| opening disclaimer ©2006 rod macdonald (blue flute music/ascap) listen can you hear it, the sound of a society where no one ever takes any responsibility everything’s presented as if it were all pre-ordained no one can change anything, no need for someone to explain the politician says the budget was unable to be balanced justice failed to be observed, mass weapons undetected the environment was unconcerned, the votes were not respected the people failed to notice when their privates were inspected well i just want to say the opinions in this or any song don’t necessarily represent (my hosts or sponsors) so if you have a problem with this or any other song i just want to say so you don’t get it wrong i’m singing this one on my own imagine if you applied this principle to your own life think of all the things you could say are out of your control the material has not been learned, the exam failed to be studied for sleep was not disturbed, my job was not attended tthe television’s full of people killing each other randomly the cinema’s aglow with psychos, vampires and the walking dead the army’s building robots so it can invade just anyone the well trained assassin says its just a job that must be done chorus (my fellow musicians) it must be wonderful to be a leader (the people were not educated) to have the power to do so much (peace was not pursued) to fix the problems of our time (poverty was unaffected) pass the profits all around (no crimes were ever proven) what if you make it personal, say: my addiction was predestined my career failed to happen, my life was never lived wouldn’t it be great if we could simply be restarted so everything could be repaired with no effort from ourselves chorus (my friends and family) stop the war ©1982 rod macdonald (blue flute music (ascap) the general said “you’re young i guess you don’t understand we’ve got to have these things in case it gets out of hand.” i say “what if they are like you always got to be on top? isn’t there some way to end it, isn’t there someplace to stop?” “what if everyone thought like you?” the general said to me “oh what a vulnerable country we would be. what if everyone thought like you?” the general said to me i say “there would be some peace...” the broker said you’re young I guess you don’t comprehend these people all walking around got to have some money to spend. and how can there be any money if we don’t sell the things we can build?” i say “why don’t you build something else to use without having to kill?” “what if everyone thought like you?” the broker said to me “oh what a poor nation this would be. what if everyone thought like you?” the broker said to me i say “there would be some peace...” stop the war, stop the war, stop the war within yourself and you won’t need to fight with someone else the newsman said “you’re young I guess you don’t see the light. it ain’t what goes on during the day, it’s what goes out to the people at night. the people, they like a good show, how can you deny them their due?” i say “what does that say about us and what does that say about you?” “what if everyone thought like you?” the newsman said to me “oh what a boring world this would be. what if everyone thought like you?” the newsman said to me i say “There would be some peace...” for the people © 1992 rod macdonald (shanachie musicworks, blue flute music / ascap) last night i dreamed of my old home my sister and i, when we were young the yellow sun shone through flow’ring trees we rode the old familiar streets the faces of old friends were near the smiles of childen bright and clear my mother sang our favorite songs my father worked his patch of ground when i awoke i was far away in a land where only yesterday after forty years of tyranny the foreign armies had to leave and as i walked the streets of town with my new friends who call it home in the air so newly free this is what they said to me: “i would not love my country more for victories in foreign wars i did not love my country less when it was occupied and oppressed not for some politicians’ speech but for the people strong and free the land so green, the sky above these are the country that I love” now who can say what takes a man far away from his own land and yet his dreams will take him home back to the land where he was born to walk the old familiar roads and see the faces young and old the land so green the sky above these are the country that i love days of rain ©1997 rod macdonald (blue flute music / ascap) days of rain, when will it ever end she stares out the window at the blackened sky we watch the news of the passing hurricane radar pictures of some giant eye and the world looks very dark today she said might as well go back to bed again make some coffee, read the paper, watch the news on tv make love to the rythym of the rain make love to the rythym of the rain days of rain, when will it ever end seems like yesterday the water was running dry fires were burning out on the edge of town even this won’t be enough to get us by and the world looks very dark today she said might as well go back to bed again make some coffee, read the paper, turn the tv off make love to the rythym of the rain make love to the rythym of the rain the weatherman says it’ll pass us by this time the big storm’s gonna miss us, we’ll survive someone else on up the coast will have to dig out from the damage someone else will be on tv saying ‘thank god we’re alive’ days of rain, when will it ever end electricity’s in very short supply lightless traffic signal swinging in the wind no one driving, the water’s still too high and the world looks very dark today she said might as well go back to bed again light some candles, make some music, nothing much to do make love to the rythym of the rain make love to the rythym of the rain two americans © 2007 rod macdonald (blue flute music, ascap) when i lived in new york city i worked for a man from tel aviv he ate lunch every day with ali at the cafe up the street ali came from lebanon they’d eat lunch for just an hour stand up, wave their hands and shout say okay, see you tomorrow the man from tel aviv said maybe they should let the israeli army go in and clean out every one in lebanon who’s got a gun and the man from beirut said oh really look at the land israel is stealing now you want to make us hunted i thought peace was what you wanted picture two americans in the land of the free free to speak their minds, free to disagree why can’t you and me? we do want peace said the man from israel that’s why we’re doing what we’re doing the man from beirut said it’s a pity you can’t have peace and still keep shooting and they drank coffee and shared a pastry citizens of their adopted country checked the papers for their portfolios said ok, see you tomorrow i asked my boss how can you stand to eat lunch every day with this man he said we share one thing together back home, we’d be trying to kill each other it brings us around to you and me you can see what you want to see you say we’ve got to go kill them there or they’re gonna come and kill us here well i don’t have to buy it and if i were you i would get wise but since you’ve already made your mind up i hope you make it back alive picture two americans in the land of the free free to speak their minds, free to disagree it’s just you and me the coming of the snow ©1977 rod macdonald (blue flute music, ascap) when you decide to return again to the land that raised you you find yourself traveling back to your new england home and you’re passing through and you run into somebody i used to know tell her i been thinking about her in the coming of the snow and if you’re standing on the pier by the empty harbor and the fishing boats are lying quiet until the spring and you need a fire to sit beside while the winter weaves out its cloak tell her i been thinking about her in the coming of the snow and if you awaken with her long hair spread across your shoulder and the day outside is as dark as her eyes take care to hold her close into the morning and she will be true to you if you love her more than i and if you’re traveling in the woods i used to walk along and you find her out there standing in the falling leaves and a chill should pass through the arms that cradle her longing you know you can take her hand one more time for me ballerina ©1976, 2008 rod macdonald (blue flute music, ascap) used to know a ballerina she could dance from her head to her toes she came to me and said i could love you long sometimes we whispered each other’s names out low she said i could never be tied to being anybody’s fool and we would linger in each other’s arms in the evening when the nights got cool she turned from me to another man who said devoted she must be and the price he paid for her accepting that was to follow every order she would speak soon he was dancing to her every line sampled every song and every taste he would tell her how she danced so well but he would do the dancing in her place ballerina why don’t you dance with me ballerina darling can’t you see the moon and the stars are moving over to make room for you to shine you were so beautiful when you were all alive i wished her well and they went off to marry they moved to some pleasant town i hear he’s making a living doing tax accounts she dances when the weekends come around i saw the ballerina in a dream last night a butterfly who folded up her wings crying for the beauty she’d left behind she was crying for so many things yes i knew a ballerina everybody said she seemed to fly and when the music stopped she reached for somebody who’d keep on telling her those lies ballerinas come and dancers go i think about her every now and then and i will dance again with you i know but i don’t need no ballerina again after the war ©1980, 2008 fred pohlman (blue flute music, ascap) it seems like only yesterday i held you in my arms this way and told you that i love you was that so wrong now just one year has come and gone i must admit the war’s been won and i’ve lost you in the fires of my love song yes it seems like just a dream ago our children played on fields of snow the rain would bring the flowers of may and i told you that i love your ways now the clouds they block the sun in just one year the war’s been won and i’ve lost you in the fires of my love song they were so cold in here i’m growing old my dear but i’ll see you in my dream and i’ll hold you in esteem they were so bold in here american jerusalem ©1978 rod macdonald (polygram international/ascap) new york city rain i don’t know if it’s making me dirtier or clean went for the subway but there was no train and the tunnel was crumbling for repairs again and the sign said welcome to american jerusalem i’ve been around you could spend forever looking for a friend in this town and all you get to do is lay your dollar down till you’re stumbling drunk up the stairs again and the sign says welcome to american jerusalem in the temples of american jerusalem they buy an ounce of south african gold they don’t care who was bought or sold or who died to mine it in the temples of american jerusalem they buy an ounce of marseilles white somewhere on a street with no light somebody dies trying it and somewhere in a crowd looking the kind of way that makes you turn around will be somebody who knows what it’s about and she’s going to take the ribbons from her hair again and welcome you to american jerusalem in the alleys of american jerusalem the homeless lie down at the dawn the pretty people wonder what they’re on and how they afford it in the ashes of american jerusalem the prophets live their deaths out on the corner the pretty people say there should’ve been a warning but nobody heard it then shadows lick the sun the streets are paved with footsteps on the run somebody must’ve got double ‘cause i got none i forgot to collect my share again so go west to breath the cleansing air again go niagara for your honeymoon again go on the road if you’re going to sing your tune again go to sea to learn to be a man again till you come on home to american jerusalem soldiers ©2007 rod macdonald (blue flute music/ascap) some people are born to be soldiers they’re the ones who answer the call we gratefully accept their service to stand up and fight for us all we send them off to do our bidding and if i were a fly on the wall i’d hate to see even one soldier die for nothing at all i had a friend who was a soldier we sat out on my front lawn he said i don’t know why i’m going or what it is to be done i mean isn’t it their country who are we to be butting in he went off to the jungle and i never did see him again some people aren’t born to be soldiers but they end up soldiers anyway me i was never a soldier and i don’t regret it today some people are born to be spectators they stand on the sidelines and cheer they’re never the ones who are going but they support it, year after year they invest in the oil and the weapons make deals in the fine marble halls and when the soldiers come home broken they give them back nothing at all some people say how ‘bout a little something to support the men and women over there some public statement it’s the right thing some patriotic words of prayer then why are they only called heroes when their names end up on some wall? i pray those born to be heroes don’t die for nothing at all some people are born to survive it to watch their brothers in arms fall me i was never a soldier and i don’t regret it at all some people are born to be soldiers civilians tell them what to do where to go and who to kill and especially who to answer to they fight the good fights and the bad fights so we can all think we’re standing tall ‘cause we hate to see even one soldier die for nothing at all half heaven half heartache words & music by shcroeder/goehring/gold ©1962 a schroeder international LLC my arms reach out for you i kiss you tenderly but when you touch my lips you’re kissing him not me why must it be? half heaven half heartache my loving you darling can’t you forget that other love you knew? within your angel eyes a world of dreams are there but i keep wondering if they are mine to share oh it’s just not fair half heaven half heartache my loving you darling oh let my love be strong enough to take away the heartache and make my life a heaven on earth with you i’ll walk in the highlands ©1993 rod macdonald (blue flute music/ascap) whenever we measure life’s greatest treasures the simplest of pleasures is often most high: to hold and to cherish a love that won’t perish and to walk in the highlands with you by my side. oh, well i remember the first of november; the frost on the heather, i followed the tide. west through the islands our ship sailed in silence and never the highlands again have i spied. how many lifetimes i’ve wandered since i took adventure my bride? how many good lives squandered victory and justice denied? at the end of my story, come fortune or glory, or only to answer for blindness or pride, if there’s a heaven, one thing i believe in, i’ll walk in the highlands with you by my side after the singing ©1987 rod macdonald (blue flute music /ascap) when we were sailors we had four songs one for the girls in the harbor towns two for the weather, three for the nightwatch four for the rum that washed it all down you can’t change the wind, only change the sail after the singing we would sail on when we were soldiers we had four dreams one for the flashing bombs and terrified scenes two for the stretchers, three for the marches four for our sweethearts where our homes had been some of us made it home, some went down alone after the dreaming we would fight on when we were magicians we had four fires one for the transforming of desire two for the cleansing, three for the healing four for petitioning the heavenly choir we made rings of stone to be remembered long after the fires had cooled down when we were children we had four cups one for the songs our parents taught us two for the wishes, three for the marbles four for the seasons that came on us through field and street, we played hide and seek after the childhood we would play on when we were outlaws we had four kings one who wore his hair down in golden rings two who went to war, three who were murdered, four who claimed to rule over everything and though they banned the green, they could not seed the queen after the kingdown we were free men when we were troubadors we had four songs one for the legends we were handed down two for the heroes, three for the dancers, four for the stories we passed on we walked together a time, down these roads of rhyme after the singing we would move on white buffalo ©1976 rod macdonald (blue flute music/ascap) they say you’ve got to lose before you can win they say you’ve got to choose before you can give in and you’ve got to cut loose to get back again and it’s a long way back home they say you’ve got to fall before you can land they say you’ve got to crawl before you can stand and you’ve got to lose it all to get what you planned and it’s a long way back home (chorus) and it’s a long way, a long way back home when you’re standing on some place you’ve never known and I might see you where the rivers flow like me you’re looking for white buffalo they say you’ve got to die before you can live they say you’ve got to cry before you can give and you’ve got to say goodbye before you can come back in and it’s a long way back home they say you’ve got to seed what you’re going to grow they say you’ve got to need what you’re going to let go and you’ve got to believe what you’re going to know and it’s a long way back home (chorus) so i say to you farewell for we will meet again in the hottest flames of hell i could only call you friend and when you hear that final bell, do not ask whose round you’re in til you’ve found your way back home (chorus) wings of light ©1981, 2008 rod macdonald (blue flute music /ascap) wings of light come streakin’ in this place where i am sleepin’ in rays of light come streakin’ in the world’s too tight or so it seems wings of light come see me through my body waits, i’ll follow you wings of light come see me through my body’s still, my soul’s with you rays of light they seem alive like someone’s waiting on the other side someday my body will cease to shine but i won’t need it at the time if i raise my head to see your face the shadows move, you fade away if i light the candle to look around you disappear before me now every living thing ©1983 rod macdonald (blue flute music/ascap) seems like there ought to be a way to look each other in the eye to see we’re all in this together and put all thoughts of victory aside seems like there ought to be a way to turn some fear into trust no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is counting on us seems like there ought to be way to separate the freedom from the flag to see what’s real in the illusion sometimes a beauty walks around in rags seems like there ought to be agreement we would rather live in peace than fight no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is on our side seems like if there’s a god in heaven we must’ve been put here to get along to see that life is for the living to leave alive the living when we’re done seems like this ship out on the ocean must fly on the wings of the dove no matter what you say, there has to be a way every living thing is reason enough |
opening disclaimer stop the war for the people days of rain two americans the coming of the snow ballerina after the war american jerusalem soldiers half heaven half heartache i’ll walk in the highlands after the singing white buffalo wings of light every living thing |