Over Oceans lyrics
Into the Green
Into the Green he calls me
Into the green, now follow
A lifetime of scheming
And soaring like a swallow
Over oceans and duckponds
and rivers and streams
Into the derry down green
​
Silvery scenes are falling
Into my dreams they follow
All crystal and gleaming
Shining like diamonds
in the long blue winter shadows
By the window at evening I sit and I dream
Of the derry down green
​
Hey Trapper Joe people say you're crazy
They told me so, said look out for him, baby
Still I got to know
What's this song that calls me to you?
​
Into the Green he takes me
Back to the streams and lakes
Yukon flats, muskrat traps and willows
The Tanana's breaking
Springtime is making her way on up to Barrow
And the wild cranes above you
will sing in your dreams...green
​
Well I don't know, people say I'm crazy
They told me so, think I'm slow and lazy
Still I got to go
What's this road that calls me to you?
​
Into the Green he calls me
All of your schemes are hollow
A lifetime of meaning
Daytime worktime playtime
Then the night time that must follow
Oh follow, follow on into your dreams
Of the derry down green
Derry derry derry down green...
​
For the Ironwood
When I was a child I dreamed of a great land
Fearlessly wild and taken by no man
Green as a long summer's day
I never understood when they told me don't believe it
You'll never get it back that way
So I dreamed and I played
I watched the trees fall around me
Those mean city ways
They never ceased to astound me
'Oh it's allright' they'd say
'Didn't need that old thing anyway'
​
But when I was alone an ironwood tree consoled me
A few miles from home strong branches would hold me
If I'd ever known it was true what they told me
My friend would fall someday
I'd go to the hills, the crowd overwhelmed me
I'd go to be still, the loudness repelled me
What could the ironwood say?
Listen to the wind, c'mon girl climb in
You just got to be strong and pray
​
So I dreamed and I prayed, and I made my escape plan
A long string of days never taken by no man
'Oh it's allright' I'd say, 'didn't need no old man anyway'
Oh but I was afraid
I started growing my own armor
The ironwood swayed
I couldn't stay and watch them harm her
So I ran away to a place where no foreman or farmer
Would ever lay claim
​
Go to the hills, the trees they won't blame you
Go to the sea and the sky will reclaim you
Throw all your armor away
Pick it up again if you really need it
When you go back someday
February
If I could sit you down
And try to explain the way I'm feeling
The hot sun and frost since you came into my heart
It's a seasonal transition
It is nothing to be scared of
It's just rain upon the garden in the winter
Waiting for spring
Waiting for February
​
If I could get you to hang around
Long enough to hear my words
Calm the fleeting bird that beats his proud wings
Against your heart
It's a difficult position
It is all you ever dreamed of
Versus everything that seemed to fall apart
Waiting on spring
Waiting on February
​
If I could tell you all the things
I see and feel deep down inside you
I heard something with a rhythm
I coulda' sworn it was a heart
It's a terminal condition
It will beat until it kills you
If you're too afraid to open it and
Free the singing bird from the dark
Dark of winter
Waiting on spring
Waiting on February
Song for Lisa
It'd been so long since I'd seen you
I figured you were someplace dead
Then I hear that you're three years clear
And you're so full of life instead
You were the sister that I needed
The child I had lost
You made your way back home again
And you paid the cost
You made your way back home again
And you paid the cost
​
You told me you were getting your history straight
I told you so was I
We held each other and we cried
Together hand in hand again we can let go of a lie
Lisa, I believe I could fly
You were the mother that I wanted
A companion through my fears
The friend I had in silence over all those years
You were the friend I had in silence over all those years
​
I don't know when I'm gonna see you again
When I might pass this way
But your spirit speaks in the people I meet
I hear your voice every day
Saying keep on moving full circle girl
Keep on keeping on
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
Bless this path you walk for it has made you strong
​
​
​
Hey John
Hey John, river feller
Hey John, salmon-selling man
Hey John, merchant sailor
Long time story teller, uses his hands
Build you a boat out of nothing
Build you a home right out of the land
​
Hey John, philosophizer
Each day gonna make you wiser
You know that it can
Hey John, speculator
Long-eared wisecrack maker
Oh you ornery old man
You and long-haired Elizabeth
Livin' like a couple of kids, hey isn't it grand?
​
Well it was out on the river where I met you two
You were living underneath a tree
Now you're building you a boating & you're gonna float
Down the river til you get all of your dreams to the sea
At the tender young age of 65---or was it 17?
You told me once, but I just can't seem to remember
​
Hey John, buck knife-giver
Hey John on the river you're taking your stand
Hey John, eyes that tickle
Sharpen that smile and giggle
You're making your plans
Build you a life out of nothing
Nothing but time and love on your hands
o I dreamed and I played
I watched the trees fall around me
Those mean city ways
They never ceased to astound me
'Oh it's allright' they'd say
'Didn't need that old thing anyway'
​
But when I was alone an ironwood tree consoled me
A few miles from home strong branches would hold me
If I'd ever known it was true what they told me
My friend would fall someday
​
I'd go to the hills, the crowd overwhelmed me
I'd go to be still, the loudness repelled me
What could the ironwood say?
Listen to the wind, c'mon girl climb in
You just got to be strong and pray
​
So I dreamed and I prayed, and I made my escape plan
A long string of days never taken by no man
'Oh it's allright' I'd say, 'didn't need no old man anyway'
​
Oh but I was afraid
I started growing my own armor
The ironwood swayed
I couldn't stay and watch them harm her
So I ran away to a place where no foreman or farmer
Would ever lay claim
​
Go to the hills, the trees they won't blame you
Go to the see, the sky will reclaim you
Throw all your armor away
Pick it up again if you really need it
When you go back someday
Pick it up again if you really need it
When you go back some day
​
​
Wild Wolves
Hey girl
You know it ain't the first time
you ever fell in love with a face
Whole wide world
Only a playground for you to take up the chase
Silver and gold for you, tell me what's it take?
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
​
Hey girl
Where you been all night?
You're dog's running wild
Dark sails unfurled
Eyes all shiny bright and there's
ravens in your smile
Following paths into the wilderness child
And listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
​
And she came into the wilderness
And her soul was filled with song all night long
In the morning he could see the she was gone
​
Hey girl
You know it ain't the last time
You're ever gonna make a mistake
Whole wide world
The sun and the moon for you
Tell me, what's it gonna take?
What can he offer when his love is at stake?
Listen to them wild wolves howl
Listen to them wild wolves moan
Love is Born
I'm building a love rich as the earth, blue as the sky
Weave dreams into songs, songs into wings
Teach me to fly
And maybe that way I can find you
Maybe then you'll give me a try
​
I'm building a boat
Nails made of hope, sails made of time
There, deep in the hold, waiting for you
Treasure so fine
And all the storms that could rage on the ocean
Could never sink this boat of mine
​
And blessed are the meek for they shall inherit
And blessed they who mourn
For in the darkest hours of waiting without you
Patiently, Love is Born
​
I'm building a home
Close to the earth, under the sky
Stream teach me to sing, make my voice clear
Teach me to try
And maybe if I can just hold on
You never know who'll drop by
​
And blessed are the pure for they shall see heaven
And blessed be the scorned
For in the darkest hours of waiting without you
Patiently, Love is Born
​
My Story
It's a whole new language I gotta learn how to speak to say what I've got to say that way
Somewhere between striking with a knife
And turning the other cheek
Not just look away
Deep inside the silence
A woman starts to scream
Is it his or her story?
Hers or history?
​
It's a beautiful house and a beautiful yard
And a beautiful family
The mother was modern the father worked hard
The lovely children three
But every night at bedtime
I could not trust my dreams
Is it his or her story?
Hers or history?
Like a bird in a beautiful cage
Or a rat in a maze
Someone else's shadow play
(But I'm not gonna play that game)
Sometimes words that you say
Or just the look on your face
Makes me hide my head in shame
But I'm not going to lie for you no more
I'm going to tell My Story My Story My Story
​
It's the cruelest betrayal, the strongest taboo
This song, this wrong I gotta write
It's exactly the last thing that I want to do
Start this losing fight
But deep inside the silence
A woman starts to sing
Is it his or her story?
Hers or history?
​
​
​
Pompeii
Beneath the skies of Pompeii
We laughed as we splashed by the pool
We drank and we gossiped as ash fell upon us
Silent as snow in the roseate glow of a fool
And the desert was burning
The sky was blood red
We sat unconcerned until somebody said
It's the news
​
So we all left the poolside and gathered around the TV
It said all roads to Rome would be closed for the day
But the fire was spreading
It was heading our way just the same
So our bridges were burning, the sky was aglow
We scrambled like rodents with nowhere to go
But the flame
​
Just take what you can carry
Somebody grab the wine
We may be refugees now but we're sure to be fine
For the gods that we worship
Are loving and kind as can be
​
Beneath the skies of Beijing
They trudged through the mud and the rain
They had gathered to talk from all over the world
They were powerful women
They were scared little girls filled with pain
And their eyes were all burning with something to say
Though the focus was blurred it was there anyway
On the news
​
And I read all about it from my bed in the haunted hotel
The place was deserted all shiny and clean
Except for the sound of a scene that I knew all too well
The mother was screaming the father was sad
The children were silent
The silence was scary as hell
​
Just take what you can carry, anything you can
We are refugees now so we must have a plan
Cuz the god that we worshiped was only a man afterall
​
Now the party was over
And darkness had covered the pool
The TV was on but there was no one to hear it
We worship a spirit mysterious loving and cruel
And the churches are burning
They're counting the dead
And the ashes are falling on all of our heads
And the smoke in the sky
Made the blue moon turn red as a fool
​
There is nothing left to carry
Don't look so forlorn
We are refugees all from the day we are born
And we'll trudge through the mud
And the fire and the storm everyday
Home from Pompeii
​
Over Oceans
Over Oceans and frozen lands I have chosen you
Over east and west and the deserts I've travelled through
Over summer storms in Minnesota
Mountain lakes and an outhouse with a perfect view
I will be your partner if I can
The rest is up to you
​
Singing like a siren pleading screaming like a seabird in the wind
And I would send my dreaming out into the ocean waves that never end
They just come crashing back and smashing on me
Dashing all my hopes against the rocks again
After eons rock turns into sand
We cross it hand in hand
​
Sailing over frozen tundra autumn colors blaze the summer's end
And a hundred rivers slither through the hills like veins upon a hand
Some get tangled up and caught in oxbows
Strangled by the knots that they will never understand
I will be your partner if you're free
The rest is up to me
​
Hanging with my true love thirty feet above the midway at the fair
Rising up around us all the sights and smells and sounds on summer air
Bands were playing, sheep were braying, barkers calling
Hypnotists and lovers everywhere!
I will walk this midway mile with you
If you'll walk it with me too
​
Over Oceans and frozen lands I have chosen you
Over every season, every reason that another love could do
Over artist's lofts in New York City, pretty boys and girls
And the ever-changing view
I will be your partner if I can
The rest is up to you
​
All songs by Cici Porter © 1998