Memo From Mars
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Gracefully
The way it was told to me
There’s only one way to be
And a thousand different ways to see
From the cities to the wild frontiers
From a moment to a month of years
All the artifice just disappears
It doesn’t matter if you’re early or late
You’re staring down the barrel of fate
You stand naked at the crossroads and wait
A wave rolls over the sea, gracefully
The way it was meant to be peacefully
Just between you and me
Between the devil and the deep blue sea
There’s a million definitions of free
If a cloud can hold an ocean of rain
And the sun can drive a man insane
It takes a heart to stop a hurricane
Starlight turning the key, gracefully
Rising from the sea, peacefully
Tell me what you want me to know
Push me where you want me to go
It takes a seed to make a prairie grow
When the earth becomes a crystal ball
And it’s looking for a place to fall
You write your footnote on the garden wall
A wave rolls over the sea, gracefully
The way it was meant to be, peacefully
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2. |
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No Way to Find You
On a man-made planet
Universe overthrown
There’s no way to find you
Inside the outer zone
The galaxy shatters
You slowly orbit the sun
There’s no way to find you
Quebrado corazon
The Great Wheel turns
The planet burns
Blood resolves to bone
The heart will break
With one mistake
And turn you into stone
Quebrado corazon
You can call it a castle
You’re living under a stone
There’s no way to find you
Upon your empty throne
A dot on a road map
Address unknown
There’s no way to find you
Quebrado corazon
I stand on the corner
Pick up the telephone
Whisper “hello, how are you”
Into the dial tone
On a man-made planet
Universe overthrown
There’s no way to find you
Inside the outer zone
There’s no way to find you
Address unknown
There’s no way to find you
Quebrado corazon
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3. |
Always Shining
04:07
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Always Shining
Stroll the River Seine you and me, hand in hand
Pick a small bouquet, daffodils, nothing grand
River Seine
Wander Tuileries, lilacs bloom, chestnut trees
Read your poems to me in the shade of Rodin’s “Eve”
Tuileries
Birds sing, spread their wings,
Nothing will deny them
Sun can’t help rising
Always shining
Climb the Tour Eiffel, don’t look down, Mademoiselle
Paris far below, Luxembourg, carousel
Tour Eiffel
Softly Pere Lachaise draws us in a Francaise
Picnic in the grass, a la carte, a l’anglaise
Pere Lachaise
Can I take your hand?
We’ll promenade the old bookstall
The sun is high above (warm and high?)
I’ll walk in front, you’re very tall
Always shining
Painting Notre Dame on the square, in the sun
St Germain des Pres, deux cafes Americaines
A demain
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4. |
Some Rivers
05:02
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Some Rivers
I saw an angel on the delta
Along the river’s edge
Her iridescent silver wings
Lay broken on the ledge
She thrust her torch up to the heavens
As if to light the way
For the river gods of rescue
To find her where she lay
Some rivers wander easy
Some rivers won’t be tamed
Their waterfalls cascading
Over wounds that can’t be named
In the river’s deepest water
Lies the pilgrim’s destiny
I saw an angel on the delta
Reaching out her hand to me
Lift me higher, Gabriel
Winding river, fare thee well
Some rivers wind wildly
Some rivers shift the sand
As if winding was a secret
Whispered over the land
Every river has a reason
Every river finds the sea
I saw an angel on the delta
Reaching out her hand to me
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5. |
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Blow the Clouds Away
The snow caps cry to feed the stream
The rivers rise transition dreams
The harsh blue sky is painted over
Hear the drum singing from
A distant peak
Walk in black fields of failing night
The grinding wheel, burning white
The dams won’t hold, the towers crumble
Diamond boats floating out of reach
Rain rain, rain all day
And blow the clouds away
Rain rain, rain all day
And blow the clouds away
And blow the clouds away
In darkened rooms sleep will come
Solitude, no war was is won
The castle walls give no cover
Beneath the seas, asleep
At dawn’s pale keep.
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6. |
Tell Me Now
05:39
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Tell Me Now
Tell me now, baby, tell me now
Tell me your secrets you never reveal
Come on baby, tell me now
Has life in the city made you insidiously left out and bled
You know you’re alright
But it gets in your head
And you can’t stop the nights of love
Love was not for you and me
I told you how this would be
Just play the part
Love was not for you and me
Love was just a fantasy
To feel in your heart
Give it up, baby, give it up
Does being with me make you long to be free
Out with it, honey, out with it
Does my kind of man prefer lady friends
Who don’t kiss and tell or talk back at all
I’ve got loving for you
But nothing you would call love
What’s there when you go
What’s there when you’re gone
There’s a star over the road
Leading you home
Tell me now. Tell me now.
Does your woman’s pride make you hate me inside?
Give it up, baby, give it up
What do you see when you don’t see me
Shadows in flight fade with the light
It’s too sad for tears
But you’ll be alright, love
Maybe love was not for you and me
Maybe just a fantasy
We both play the part of love
Love was not for you and me
I told you how this would be
In your heart of love
Love was not for you and me
I told you how this would be
Just play the part
Just play the part
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7. |
Albert Reeves
03:34
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Albert Reeves
You were a rocket
Now you fly so free
Bound for the cosmos
No trajectory
I watch your contrail
Wrap round infinity
Embracing, erasing memory
Keep the planets turning
Keep your starlight burning
I know you won’t be returning
But I’ll see you, I’ll see you again.
Some grand adventure
You were sent here for
No minor mortal
No watcher from the shore
In constant motion
A seeker to the core
My father and so much more
(Chorus)
Send me the firefly
Send the microburst
Send conversation
Unplanned and unrehearsed
You were the hunter
The one who knew me first
You gave me your best and worst
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8. |
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Memo From Mars
Miles high, I’m looking out the capsule to see
Pegasy
Andromedy
Starman, you’re never gonna get there in front of me
Capricorny
Oh baloney
Lost in the galaxy
You better look where you’re going
You better look where you’re going
Land my rover in time to see the sunlight fade
On the parade
Martian brigade
Bouncing over and under the space midway
Yodelay……..
Lost in the galaxy
You better look where you’re going
Never had any reason or cause
Somehow we just pressed pause
On the activator, on the accelerator
Somehow we just pressed pause
On the great sun slicer
Got me a planet where I’m the Queen Bee
Geminee
Curiosity
Dancing into the vapors of chemistry
My colony
Weightless and free
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9. |
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When Airplanes Leave the Air
Rocking lightly in the laps of clouds
That break like waves above the earth
Lapping the vast sky-facing shores
And raining down the sea’s rebirth
What are we to do with time
If up is down and downward up
When on the shelf one finds
A lighted match or an emptied cup
No water can anoint our wounds
If everything is turned about
We wish for hope but cannot keep
The inner tide from trickling out
What are we to do with time
If up is down and downward up
When on the shelf one finds
A lighted match or an emptied cup
A candle only burns its wick
The wax resists the flame
The oceans share a single source
A fire has many names
While dropping gently through the clouds
The sea below so fair
The journey ends where it began
When airplanes leave the air
Tomorrow left returns to left
And up returns above to sky
We won’t recall the heresy
Of east is west and low is high
What are we to do with time
If up is down and downward up
When on the shelf one finds
A lighted match or an emptied cup
A candle only burns its wick
The wax resists the flame
The oceans share a single source
A fire has many names
While dropping gently through the clouds
The sea below so fair
The journey ends where it began
When airplanes leave the air
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10. |
Let's Float Away
04:47
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Let’s Float Away
Sugar cane country lane
Slipstream matinee
Ferris wheel highlight reel
Where the hero saves the day
Let’s float away
Satellite starless night
Fireflies ablaze
Summer storms abandoned farms
One hundred yesterdays
Let’s float away
Play it on play along
Play it all the way
Play along play it on
Play it all the way
(repeat chorus)
Cable cars roadside bars
Parking lot ballet
Phantom breeze black oak tree
November disarray
Let’s float away
Travel down any dusty lane
Travel up to the Great Divide
At journey’s end every heart will mend
Let four strong winds decide
Let’s float away….
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Hummingbird Syndicate Boston, Massachusetts
Jon Macey and Lynn Shipley are a songwriting team creating lyrical and melodic tunes for the ages. Hummingbird Syndicate is
a collection of their musical friends.
Metronome Magazine:
"With lush
vocal harmonies, vibrant fretboard forms
and pop-steady rhythms, Hummingbird
Syndicate proves to be one of the finest
band of pop architects on the scene today."
... more
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