1. |
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I have been to the mountain,
I have seen the promised land,
Tell me will we get there?
I have seen the storm clouds forming,
so it must be near at hand,
Tell me, will we get there?
How long?
Not long
I have been to the mountain ... etc
I have seen the salted rivers,
seen the drifting level sand,
Tell me, will we get there?
How long?
Not long
I have been to the mountain ... etc
I have seen the glittering forest,
seen the dark crevasses spanned,
Tell me, will we get there?
How long?
Not long
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2. |
Hold it up to the light
06:36
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Burnt out cars along the road, papers swirling on the breeze
People scour through mounds of earth under the shadowing trees
Sifting through shards of broken glass
You touch the wound that never healed
You sort through all the twisting dreams
To find the treasure in the field
Hold it up to the light
To find the beautiful and the true
Then put it in some special place
Where we can stand, and remember,
As we wander through
Build your house upon the sand, he air's much cleaner by the shore
Use bits of driftwood and bits of bone for nothing holds you anymore
You spend your days combing the beach
To the tolling of a bell
You sort through what the sea throws back
To find the perfect broken shell
Hold it up to the light ... etc
Build a fire on the beach, underneath a darkening sky
Broken voices sing a hymn called 'in the sweet by and by'
Faces radiant and worn
in the fragmenting firelight
You piece together a family
Along the margins of the night
Hold it up to the light ... etc
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3. |
Crossing over
03:55
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I can no longer stay
Here in this dark land
Everything that kept me here
Is drifting like the sand.
Peace has flown away
Towns are empty shells
I need to cross into the place
Where my beloved dwells
This land is in my blood
I know its joy, it's pain
All it's ways are in my heart
But I can't come here again
Everything is changed
Melted into air
I need to shed this golden skin
Or I can't meet you there.
bridge: I need to plunge into the sea / and vanish near and far / I need to burn a thousand bridges / to come to where you are
All of the maps
All of the charts
Don't show the New Country
The dreams and habits of my life
Refuse to set me free
Peace has flown away
The dried-up woodland tells
I need to cross into the place
Where my beloved dwells.
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4. |
Upon a moonless night
04:50
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Upon a moonless night, aflame with desire, I left my home
I left it by a secret stair, I left it quiet as the grave
The darkness shrouded me, so warm so secure, none saw me pass
I had no lamp I had no guide, save for this burning deep within
The darkness guided me, far brighter than day, into the place
Where he who knew me stood alone, where he who knew me stood concealed
Night more lovely than the dawn
Night that joined me to my love
Night that joined me to my heart
Beneath the broken wall, I gave in to love, he pierced my side
I held him gently in my arms, the night wind fanned the cedar trees.
love transformed me into love,
transformed me into love
transformed me into love
transformed me into love
I held him in my arms, he caressed my hair
All my griefs and fears dissolved, among the lilies there.
Night more lovely than the dawn
Night that joined me to my love
Night that joined me to my heart.
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5. |
Here and now
03:36
|
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See the tiny child appear
Here and now to greet you
Born into a night of fear
Here and now to greet you
See it resting on the brink
Here and now to greet you
See it turn from blue to pink
Here and now to greet you
ch. Here and now the love stares out
Here and now the troops deploy
Here where one old heart wears out
Here and now the joy.
Come and see the house on fire
Here and now to greet you
Light that shines on razor wire
Here and now to greet you
See a holy family form
Here and now to greet you
See the long-dead dreams grow warm
Here and now to greet you
ch
Rags become a purple robe
Here and now to greet you
Energy to shake the globe
Here and now to greet you
Something more than burning cars
Here and now to greet you
Love that moves the sun and stars
Here and now to greet you
ch
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6. |
Take this song
04:41
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Take this song and make it fly
Take these words in dead of night
Take these eyes, let them cry
Take these fragments of the light
Take this mirror make it shine
Take this heart upon a chain
Turn this water into wine
Take these tears and make them rain
Take these walls and tear them down
Take this cage in which I keep
Bright things in prison brown
That might be dead or just asleep
Break the lock and swing that door
Lead them out into the day
Lift them from the threshing floor
Cast these golden seeds away
Take this bread and take this wine
Take this time and take this place
Make them more or less divine
Through the hands that interlace
Take this driftwood by the shore
Take this bird with broken wing
Take this darkness at the door
Touch this earth and make it sing.
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7. |
Grand Central Station
03:35
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1. Some get on the great train.
Some get on the freight train.
Some wait for the late train.
Some get on the can’t walk straight train,
But we’re all going to meet at that Grand Central Station
That lies down by – down by the river – the riverside of love.
2. Some get on the red train.
Some get on the blue train
Some get on the one-and-true train.
Some get on the choo-choo-choo train.
But we’re all going to meet at that Grand Central Station
That lies down by – down by the river – the riverside of love.
Chorus. Down by the riverside, the riverside, the riverside, of love.
3. Some got on the east train.
Some get on the west train.
Some think there’s just one train.
Some think theirs is the best train.
But we’re all going to meet at that Grand Central Station
That lies down by – down by the river – the riverside of love.
Middle 8. That train came from Zanzibar,
That train came from Rome.
But if you love the railways
All of us are coming home.
4. So get on board your train,
There’s one for every nation.
There are many different trains,
But there’s just one destination.
And we’re all going to meet at that Grand Central Station
That lies down by – down by the river – the riverside of love.
Chorus. Down by the riverside, the riverside, the riverside, of love.
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Gordon Thompson Melbourne, Australia
Gordon lives in Melbourne and is the publisher at Clouds of Magellan Press, and publisher of 'Bent Street: Australian LGBTIQA+ Arts, Writing & Ideas'. He has four children (at last count) with Petrina, also one dog (Shep) and 6 goldfish (Papa Jo and the Sylvesters) ... more
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