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1. |
American Roads
02:50
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American Roads
Put the kettle on the Coleman
and fire up the truck,
load up the blankets and the tent
and turn the radio on.
I got this urge for going’
right off the deep blue end,
a corner of a long sky road
going’ ‘round the bend.
American Roads,
winding through the heart,
someplace I’ve never been.
American Roads,
open wide for me
and take me home again.
Along this highway runnin’ true
far as the eye can see,
these lines of power on their poles,
no place I’d rather be.
There’s a yearning’ in my fingers,
an itchin’ in my toes,
to spin out down this blacktop
and see where it will go.
American Roads,
winding through the heart,
someplace I’ve never been.
American Roads,
open wide for me
and take me home again.
A river runs beside this road,
tall trees along its banks,
I’ll find a place to park my ride
and take a dip in thanks.
I don’t know where my home is,
I lost it long ago.
Can I still find that long road home?
When will I ever know?
American Roads,
winding through the heart,
someplace I’ve never been.
American Roads,
open wide for me
and take me home again.
American Roads,
don’t settle for less!
Come steal that highway now.
American Roads
are the brightest and best
way to be outward bound!
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2. |
Shine
04:41
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(Let It) Shine
Lyrics ©2012 Arthur Durkee
Some things don't need to be forgiven
like stars that fall from desert skies
like tears that urge the heart to widen
like a newborn daughter's cries
Some places in the heart are broken
it's friendship's edge we use to bind
ourselves together to each other
your limping half-healed heart to mine
There's nothing here can't be redeemed
if given life and give time
no sundered homeland we can't heal
no sacred mountain we can't climb
City of death or dream of light
whatever path your feet may find
valley of shadow where rivers meet
release your love and let it shine
Let it shine
Let it shine
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3. |
Magic
03:30
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Magic
Lyrics @2017 Arthur Durkee
The birds in my heart
love the wind in your hair
I climbed up a mountain
you were already there
There’s blood in my sail
you stride through the air
It’s magic
I love you
It’s magic
Gotten lost on my way
can’t see that you care
I sleep where I fall
at the foot of your stair
I’ve made love in my day
but the moon’s in your hair
It’s magic
I love you
It’s magic
Some days have been tragic
some days have been fair
Some nights you’re a beacon
from I don’t know where
Sometimes I feel fragile
but not when you’re there
It’s magic
I need you
It’s magic
Sometimes I feel lost
my body stripped bare
Life’s just a habit
like breathing in air
Then light flares around you
you’re suddenly there
The moon’s in my heart
but the sun’s in your hair
It’s magic
I love you
It’s magic
It’s magic
I need you
Desire you
You fill me
Because you are
Magic
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4. |
Lux aeterna
03:19
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Lux æterna luceat eis, Domine:
Cum Sanctis tuis in æternum:
quia pius es.
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Cum Sanctis tuis in æternum:
quia pius es.
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5. |
Tikkun
05:32
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Tikkun
The shattering of the vessels
of all Creation
the dew of lights
rising
O Lord, release
the sparks of light
within these bones
to rise up
and meet you in Heaven!
Tikkun ha-olam
mending the world
TIkkun ha-nefesh
mending the soul
Shevirat ha-kelim
Tzim-tzum, tzim-tzum . . .
Shevirat ha-kelim
TIkkun ha-olam
Mimalei kol ol-min
Ein Soph Ohr
Shevirat ha-kelim
TIkkun ha-olam
God is a consuming fire
Ohr Ein Sof
Ein Sof Ohr
Light of the Infinite
Endless Light
Ohr Ein Sof
Ein Sof Ohr
Endless Light
Infinite Light
Mimalei kol ol-min
Tikkun ha-olam
TIkkun ha-nefesh
For God is
an inifinite voice
singing
in a place
filled with
Light.
Amen.
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6. |
Weavers of Light
10:31
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Weavers of Light
Words and Music by Arthur Durkee
(except * original Goddess chant by Deena Metzger)
Stone, sea, wind, light,
Earth, water, air, fire,
Eternal Light, return
Isis, Asarte, Diana, Hecate,
Demeter, Kali, Innana *
We all come from the Goddess,
And to Her we shall return,
Like a drop of rain
Flowing to the ocean
Hoof & horn, hoof & horn,
All that dies must be reborn,
Vine & grain, vine & grain,
All that falls shall rise again
Ganapati Ganesha, Ganapati Ganesha
Winter stone, shrouded snow
Bear sleeping, silent heart
Blizzard frost, hearthstone warm
Ice apple, cider heart
Remember, remember
Summer rain, cooling porch
Bee shelter, thunder heart
Eternal Light, return
God is a verb, Lord of the Dance,
Horned God dancing, Light, return
Sustaining light, blown out like a candle,
We all fall away, Light, return
There is only the Now, past Dreamtime spun,
No history, no future, Light, return
Dip into waters, touching ripples,
Rivers of changing, Light, return
Eternal Light, return
Light, return
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7. |
Ave mater noctis
03:53
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Ave Mater Noctis
Salve, mater tenebrae
fertile, et terribilis nimis
salve mater atra
qui pluviamque sanguinem dissipat
salve, tenebra
miraque dives
concavum infintum unde gnascamur et in quo egrediemur
ave mater noctis
qui ad nos cum somno venit
qui dolores nostros consolat
qui nobis pacem dat
salve, tenebra muta
mare gravidum ubi incolet non ortum
ave mater atra
in qua et nos post mortem requiescimus,
ave mater tenebrae
terribilisque fecunda
in cui utero crescit semen lucis
•
Hail, Mother Night
(original poem by the composer)
hail, mother of darkness
fertile and terrifying
hail, dark mother
who brings rain and blood
hail, darkness
rich and strange
endless void from which we arise and to which we shall return
hail, mother night
who comes to us with sleep
who comforts our sorrows
who brings us peace
hail, silent darkness
pregnant sea where dwells what is not yet born
hail, dark mother
in whom we rest at death
hail, mother of darkness
terrible and fecund
in whose dark womb grows the seed of light
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8. |
You Gotta Give 'Em Hope
06:33
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Words by Harvey Milk:
You gotta give ‘em hope
You gotta give ‘em hope . . .
I know that you can’t live on hope alone
But without it, life is not worth living.
And you, and you, and you gotta give ‘em hope!
Hope will never be silent.
It takes no compromise to give people their rights.
(You just do it.)
It takes no money to respect the individual.
(You just do it.)
It takes no political deal to give people freedom.
(You just do it.)
Hope will never be silent.
If a bullet should enter my brain,
let that bullet destroy every closet door.
Burst down the closet doors
Once and for all,
And stand up and start to fight.
And you, and you, and you gotta give ‘em hope!
Hope will never be silent.
My name is Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you!
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9. |
Bonus Track: Light
15:11
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The concluding poem/text used in "Light" is my original poem "in another world":
in another world
in the rain, in another world,
stand and watch the mating
of light reflected in pooling water,
and water, drop by drop,
falling into water.
in another world,
this would be foolish;
in another world
you could be dry
and warm and naked
under the warming sun.
in another world,
you could be standing under the rain,
under a roof of thatch or tin,
and hearing the hiss or clatter
of the warm rain on the roof.
in another world,
this would be a dream,
a night fantasy, not something
to tell your grandchildren, to wake
in another world, to wake with
tears on your face in the bright
morning and shake your head
and try to hide from suddenly prying eyes.
in another world,
you would be unable to explain
your sudden sadness.
you would have no excuse
for the beauty of light
reflected in a pool in the rain.
you would be unable
to articulate even your
easiest griefs. regret would
be a ghost growing silent,
unquestioned, mute. a silent
cry. the rain would
answer, gently. in
another world, you would be
naked to the air,
raw to the burn of the sky;
the wind would scatter
your hair, blinding you
in the reflection of your own
pure body, white or black or
some purer shade.
in another world,
you could be a part of the rain,
not only a mute spectator
to its message; now,
it sings at you, hisses to you,
glows at you, through the sky
and the black sky so bright,
dark dark so dark; now,
the rain is a caress,
a completion, the many-handed
lotus-touch on your whole skin at once;
now the rain is here,
and here, is always here,
now, always present in you,
however bright or dark you are.
in another world,
the rain has no potency.
now a ghost's tears, now
your own. in another world,
now, then, you echo
as you watch,
ending with the streams
of rainwater in the ground,
ending as a river
seeking the lowest ground,
seeking finally an ocean, a sea,
a sunrise, an orrery of stones.
in another world, now,
you would be a river, you would
be the rain, now, in another world.
© Arthur Durkee
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Arthur Durkee Ann Arbor, Michigan
Arthur Durkee is a composer & songwriter who records & performs on Chapman Stick, bass, analog modular synths, bamboo & wood flutes, keys, frame drums, and voice. He has won awards for composed, notated music as well as for his recordings, & is a published poet, & designer & illustrator. ... more
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