1. |
House of Glass
03:01
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House of Glass
Open, open, open your house of glass
Open, open, open your house of glass
Your rooms have no secrets
Your doors have no past
Open, open, open your house of glass.
Throw your windows open
And let the darkness out,
Lift your head
And gaze into the day.
The world outside is waiting
It’s calling for you now
Saying come out, come out,
Step outside and play.
Open, open, open your house of glass
The dandelions will sing for you
If you will just come out.
Open, open, open your house of glass
Open, open, open your house of glass
Your rooms have no secrets
Your doors have no past
Open, open, open your house of glass.
Open, open, open your house of glass
Open, open, open your house of glass
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2. |
Gene Vincent Blue
01:16
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Gene Vincent Blue
The world's not really rosy red,
It's more Gene Vincent blue.
The four winds that turn every page
Don't ask why, they just blow.
The hours conspire to seize the day,
"Stand down," yells Captain Bligh,
‘neath a morning sky of rosy red
That roils Gene Vincent blue.
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3. |
Too Late to be Fast
03:07
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Too Late to Be Fast
Here is the thing:
Time is all there is.
And time moves faster than
Birds, trees, thoughts, light, sky.
I went to the cupboard,
and smelled all the world.
The sweet bergamot;
The pungent, smoky lapsang.
Am I too late?
Was I too scared?
Or was I just watching
The birds, trees, thoughts, light, sky?
I think of the letters
That I never wrote you
On those bright afternoons,
When you were all the world
In all the world.
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4. |
Bluebird, Bluebird
02:30
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Bluebird, Bluebird
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly through my window,
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly to me now.
This morning woke up
A brilliant sunny day,
Opened the window
And a breeze blew in this way.
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly through my window,
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly to me now.
We’ll sit and chat a while,
About the things we know,
Places we’ve been
And places that we want to go.
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly through my window,
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly to me now.
Sit here and listen
To sparrows singing strong,
You never hear them,
You’re too busy singing your own song.
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly through my window,
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly to me now.
Stay here long as you like
To give your wings a rest,
And when you’re ready
Wave goodbye
And fly back to your nest.
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly through my window,
Bluebird, Bluebird,
Fly to me now.
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5. |
The Sympathetic String
03:32
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The Sympathetic String
I remember little,
I remember some
A stream of unchained images
Relentless as a drum.
A shadow of an angel,
A light shone through the door
A holy garment
Dropping to the floor.
The silence only night can bring,
The trembling of the sympathetic string
I remember little,
I remember me
A room full of strangers
And immortality.
A set of pieces
Unburdened by a theme,
Take ten and step outside
To breath a smoky dream,
Then back into blazing lights to sing,
And lean upon the sympathetic string
I remember little
But I remember this,
Song and sanity
Bartered for a kiss.
A shoulder churning,
A slowly closing eye,
A soft mouth caught between
A whisper and a sigh,
Things that may not mean a thing,
Yet they move the sympathetic string.
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6. |
Revealed
02:07
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instrumental
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7. |
My Billy Boy
04:17
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My Billy Boy
In the Year of the Red Owl
I was lost in a book
From the leaves of pages
Such pleasures I took
But I lifted my head up
To the clear window’s view
And I put the book down
For a moment or two
And I lost my place
Never found again
And it’s 20 years
And where’ve you been
My Billy Boy?
I’ve kept in that moment,
By the same windowsill
In the world of our fathers
When time stood still
From branches blooming
To branches bare
I’ve turned back the pages
But I’m still not there.
And I lost my place
Never found again
And it’s 30 years
And where’ve you been
My Billy Boy?
Now the same sky roils on
And the same winds blow
But it all seems so different
In the year of the crow
Some pleasures are greater
Some pleasures are gone
But I keep turning pages
On and on and on...
And I lost my place
Never found again
And it’s 40 years
And where’ve you been
My Billy Boy?
My Billy Boy.
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8. |
Hoppin' John
03:11
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Hoppin’ John
Settle you down in a chair,
Kettle a-boiling over there,
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
Smell the brattling beans,
Wipe the table and wash the greens,
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
CHORUS:
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing,
Sing the hoppin’ John, oh
Sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
Give the fiddler a dram,
He brought the tea from Old Siam
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
Feel the fiery spice
Every pleasure has a price,
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
CHORUS:
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing,
Sing the hoppin’ John, oh
Sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
When the candle burns out
Tell the children to jump and shout.
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
And when the meal is done
Face the fields and run run run
And sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
CHORUS:
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing hoppin’ John
Sing to me sing,
Sing the hoppin’ John, oh
Sing-sing-sing hoppin’ John.
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9. |
Take This
03:32
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Take This
Time
is broken
Years
forgotten
Yet I am unchanged
By all this holy
razzmatazz
you see.
And I will be, oh I will be, oh I will be the same
And you will see, oh you will see, that I will be the same
In some somewhere
Before me
When time runs right again,
You’ll see.
And you will see that I will be, I’ll be the same old me,
And you will see, oh you will be, oh you will be me then and
Somewhere
Before me
When time
Runs
Right
Again
You’ll see.
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10. |
Twice Around the Park
03:36
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Twice Around the Park
Who’s that knocking at my back door
Singing “Come out and play with me some more.”
She’s been hanging round much of late,
Singing “Hurry up please, don’t make me wait.”
CHORUS:
Tears of laughter, summer snow,
Carriage come, carriage go, and
Driver drive us on a lark,
Once round Venus and twice around the park.
Who’s that whispering in my ear,
Singing mischief that no one else can hear?
And who’s that humming my middle name,
Saying come on let’s play another game.
CHORUS:
Tears of laughter, summer snow,
Carriage come, carriage go, and
Driver drive us on a lark,
Once round Venus and twice around the park.
BRIDGE
It’s the power of the image when the head first hits the pillow,
The sun comes singing in through the light of dawn.
Like the aimless hunt of the wind as it bends the willow
The curtains billow
And we sail on.
Who’s that whispering in my ear,
Singing mischief that no one else can hear?
Who’s that knocking at my back door
Calling “Come out and play with me some more.”
CHORUS:
Tears of laughter, summer snow,
Carriage come, carriage go, and
Driver drive us on a lark,
Once round Venus and twice around the park.
Twice around the park
Twice around the park
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11. |
Let the Darkness Out
05:11
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Let the Darkness Out
Open the window, open the door
Let the breeze blow the dust off the floor,
Throw back the curtains
Throw back the shroud
Sing your song out loud
And let the darkness out.
Let the tree limbs carry the tune
Let the birds steal it and give it flight
Let the children down the block sing and play all the day
Let the wind, let the light,
Let the darkness out.
Let the darkness out.
(Ecce gratum
et optatum
Ver reducit gaudia,
purpuratum
floret pratum,
Sol serenat omnia.)
Footprints worn into the floorboards, footprints in the floorboards,
Walking the floors all night long, all night long,
Humming a Hank Williams tune, humming and humming and thrumming,
Straight on through dawn.
Now Let the darkness out
Let the darkness out
As I went out one morning in May,
As I went out one morning,
As I went out one morn,
And there begins our story.
Let the darkness out.
Let the darkness out.
Breath in and Let the darkness out.
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Bruce Donnola New Jersey
Writing/performing since the '70s (Folk City, etc) and just never stopped writing. Songs recorded/performed by many, including Jono Manson, John Popper, Shawn Colvin. Albums include A Rumor of Peace, Eidolons, Vaudeville , The Peaches of August, Hiding in This House of Glass. Several unreleased & out of print albums. Performing occasionally now but always writing, writing, writing... ... more
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