear the song that he did leave - out on those waters his tale will be floating at your side...(AN)
8. old river ~ do you remember Old River, as you run so fast, as you run so far? do you remember Old River, as you run so fast, as you run right past? did the shores that you flew by go by in a blur, or did you see the little children there? on the banks as they played in the afternoon light, in the wake of your water as you did run on by... do you remember Old River, as you run so fast, as you run right past? you passed by a hill so sturdy and calm, the land lit up with homes in it's arms, the land lit up in the half-moon light, you carved out a mountain as you ran on by that night... do you remember Old River, as you run so fast, as you run right past? so many things you've seen Old River, they didn't go by too quickly for you to catch your sweet memories, for you to hold your moons and mountains, for you to wash the many ankles of the children as they play and as they splash and as they tumble round and laugh and as they skip and as they jump and as they dance and as they run on by... do you remember Old River, as you run so fast, as you run right past? now you'll remember Old River, remember everything, remember as you dream...(AN)
9. don't let it pass you by ~ on a story told passing through the ancient doors, a quiet whisper winds it's way from ear to ear and it flies forever - but if it all goes along this old path so walked, then stay a while or come and have a drink with me... from far away the distant shapes celebrate the rain, in memories of misty golden braids, but be not afraid, stay awake, do it right, share in light, start tonight, don't ever let it pass you by - tonight, tonight, tonight don't let it pass you by, don't ever let it pass you by... mixed up meaning window for a shooting star it's there to see, all of the willing cards have all been dealt out now and passed around, but seven miles overpassed, just to see a man turn green, with a little take a lot or sit and drink with me... from far away the distant shapes celebrate the rain, in memories of misty golden braids, but be not afraid, stay awake, do it right, share in light, start tonight, don't ever let it pass you by... (DN)
10. try not to let the rain in your boots, child ~ sit down, button up, it's gonna be a cold one, and mama wants your nose to stay dry - the cup on the deck is all full of water, it's really time to go outside... try not to let the rain in your boots child, and I'll have chocolate hot at home for you, when you return we'll ring out your boots, child, the chocolate will warm your toes...slip slide, eyes wide, the world has turned to water, the driveway's a river and the dog is a bear, we're running to the safety of the branches of the trees, run to the river, we know it's safe there... climb up scramble down, no places we won't go, we've only touched on the tip of the world, looking back one day at ourselves past gone, wondering why people don't just grow young, the horses are bikes, the canyon's a creek, we're a gaggle of travelers who won't stop, and they still say... try not to let the rain in your boots child, and I'll have chocolate hot at home for you, when you return we'll ring out your boots, child, the chocolate will warm your toes... try not to let the rain in your boots child, and I'll have chocolate hot at home for you, hand me our boots, I'll ring 'em out for you, child, I was waiting for your return...(AN, DN; additional vocals by Emily Brown)
(songs written by Davyd Nereo and Ayla Nereo, copyright 2006 Beatbeat Whisper)