SHADOWLANDS

1. SO CLOSE, SO FAR

Time is stronger than my feeble desires
I watched you grow older but the island drew no closer
I can gaze from afar at the shore
Without wings I could never do more

Time spent fighting dragons is wasted, now I know
I wish I had learned to swim instead
But I didn't want to get my feet wet
Now I hear empty words on the wind
Echo back from the past once again

Time also must give in to the rules of the game it plays
All things can change, if it is our will
Love
Is stronger than you see - stronger than entropy
And we can defeat death, if it is our will

If I could only find the words to say
If I could ever find the words to say

Time is ever, time is losing
We have futures of our choosing
(So far away, yet so close)
As we go on we grow more like each other
The changes of time will bring us together

The journey of a thousand miles, the story goes
Begins not with a step but with the will to step
And so the day may yet come when I'm by your side.

2. RUN LISETTE

It was one - in a million
It was one - in a million

It was lost to antiquity
From and age when the nations strove
Marching to the tune of the Ogre of France
But I found and read
The true story of a french Lieutenant
Who found himself in need of a mount
'Twas 1805 and he was rising fast
In a world at war

It was one - in a million

She was mean and would rage
Killing a groom - beating down her cage
And no one with any sense would ride her
She bit everyone
She had murder in her heart
When she took him by the throat and rode away
Did the same to a couple of others
Yet he bought the mare

It was one - in a million

It was one - in a million

And so two years would pass
Still he rides the meanest mare in the army
It had become a joke among the men
But they fought as one
"Bear this message of retreat and save the day!"
None ride faster than Lisette through the fray

Round-shot swift as death
Left no time to react
Tore clean through his helm
But left his head intact
Such was the shock of impact
It left him paralyzed
Yet he's aware - everything, everyone
This hill is lost, everything overrun

(1st voice)
Why does the horse now tarry
While here he sits exposed
Though the square is broken
She seems but to doze
Whence fled all her fury and
Where fled all her ire
Once so full of anger!
Once so full of fire

(2nd voice)
Run Lisette and become the wind
You must hasten now lest we meet our end
In this cannonade or by Russian lance
For at every turn 'tis with Death we dance
I Bellephoron, you the Pegasus
Grow you wings my friend for to fly you must
So now run Lisette, oh you wicked beast
You will leave us here to die so cruel!

Then a grenadier struck a fateful blow
Thrust with his blade
Aimed at the Aide - but it
Missed and went wide -and it
Tore into Lisette - into her
Thigh did it plunge
caused her to lunge as she
Went for the throat
Still the Aide cannot move, he's wounded so

She's grabbed her foe
She's found her legs - so that
Now watch her go
Run, run like the wind to murder him
Finds her spot
Clear of the lot
Stomping like death
Biting deep into flesh - she kills her man

(1st voice)
Fast goes the horse and rider
Both wounded, but alive
But for the mare Lisette
Neither would survive
Run, for the blood is flowing
Fly, for the snow grows deep
Back to friendly faces
Round friendly fires to sleep

(2nd voice)
Run Lisette and become the wind
You must hasten now lest we meet our end
In this cannonade or by Russian lance
For at every turn 'tis with Death we dance
I Bellephoron, you the Pegasus
Grow you wings my friend for to fly you must
So now run Lisette, oh you wicked beast
Back to friendly fires, familiar faces

(3rd voice)
And now his thoughts are turning ever homeward
And thus the beast must bear him there and onward
And now his thoughts are turning ever homeward
And thus the beast must bear him there and onward

3. FAREWELL TO SHADOWLANDS

I walked in the Valley
Of Deepest Despair
sought only comfort
Sent forth a prayer

Fell foes gather 'round me
Shadows draw near
In gathering Twilight
I labor in Fear

Out through the Darkness
On through the Night
Song of my soul
Sang of my plight

He gathered me up
Took me on high
Where roamed only Thunder
'Neath shimmery sky

I walked with the Master
As Twilight was scattered
Banishing Shadows
That no longer mattered

4. LONGER

Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens
I've been in love with you

Stronger than any mountain cathedral
Truer than any tree ever grew
Deeper than any forest primeval
I am in love with you

I'll bring fire in the winters
you'll send showers in the springs
We'll fly through the falls and summers
With love in our wings

Through the years as the fire starts to mellow
Burning lines in the book of our lives
Though the binding cracks and the pages start to yellow
I'll be in love with you

Longer than there've been fishes in the ocean
Higher than any bird ever flew
Longer than there've been stars up in the heavens
I've been in love with you
I am in love with you

5. BEHIND THE GREAT BEYOND

Do you ever look down
Down past your feet and say to yourself
"Where does this pathway lead?"
Is there grass
Or is there sharp stoney rubble that makes you uneven
There are wondrous things we sense all the time
But we don't let ourselves be conscious of
Even when they walk up screaming your name in your ear
You're just too tired to hear

Eyes always focused on the prize
And not the path that takes you there
You're too smart to listen to the lies
But for the ones you tell yourself

Do you ever look up
Up in the air and wonder aloud about the distant stars
Or if there's someone out there
Doing the same thing and looking at you
Everyone has their doubts about their life
And if there's really even any goal
Or if you're only kicking the ball for no reason but practice

Questions, enigmas, and other big words
Conundrums, mysteries, seems so absurd

"What are we here for, why do we care?"
"Is someone listening, is someone there?"
"Is there a rule book" = it seems so unfair
And why does the soft little voice in your head never leave...

Try - try and dismiss what it says
Even if you wanted to wrap your head around
Just the sheer size of it all-
Better ignore it instead
Why? Why would a person waste time
Chasing for things that have nothing to do
With the business of staying alive-
Better to wait 'til you're dead.

Try- try and not hear the voice
telling you if you will not hear, will not see,
Will no choose which way to go - you still have made a choice

Who needs an answer-
Who needs the pressure
Blinders are better-
Silence is safer
Deafness can't hurt you
Nothing can touch you-
But something nags you, it overwhelms you-
Would you try searching, should you try looking-
UP?

Have you ever looked out, outside yourself
And tried to glimpse just a fraction of the whole
Just beyond the tangible
And beyond all that's known and is yet to be learned
Taking the first step, moving foot forward
Don't know where the paths leads, but it leads somewhere....