JENNINGS AND KELLER
As the Universe Unfolds - CD Lyrics
All songs copyright 2009 except for "While My Guitar..." copyright 1968.
Scott Emmons
I went up on the medicine rock
So I could hear the silence talk
Danced beneath the ancient stars
Far from all of my petty wars
I could almost touch the sky
Felt the wind was stalking me
And I turned to face it
From my soul I sang out loud
Far away from the frantic crowd
The earth embraced me through my feet
Like there was a promise to keep
I could hear for miles around
The rising moon seemed to have a voice
And I heard it call
I went to the mountain
I never came down
I buried myself to pass away in the sacred ground
I burned my past away
I felt it all go
I was raised from the ashes of an obsolete and a cluttered ego
Felt the twilight erase the day
Into night and far away
Went up there a-hunting change
Fell upon me like a desert rain
Felt my old life slip away
Brought my past there to sacrifice
I’m already gone
I went to the mountain
I never came down
I buried myself to pass away in the sacred ground
I burned my past away
I felt it all go
I was raised from the ashes of an obsolete and a cluttered ego
I’m dead in the past
I live in the present
I have no need now to look away
I pull myself back from noisy distractions
Now I’m whole in the moment, in the quiet
And I hear the spirit
I went to the mountain
I never came down
I buried myself to pass away in the sacred ground
I burned my past away
I felt it all go
I was raised from the ashes of an obsolete and a cluttered ego
I went to the mountain
I never came down
I rose from the rubble, a child from a dead king’s broken crown
Laurie Jennings Oudin
Oh Odele the stories you could tell
Life in a wishing well
Start in heaven end in hell
Oh Odele
Oh Odele I wish I’d known you well
The dreams you’ve had to quell
A shadowed life on which you dwell
Oh Odele
Oh Odele
Don’t you break the spell
Tell me, tell me he was swell
A scrappy life in Robbinsville
Oh Odele
A withered hand reaches out for mine
Request a tune take you back in time
East Tennessee Hills, knotty pines
Walk on down the road
Smoky Mountains call your name
Forget about him, he’s not to blame
You made your bed, played the game
It’s starting to grow cold
Oh Odele, time to ring the bell
Too close to call, go out and yell
Do you hear the reaper’s knell
Oh Odele, oh Odele, oh Odele, oh Odele
Dana Keller
I close my eyes and I can see
A pretty face in a place
I left behind
It takes some time to erase
To break through all the ties that bind
In the southeast corner of my mind
And if she wanders through my imagination
My imagination runs away with me
I can still recall her face
There’s no place I’d rather be
And if I try to believe
Every word that I’ve heard to be unkind
It’s a waste of time to get stirred
To break through all the ties that bind
In the southeast corner of my mind
And if she wanders through my imagination
My imagination runs away with me
I can still recall her face
There’s no place I’d rather be
Laurie Jennings Oudin
Sandy, the hills of North Georgia
They still look the same
And Sandy, I know you’re sorry
You’re livin’ it every day
I took some pictures for you
That old barn we ran through’s falling down
But the dusty road goes on and on
Pulling us to that town
Sandy, remember Mr. Brickell?
He’s still making ‘shine.
The Bower kid drank too much one night
Been in the hospital for some time
Nobody told the truth about it
And that kid, well, now he can’t talk
Just havin’ fun was all he wanted
What he wanted wasn’t too smart
If I could undo the damage
Wash away the pain
I’d walk that tightrope for you babe
Just to see your smile again
Sandy, when the moon’s just right
There’s a halo in the sky
And Sandy, I said I’d wait for you
But the years, they’re dragging by
I don’t know what commitment is
I only know it’s hard
There’s razor wire all around my mind
And I’m all marked up with scars
If I could undo the damage
Wash away the pain
I’d walk that tightrope for you babe
Just to see your smile again
It could’a been me
But it was you
How free is free?
I’m doing time too
Sandy, I gotta go now
I’ll write again real soon
Maybe I can come visit
Some Sunday afternoon
You take care of yourself
Just do as they say
You know how your temper is
Just take it day by day
If I could undo the damage
Wash away the pain
I’d walk that tightrope for you babe
Just to see your smile again
I’d walk that tightrope for you babe
Just to see your smile again
Laurie Jennings Oudin
You say the world is a dark deceptive place
You feel betrayed
You say your life is stale and bitter
You want to hide
Don’t close your heart
Let the love within guide your star
Please have patience
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
Please have honor
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
Your heart holds the truth
I know that life has worn you down
So much loneliness
I know that you, you blame yourself
You feel so worthless
Don’t, don’t close that door
Find out what you are living for
Please have courage
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
They can’t take that away from you
Please have mercy
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
Your heart holds the truth
Whether or not you can see
As the Universe unfolds, forgiveness is the key
Please have kindness
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
They can’t take that away from you
Please have balance
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
They can’t take that away from you
Please have hope
No matter what they say, no matter what they do
Your heart holds the truth
Your heart holds the truth
Your heart holds the truth
Dana Keller
One door opens, another one’s closin’
If I fall, you’ll know which one I’ve chosen
Maybe tomorrow we’ll be a little older
Stick around, you’ll find out what I told her
Didn’t need to say goodbye
Didn’t even need to try
It’s no one’s fault, no one’s to blame
But you know you gotta go
Just the same, just the same
The river runs or does it roll
I never knew, somehow it takes control
This is the way we all must go
We float along and sing a song to free our soul
Didn’t need to say goodbye
Didn’t even need to try
It’s no one’s fault, no one’s to blame
But you know you gotta go
Just the same, just the same
Laurie Jennings Oudin
My baby wants to be a bell ringer
He wants to sit outside a big store
Smile at the people moving past him
Spare change in the bucket for the poor, for the poor
Spare change in the bucket for the poor
Now a bell ringer’s job is kinda lonely
Nobody wants to look him in the eye
They don’t want to question their priorities
Hold tight to your stuff and hurry by, hurry by
Hold tight to your stuff and hurry by
He’ll keep that bell in perfect tempo
Maybe hum a little ditty right in time
He won’t count the ones who ignore him
Just focus on the giving and the kind, and the kind
Just focus on the giving and the kind
Giving is receiving, so the story goes
Charity comes back ten-fold
My baby wants to be a bell ringer
And he wants to do it all year long
Joy is the reason, doesn’t need a season
Greet each and every person with a song, with a song
Greet each and every person with a song
George Harrison
I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you
I look at the world and I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don’t know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don’t know how you were inverted
No one alerted you
I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all
Dana Keller
Maybe something I said
Was just a little bit out of line
And baby it was all in your head
And we had a little too much wine
Trouble with feeling like this
Is it never seems to go away
And double because the memories you miss
Keep coming back every day
But never mind
Because you’re never mine
And you never mind
That you’re never mine
Hollow is the feeling I get
When I’m walking all alone
Follow me around and I’ll bet
You’ll be counting every stone
Lonely is just another sound
You heard once in a while
Only then your feet touch the ground
Long enough to walk down the isle
But never mind
Because you’re never mine
And you never mind
That you’re never mine
If you love it let it go
If it’s yours it’ll come back
If it doesn’t it never was, it never was
Maybe something I said
Was just a little bit out of line
And baby it was all in your head
And we had a little too much wine
Trouble with feeling like this
Is it never seems to go away
And double because the memories you miss
Keep coming back every day
But never mind
Because you’re never mine
And you never mind
That you’re never mine
Laurie Jennings Oudin
The other side of the Hall of Dreams
Within the corridor of Castle Keep
Beyond the hills of Avalon
Where once anointed our vows were taken
I wait for him, I wait for him, I wait for him
In dreams I see our other lives
We are shaman to a thousand tribes
We share a bond that knows no bounds
And stand as one on equal ground
I wait for him, I wait for him, I wait for him
On the Isle of Crete at Temple’s gate
Where fair Athena has us wait
In a field of poppies and old olive trees
We looked to the sun and fell to our knees
I read the stars, I hear him in the wind
When the wars are over, he’ll return again, return again
I wait for him, I wait for him, I wait for him
Laurie Jennings Oudin
Maryanne’s on the phone
Says you’d better come along
We’re goin’ down to the swamp
But not until after dark
To Gator shine, gonna gator shine tonight
The moon’s on the rise
Not a cloud in the sky
Their beady little eyes are gonna shine
Gator shine tonight
Maryanne picks you up
You hop into her pickup truck
You’re heading west straight outta town
As bug spray’s getting passed around
To Gator shine, in the steamy heat tonight
There’s a swamp etiquette
That you’d best not forget
Show them reptiles some respect
When you gator shine tonight
Don’t need no t.v., don’t need no mall
Don’t need no cell phone, no one to call
Don’t need no MySpace, or no ipod
Just get down to the Everglades and
Have yourself a ball
You lean over the rail
On the Anhinga Trail
Point your flashlight down
At the critters swimmin’ round
When you gator shine in the Glades tonight
You’re hoping that it stays
Just like this all your days
And they never pave away you chance to
Gator shine tonight, gator shine tonight
With Maryanne tonight
Laurie Jennings Oudin
Driving ‘cross the tarmac, terminal’s in sight
Runnin’ down the hallway to reach Gate 35
Bag’s across my shoulder, I’m dodging left and right
I see the gate shuttin’, they say I’m out of time
Missed my plane to Cincinnati
Hope there’s another one today
Are you there waiting for me?
Will you believe me when I say
I’m coming home today
I just missed my plane
This was the last time I said I’d leave alone
You had me promise as we hung up the phone
You have every reason to not believe I’m true
But this time I swear I’m coming back to you
Missed my plane to Cincinnati
Hope there’s another one today
Are you there waiting for me?
Will you believe me when I say
I’m coming home today
I just missed my plane
I’m coming home to salvage a dream
Prove to you I say what I mean
We’ll put down roots and work as a team
After today I won’t be late again
Missed my plane to Cincinnati
Hope there’s another one today
Are you there waiting for me?
Will you believe me when I say that I
Missed my plane to Cincinnati
Hope there’s another one today
Are you there waiting for me?
Will you believe me when I say
I’m coming home today
I just missed my plane