The Wailin' Jennys Album

(Ruth Moody)

This is the sound of one voice
One spirit, one voice
The sound of one who makes a choice
This is the sound of one voice

This is the sound of voices two
The sound of me singing with you
Helping each other to make it through
This is the sound of voices two

This is the sound of voices three
Singing together in harmony
Surrendering to the mystery
This is the sound of voices three

This is the sound of all of us
Singing with love and the will to trust
Leave the rest behind it will turn to dust
This is the sound of all of us

This is the sound of one voice
One people, one voice
A song for every one of us
This is the sound of one voice
This is the sound of one voice

(Traditional)

Come me own one, come me fair one
come now unto me
Could you fancy a poor sailor lad
who has just come from sea

You are ragged love and you're dirty love
And your clothes smell much of tar
So be gone you saucy sailor lad
so be gone you Jack Tar

If I am ragged love and I'm dirty love
and me clothes smell much of tar
I have silver in me pocket love, and gold in great store

And then when she heard him say say
on her bended knee she fell
I will marry my dear Henry, for I love a sailor lad so well

Do you think that I am foolish love
do you think that I am mad
For to wed with a poor country girl
where no fortune's to be had

I will cross the briny ocean, I will whistle and sing
And since you've refused the offer love
some other girl shall wear the ring

I am frolicsome and I am easy, good tempered and free
And I don't give a single pin me boys
what the world thinks of me

(Nicky Mehta)

Where do you go little bird
When it snows, when it snows
When the world turns to sleep
Do you know, do you know
Is there something in the wind
Breathes a chill in your heart and life in your wings
Does it whisper 'start again'
Start again

Where is the sun in the night
Is it cold, is it cold
Does it feel left behind
All alone, all alone
Does it wander through the dark
Does it wait for the dawn, wish on a star
Does it stray very far
Very far

Where is your home restless wind
Is it there, is it here
Do you search for a place to belong
Search in vain, search in fear
Or is your spirit everywhere
Is your voice every tree
Your soul of the air
If there's no home is there no death
Is there no death

(Ruth Moody)

Take me to the breaking of a beautiful dawn
Take me to the place where we come from
Take me to the end so I can see the start
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me to the place where I don't feel so small
Take me where I don't need to stand so tall
Take me to the edge so I can fall apart
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me where love isn't up for sale
Take me where our hearts are not so frail
Take me where the fire still owns its spark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Teach me how to see when I close my eyes
Teach me to forgive and to apologize
Show me how to love in the darkest dark
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me where the angels are close at hand
Take me where the ocean meets the sky and the land
Show me to the wisdom of the evening star
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

Take me to the place where I feel no shame
Take me where the courage doesn't need a name
Learning how to cry is the hardest part
There's only one way to mend a broken heart

(Cara Luft)

To the man who lost his mind
Left home for the last time
They found him in the wintertime
Looking for something he couldn't find

They shipped him way out West
Thought they'd put their minds at rest
Now they've thrown the key away
And there's nothing left to say

Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad

To the girl who lives next door
Wonders what her life is for
She's waiting for her valentine
To kiss her in the summertime

He doesn't come and so she cries
Locks her door and hopes to die
Now she's thrown the key away
And there's nothing left to say

Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad

Now to the ones you've left behind
Were they not worth your time
They never heard you say goodbye
They never got a reason why

And here's to you who couldn't see
What it was you did to me
Now you've thrown it all away
And there's nothing left to say
And there's nothing left to say

Waiting for a saviour
Show me you're so sad
Wipe the tears that you've had
Show me you're so sad

(Nicky Mehta)

The wind howls 'cross the ice floes
Send the frozen snow skimming
A river on a river hardened over
It doesn't know the way it's going
Is it north or south or westward
It just glides across the shoreline 'til it's over

You came for me in fast forward
On a claim for something ordered
A way through and past the history that held you
I'd tell my own story through you
Tell it loud to never lose you
A moth caught be the flame it could cannot measure
And there we go again, wishing something bolder
Trying to push and pull inside this moment
Trying to mold this life within our hands

This is where the whole world keeps on turning
This is where we come undone...undone

Will they measure me by branches
Count the rings and take my ashes
Mark the ground where I fell and carry on
Or will we bite against the silence
Fill our days with noise and violence
Not recognize our hearts when we are done

There we'll go again wishing something bolder
Trying to push and pull inside this moment
Trying to mold this life within our hands

This is where the whole world keeps on turning
This is where we come undone

We don't know where it's going
Is it north or south or westward
It just glides across the shoreline 'til it's over

(written by Neil Young)

Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you

Old man, take a look at my life
Twenty-four and I'm so much more
Live alone in a paradise, makes me think of two

Love lost at such a cost
Give me things that don't get lost
Like a coin that won't get tossed, rolling home to you

Old man, take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Oh, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true

Lullabies, look in your eyes
Run around the same old town
Doesn't mean that much to me, mean that much to you

I've been first and last
Look at how the time goes past
But I'm all alone at last, rolling home to you

Old man, take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you
I need someone to love me the whole day through
Oh, one look in my eyes and you can tell that's true

Old man, look at my life, I'm a lot like you

(Ruth Moody)

Don't know what time it is, I've been up for way too long
and I'm too tired to sleep
I call my mother on the phone, she wasn't home,
and now I'm wondering the street
I've been a fool, I've been cruel to myself
I've been hanging onto nothing
when nothing could be worse than hanging on
And something tells me there must be
something better than all this

I've fallen many times in love and every time
it's been with the wrong man
Still I'm out there living one day at a time
and doing the best I can
Cuz we've all made mistakes
that seem to lead us astray
But every time they helped to get us where we are today
And that's a good a place as any
and it's probably where we're best off anyway

It's a long and rugged road
and we don't now where it's headed
But we know it's going to get us where we're going
And when we find what we're looking for
we'll drop these bags and search no more
'Cuz it's going to feel like heaven when we're home
It's going to feel like heaven when we're home

There's no such thing as perfect,
and if there is we'll fnd it when we're good and dead
Trust me I've been looking
bu tonight I think I'll go and take a bath instead
And then maybe I'll walk a while
and feel the earth beneath me
They say if you stop looking
it doesn't matter if you find it
And whose to say that even if I did
it's what I'm really looking for

It's a long and rugged road
and we don't now where it's headed
But we know it's going to get us where we're going
And when we find what we're looking for
we'll drop these bags and search no more
'Cuz it's going to feel like heaven when we're home
It's going to feel like heaven when we're home

(Nicky Mehta))

Imagine you're a girl on ten mile stilts
You travel round the world, taking it all in
You'll never touch the ground
Is it a blessing or a curse
And if you're too high to be found
Are you lost or just rehearsed

Got a heart that opens clear in this cool September dark
It rests on treetop leaves
And bursts its little sparks
And sometimes it sings its songs
And it lets its secrets out
Except for one that sears inside
That it cannot live without

But if I tell you will you take it
Will you shine it up to me
Can you be strong to let me go on
And set this freedom free

The stars are out tonight
Up here they're ripe to hold
But I have learned what comes to those who get too close
I'm no Icarus in flight
And I'm old enough to know
That love is patient, but still unyielding
If you leave it long enough it lets you go

But if I tell you wil you take it
Will you shine it up to me
Can you be strong to let me go on
And set this freedom free

Come all you sailors
Sail upon my seas
Swim in these salty waters
Cleanse the wounds that run so deep

Come all you lovers
Give your hearts to me
Come with your broken dreams
And your ruined fancies

Come all you seekers
Realise that you can see
Find within your deepest longing
That all you need is me

Take everything that we've had
Take it and burn it to the ground
Some things were never meant to last
Take it down down down
Take it down

I'm still married to it all
That ain't no place to hand around
My love is fifty feet tall
Take it down down down
Take it down

And I've grown accustomed to the way
You hurled us into space
I'll never make that trip
Tears all rusted on my face
I'm just an empty place
Where your love used to fit

South Carolina, where are you?
You were once lost, now are found
The war is over, the battle's through
Take it down down down
Take it down

Take it down down down
Take it down

(Cara Luft)

There's a light on in your house
but you're not home today
And each time I come on by you seem so far away
Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay

Got some friends knocking on my door
Wondering where I've been
Tired of mining for your heart, I've come up for air again
Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay

Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay

So I'm cashing in your promises
gonna leave without a sound
Got a broken heart and aching head
cause I know you can't be found Can you give me some reason to hold on
Can you give me some reason to stay

Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay

Stay
Now I'm going away, will I leave you crying
It's been 40 days but this love is dying
I've searched all around for something
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay
Something to hold onto, and a reason to stay

(Traditional)

Oh all the money that e'er I spent
I spent it in good company
And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me And all the harm that e'er I've done
Alas, it was to none but me
And all I've done for want of wit
To memory now I can't recall
So fill to me the parting glass
Good night and joy be with you all

Oh all the comrades that e'er I've had
Are sorry for my going away
And all the sweethearts that e'er I've had
Would wish me one more day to stay
But since it falls unto my lot
That I should rise and you should not
I'll gently rise and I'll softly call
Good night and joy be with you all