The following lyrics were created for the Musical Stories which were published as our seventeenth collection in 2022 under the title of “Hold to the Heart.” Simply click on the images below to go directly to the original story, music and complete lyrics along with other related links.

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Course of a Day

In the course of a minute
Everything changes within it
What was given before
Just isn’t there anymore
Faded away, dust on the floor

In the blink of an eye, sometimes
Hopes are dashed or take flight
And we are left to make sense of it all
To stumble and fall
Or sweep it away, just dust on the floor

When viewed from far away
Everything looks just the same, it seems
Nothing really has changed
Details in the course of a day

Yet everything changed
Details in the course of a day
In the course of a day

Time flies, time heals
They say that time rushes by
Yet time stands still

Life crawls on, life flies by
They say that when your flame dims
Days flash before your eyes
Flash before your eyes

Knowing good from the bad
Sifting lies from the facts
What to hold to the heart
Or simply let go
Time sweeps away, dust on the floor

When viewed from far away
Everything looks just the same, it seems
Nothing really has changed
Details in the course of a day

 

The Pusher

Bound and determined, you begin coaxing
Brash and headstrong, you say you know best
Bold and self-confident, there’s only one answer
You push and push and push and push and push till I fall, for your lies

Without rhyme or reason, you chase a hero quite imaginary
Feels a bit like I’m losing ground, while holding on to you

What are you doing, what are you saying to me
Tell me the truth for once, or maybe just don’t lie to me

I need to get my bearings, resist this downward spin
On and on in endless free-fall

Coarse and conniving, you resume coaxing
Scheming and selfish, sure you know best
Rash and reckless, you have all the answers
You push and push and push and push and push til I fall, for your lies

Something close to treason, you fly a flag that’s quite imaginary
Feels a bit like I’m losing ground, while holding on to you
You push and push and push til I fall, holding on to you
While holding on to you
I’m on to you

 

Follow the Leader

Everybody loves a good show
Everybody likes to sing and dance along—Have a good time
With a song planted in your head
Mechanically, every word re-said—It goes on
When the show’s done

Everybody wants to be dazzled
Everybody loves a sleight of hand—Believe it was real
Inside your head you re-run the act
Again and again, you play it back—It goes on
When the show’s done

What began as a tune that you wanted to hum
Soon bugs you so much that your brain starts to numb

Attracted by the words and ways
Drawn into the spectacle of the showman
Willing shill or passive prop
Designed to charm and captivate
Could it be he’s nothing more than a show off
For the cheerful chump, delighted dupe

Everybody loves to be distracted
Briefly lose ourselves in fantasy—Leave the real world
With an alternate reality
We’re no longer who we used to be
The drama goes on, but we’re gone
Why worry ’bout the day-to-day
All we have to do is make a trade
A leap from faith
Then hope for some grace
Believe, but then you can’t leave

Just grieve

 

Feathers and String

There’s a mystery in the way she smiles
Hides a secret that she knows
Making good on all the promises kept
So silent and still, pleased with herself

There’s a twinkle in her distant eye
Hints at something deep within
Where she houses such a fortress secure
So no one comes in, the secret is hers

Wrapped up in gauze
Feathers and string
The secret is hers
Locked up, tucked safely away

Someone weaker might struggle, give way to temptation
Even finally swayed to reveal
Such a deeply held secret
To be the first one to tell
Just to tell

Such a deeply held secret
That no one can tell
She’ll never tell

There’s a knowing in the way she smiles
Ever present, always new
There’s no reason for a doubt or concern
The keeper of light, the secret is hers

Held in a web
Made of feathers and string
The secret is hers
Woven and rewoven again

She’s a mystery we may never know

 

Brood

Wondering just what it takes to be
Is it longing or need
When will I ever have enough
To believe finally I’m loved
Can I know the truth
Or would I rather brood

If I really had my way
Would Life seem mundane
Or would I feel vaguely lost
Betrayed by not being crossed
Can I know the truth
Or would I rather brood

Can I know the truth
Or would I rather brood

I imagine days so easy
Doing only what pleases me
Taking all the time I need
I’d be happy if they’d just let me be
Why can’t I take the time I need

I’d be happy, why can’t they see
I’ll be happy when I get what I need

Left on my own I could see all there is to see
I’d get answers if Life would just stop tapping on me
Stop jabbing at me
I’d be better if Life could somehow just let me be me
You’d think that Life could let me be
Just let me be

Reflecting on my life so far
I am more than dares or scars
Now I see clearly that I am enough
To feel finally, truly I’m loved
Now I know the truth
I don’t need more proof
When you see the truth
You know that there’s no need to brood
No more need to brood
No need to brood

 

Where Forever Waits

There is a path we take, trying to find our way
There is a life that we make step by step, day by day
Taking us to where forever waits
Where it feels so much like home

There is a bridge we must cross, without waver or pause
Spanning a river below, where each and every day flows
Taking them to where forever waits
Where they gently come to rest

From all the tears and solemn goodbyes
Spirits soar up, to unimagined heights
Floating above, floating on love
Bittersweet leaving and arriving

Floating above, floating on love
No more waiting to find forever
Forever

There is a hope we hold, somewhere we never grow old
There is a dream that we share, surely someday we’ll gather there
In that special place where forever waits
When we all will be at home

In the end we’ll all be home
At long last, our journey done
Home

 

Zippity Zoom

1-2-3-4-5
Pulled out my suitcase
Opened it up with a zippity-zip
Looked all around the room to see
What I should take on this trip

So much to choose from,
I see so many things that I’ve done
It was so much fun to be 4 this past year
Now I’m moving on
Moving on to more

Piled in a stack of books
Mostly the ones that I have read
Favorite stuffies jumped in
Still warm from being in bed

Folded my yellow belt, tucked it
Safely next to my gloves
I can hardly wait to be 5 years old
Bringing everything that I love
Moving on from four

Dancing around my room
While I dream of what’s in store for me
Singing a favorite tune: bop, bop, bop
And the stuffies hum along
We’re moving on

1-2-3-4-5
Singing a favorite tune: bop, bop, bop
And the stuffies hum along
We’re moving on

Tossed in my bathing suit
Wondering where I’ll take a swim
Remembered my mask and cape
Just in case sneaky bad guys get in

My jar of Brain Flakes took up
The very last available room
Now I’ve packed my suitcase
I’m ready to zoom

I zipped up my suitcase
Zippity zoom
Moving at Super Cat Speed
I’m Ready to Zoom

 

Tiny Feathers

Floating weightlessly behind my eyelids
Drifting ever-slowly toward my beating heart
Tiny feathers of a fleeting thought

Slipping calmly into rhythmic breathing
Matching beat for beat with my sacred heart
Floating weightlessly behind my eyelids

Drifting ever-slowly toward my beating heart
Tiny feathers, soft hints
What my Soul dares to dream

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