Songs

Art / Theatre

A Place In No Time (from Songs of Avalon Song Cycle)

Style – Theatre/Art Song Voice Type – Lyric Soprano Character – Igraine

Story – This song describes the phenomenon of undeniable attraction between people, the kind of attraction that makes rational thinking fly out the window! The feeling that you must have loved this person before in another lifetime in order to feel so much in the present! In the context of the Avalon Song Cycle it’s the unbridled passion of the Lady Igraine, singing to King Uther Pendragon, who with Merlin’s help, has disguised himself as her husband Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, and gained entrance to Tintagel castle to spend a night with her. This illicit liason results in the birth of Arthur and all that follows in the telling of that legend by Geoffrey Monmouth.

I know you from another place in time Or shall I say, a place in no time? I know you very well indeed as you Remember me too, don’t you Recognize the beating of my heart? I felt yours Beating like the wings of the ancient birds High above the cliffs and over waters powerful and fierce Ringing in my ears, whirling in my brain Overtaking all my senses like the chilling autumn rain And I surrender completely to you Now take me to you

Ruination comes crashing round us in our passion Still we cannot stop this driving force that takes us faster Into our destiny we are inexplicably entwined

And will I see you once again in time? Or shall we meet once more in no time? I’ll love you then as I have loved you now I’ll not forsake you Never, never will you vanish from my heart You’ll find me In the morning sun In the wild wind Touching you in every breath you Giving you my love You will feel me there With you everywhere It will matter not what form I take, you’ll know that I am there

A love undying, a timeless flying Unbounded joy, a crying In no time, a place eternal, With you

It Will Be The Right Thing (from Songs of Avalon Song Cycle)

Style – Theatre/Art Song Voice Type – Soprano Character – Lady of the Lake

Story – This song is for anyone who has ever found themselves drawn to another person and wanting to just “be in the moment.” In the context of the Avalon Song Cycle, the song describes the quandary of the Lady of the Lake when she meets Sir Galahad. She is sworn to a life of solitude and celibacy but finds herself very drawn to the intense young man.

It will be the right thing when it happens And if it never happens, that’s all right with me I just love the feeling of your hand in mine And if that’s all that ever happens That’s just fine

Fantasies about tomorrow or “next time” Just confuse the moment at hand And at the moment when you’re holding me close to you I feel grand

I know it’s the right thing having you so near As long as I don’t think too much that feeling’s very clear I just love the warmth Coming through your touch I know it’s the right thing for me now

Tag

I just love the warmth coming through your touch I know it’s the right thing for me now

(Dedication: for Ramesh)

Just Once I’d Like to See Him (from Songs of Avalon Song Cycle)

Style – Theatre/Art Song Voice Type – Male, Tenor or High Baritone Range Character – King Arthur

Story – In Mallory’s version of the Arthurian legend, King Arthur unknowingly has an unfortunate liason with his sister on Beltane Eve, which results in an illegitimate son, Mordred. In this tender song, Arthur laments that he cannot be a real father to the boy.

I would like to see him once, this child of my Morgaine He’d be grown into his manhood This child of wind and pain Though I know he won’t succeed me The priests won’t have it so Still just once I’d like to see him What I’d tell him, I don’t know

Just once I’d like to hold this son I cannot claim He was born of love and power This child now cloaked in shame That his mother was my sister damns us all in Christian eyes Still, just once I’d like to see him Though I know t’would be unwise

Come Back to California

Style – Solo or Duet Art Song Voice Type – All

Story – A very close friend, Albin Suffys, a great bass player/composer from Lille, France, had a very disturbing encounter with an Immigration officer when making a visit to the U.S. He was interrogated for hours and when finally allowed entrance, the last words from the officer were, “I’m letting you in this time but don’t come back to California!” All of Albin’s American friends were outraged by this treatment of our friend. I felt compelled to write a counter message, which I have since sung to many friends from other countries who have had, for one reason or another, to leave us.

Come back to California California waits California dreams California California California calls

Many are the happy hours that we spent in California by the sea Many are the happy hours that we spent in California by the sea Come back Come back The coast is clear The fog has lifted And the Gate is open Come back Come back Come back Come back to California

Into Thin Air, Song of the Migratory Birds (from Trilogy for the Endangered Species)

Style – Orchestral Art Song Voice Type – Choral SATB

Story – The birds have been trying to tell us for quite some time that where they go, we will surely follow. The rapid decline in all bird populations over the past 50 years is a frightening harbinger of what is coming, as Rachel Carson once predicted, silent spring.

Into thin air, we’ll soon disappear Is there anyone listening out there? Into thin air, we’ll fly on our wings To a different world We know not where

Into thin air, the sound of our wings You can hear it as we fly away “You’ll be alone,” is the message it brings You will miss us when we’ve gone away

Morning Is Wiser Than Evening (from Clever Manka, Youth Theatrework)

Style – Duet: Youth musical theatre/operetta Voice Type – Female and Male; Soprano / Tenor or Baritone

Story – In this Czech folk tale, Manka’s father has been given a riddle to solve in a dispute over a cow. She tries to calm her father and reminds him that “morning is wiser than evening,” encouraging him to “sleep on it.”

Manka: Morning is wiser than evening That’s what my grandfather said I’d go to cry on his shoulder And soon I’d be sleeping instead

I’d go to sleep with my troubles Looming as high as a tree When I’d awake in the morning They weren’t any bigger than me Morning is wiser, wiser by far That’s what my grandfather said

Father: Sometimes each day is a struggle Just putting food on the plate People are always a puzzle But my head isn’t working this late

Manka: Morning is wiser than evening That’s what my grandfather said I’d go to cry on his shoulder and soon I’d be sleeping instead

Father: Maybe the answer will come with the dawn Maybe it’s hid in our dreams’

Manka: When things are darkest we just carry on And nothing’s as bad as it seems

Manka & Father: There’s always a problem to work on Always a new day ahead Morning is wiser than evening So let’s put our troubles to bed Morning is wiser, wiser by far

Manka alone: That’s what my grandfather said

Speeney, Spawney, Go to the Moon

Style – Lullaby Voice Type – All

Story – When artist Georgia O’Keefe was a little girl, her father would always say “speeney, spawney, go to the moon” if she hurt herself or was upset. All the lyrics in the song are taken from ideas I got in a book of her letters. The song is the title tune of my lullaby CD.

Speeney, spawney, go to the moon Tell me a story, weave me a rune Then I’ll sing it softly, a sweet little tune Speeney, Spawney, Go to the Moon

Chorus

Go to the moon, follow your star Live for each moment, be who you are (repeat)

Building a house on a fine summer’s day Making a place for your dollies to play Alone in your thoughts, you paper each room Speeney, Spawney, Go to the Moon

Chorus

Paint me a feeling, brush me a thought Capture a moment that begs to be caught Run like a wild thing, cry like a loon Speeney, Spawney, Go to the Moon

Chorus

Lie Down

Style – Lullaby Voice Type – All

Story – This song is designed to help put one in a meditative state.

Lie down in a boat that rests on the water The land holds the water in her warm brown hand The water lily floats on the water And the stone lies still on the strand The stone lies still on the strand

The water runs and you ride down the river Down, down the river to a deeper land Your boat comes home to a place by the river Where the Sandman gathers his sand The Sandman gathers his sand