Priscilla Herdman Priscilla Herdman
The Road Home 2003
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The Road Home    

Priscilla Herdman * The Road Home

Produced by Anne Hills & Scott Petito

Special thanks and love to my friend to Anne Hills for guiding me along the road and helping me find my way home. This recording wouldn't have come together without her thoughtful ideas, patience, encouragement and her clear vision when I'd lost mine. Thanks to Scott Petito for his engineering magic and wonderful ears, as well as his masterful bass playing. Thanks to Artie Traum and Al Petteway for their beautiful guitar arrangements and creative ideas. Thanks to Brian Melick and David Hornung for adding just the right rhythm and color to the songs. And for their musicality and inventive harmonies, thank you to Anne, Cindy Mangsen, Nick Reineke and Suzanna Hermans. Additional thanks to: Jim Netter at Redwing Records for taking me on again and all the crew at Blind Pig Records, Susan Herdman for the beautiful cover photograph, Al Brandtner for the great graphic design, Beth Reineke at NRS for helping the sessions run smoothly, my terrific web master Richard Hess, my wonderful husband and daughter Dick and Suzanna Hermans for their love and support - and - special thanks to all the gifted songwriters, faithful fans and dedicated radio DJs who make it possible for me to continue to do what I love - make music.

Big Town

words & music Tanya Savory © Grand Prairie Music-Rounder Music, ASCAP http://www.tanyasavory.com/ She opened a map of Kansas She bought sixty years ago She said "this is where my father's land was" A little "x" marked the spot a little east of Colorado Then she pulled out a faded black and white Of a busy Midwest road Just a blur of the world rushing by She said "you could stand there now and never even know Chorus It was a big town, became a small town And now my home town is no town at all And what was Main, is dust and rain Broken window panes in the old town hall It was a big town, now it ain't no town at all" It used to be the grain elevators And the scattered steeple spires They were the only skyscrapers Before the new roads to the cities stole the farm town fires Before the tractor and the combine Took the place of a thousand hands An idle hour was hard to find Now there's barely a trace of the place it was back when Chorus It was a big town, became a small town And now my home town, it is no town at all And what was Main, is dust and rain Broken window panes in the old town hall It was a big town, now it ain't no town Bridge She laughed and shook her head and said "Sure is a funny one how the years Well they can turn one town into a bright shiny city Or turn the other way and let another disappear" Chorus It was a big town, became a small town And now my home town is no town at all And what was Main, is dust and rain Broken window panes in the old town hall It was a big town, now it's no town It was a big town, became a small town And now my home town, it is no town at all And what was Main, is dust and rain Broken window panes in the old town hall It was a big town, now it ain't no town at all" It was a big town... It was a big town... It was a big town AT - rhythm & lead guitars SP - upright bass BM - drums

Island Clay

words & music Lennie Gallant / Published by Revenant Records, SOCAN Canada http://www.lenniegallant.com For my friends Karl and Judy Eves with love and thanks. This old house, once stood proud on the hill Of pine and cedar from the land, Cut by my father's hand, and hauled up from the mill Now she stares at her life spread on the lawn At strangers picking through her bones, They take them for their own, and haul them far away And the auctioneer he sings his songs and the people pay Old voices echo from this house now dark and gray, And cold as island clay This old farm, eighty acres of a life, Sweat and iron-redened soil, Paid little for my toil, but saw us through all right 'Til the company came and bought land up all around And soon the market prices fell We took another loan and ploughed it underground But tomorrow morning they will come and have their way And though their hands touch not the soil, they will never pay The price if island clay These old hands turned the sod and tossed the seed These hands worked hard and they were strong But they couldn't hold a printed paper deed And from the moment that they signed this land away, These old hands are getting colder every day, As cold as island clay This old house, once stood proud on the hill Of pine and cedar from the land, Cut by my father's hand, and hauled up from the mill PH - rhythm guitar AT - lead guitar AP - cittern SP - fretless bass

Gentle Arms of Eden

words & music Dave Carter http://www.daveandtracy.com Dedicated to the memory of Dave Carter, 1952-2002. The inspired musical legacy he and Tracy created, will live on in the magic and mystery of his songs. On a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream There was rhythm in the splash and roll but not a voice to sing So the moon fell on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves Till a single cell did jump and hum for joy as though to say Chorus This is my home - this is my only home This is the only sacred ground that I have ever known And should I stray in the dark night alone Rock me goddess in the gentle arms of eden Then the day shown bright and rounder till the one turned into two And the two into ten thousand things and the old things into new And on some virgin beach head, one lonesome critter crawled And he looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl Chorus Then all the sky was buzzing and the ground was carpet green And the wary children of the wood went dancing in between And the people sang rejoicing when the fields were glad with grain This song of celebration from their cities on the plain Chorus Now there's smoke across the harbor and there's factories on the shore And the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war But I will lay my burdens in the cradle of your grace And the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace Chorus AT - rhythm guitar AP - 2nd guitar & guitar solo SP - upright bass & mandolin AH - banjo & harmony vocal BM - percussion

Goodnight New York

words & music Julie Gold http://www.gadflyrecords.com In memory of my maternal grandparents Alma Emerentia Thyberg and Herbert William Saunders who both passed through the portals of Ellis Island on their journey to find a new life. My mother came to America Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams Back in the thirties, when the streets were paved with gold And the sky laced with moonbeams Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons Here in the free world, we're the lucky ones (were ?) All of my yearning, all of my hunger Maybe I'm learning, sometimes I wonder Goodnight, New York Before the Kennedys, before the Beatles Before the Vietnam War Back in the days when anything was possible, Having less meant knowing more Brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts Here in the free world for a second chance All of my yearning, all of my hunger Maybe I'm learning, sometimes I wonder Goodnight, New York My mother came to America Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams Here in the new world (Here in the nineties) I hope I've not failed her, But nothing's the way that it seems All of my yearning, all of my hunger Maybe I'm learning, sometimes I wonder Goodnight, New York AP - rhythm guitar SP - fretless bass DH - accordion

Exile

words & music ©1998 Anne Hills http://www.annehills.com I am grateful to Anne Hills for writing this song for me through the eyes of the maker of my Tibetan singing bowl. I dedicate it to the exiled Tibetan people with the hope that some day they may return to a free Tibet, and to the many thousands from other nations who remain in exile all over the world. I have no voice but this / My song is loneliness Like a migrant bird from the nest I've flown And the longest journey I have known was the journey from my home Where clouds caressed my feet / And the ground and Heaven meet Where I was born and where I have grown Till the longest journey I have known, it was the journey from my home No more the lakes to see / Those mountains memory And the harvest rots in the fields I've sown And the longest journey I have known, it was the journey from my home As old as measured time / Since men worked words to rhyme They have fought and killed, the earth to own But the longest journey I have known was the journey from my home. Still in my dreams I go / Like a cloudless breath of snow And return again on the night wind blown From the longest journey I have known, my spirit journeys safely home. PH - Tibetan singing bowl

Kisangani

words & music Henning Kvitnes http://www.henningkvitnes.com Kisangani is a city of half a million in the Democratic Republic of Congo known for its lucrative diamond trade. Norwegian songwriter Henning Kvitness wrote this song after seeing the documentary "Diary from Kisangani". In June 2000, at least nine hundred civilians were killed and many more were injured in crossfire when the occupying Ugandan and Rwandan armies fought over the control of Kisangani. Further outbreaks of violence between competing rebel factions and the rival occupying armies of Rwanda and Uganda still continue to plague the city. Never waited for a plane away from Kisangani Never walked 600 miles without shoes Never went to sleep in the mud behind barbed wire And tonight, my Lord, I thank you Never waited for relief along the jail road to Ubundi Only hoping I was not left there to die Way past caring about redemption only water, food and shelter Way past caring about a reason why Chorus: They always said that there could come a time When you feel you have to stop and you have to draw a line Make a choice for life and leave a lot of things behind They always said that there could come a time Such a time....... such a time Never had my family split up by any army Never woke up from gunfire in the night Never stood with a gun to my head And saw my children being dragged out of my sight Chorus Bridge I'll wrap my bundle tightly And bring my best coat for the wind I don't know where I'm going But this is where the new road should begin I'm just a Western Man There's so little I understand Funny thing, it only took one generation To forget about our own poverty and wars And to wipe away all those human ideals That my father and his father were fighting for Chorus AP - rhythm guitar & cittern SP - fretted bass & 2nd guitar BM - percussion AH - brilliant ending idea AH, CM, NR, PH - harmony vocals

Prayer 2000

words & music Eliza Gilkyson & Mark Andes http://www.elizagilkyson.com Thank you for the sun Thank you for the full moon Thank you for my true love's face And our lives in love consumed Thank you for the stars A home along the river Thank you for the ancient groves And the fishes brown and silver Ponies running wild Grass enough for grazing Water flowing clean and pure All the beauty that saves me Thank you for the dawn Ocean's rise and falling Children born to carry on And the end that's always calling Thank you for the songs Thanks for all my good luck All the things that don't go wrong And the hopes that don't give up Thank you for my tears Loved ones who forgave me Thank you for my darkest years All the sorrow that made me Thank you for my tears Loved ones who forgave me Thank you for my darkest years All the sorrow that made me And the beauty that saved me AP - rhythm guitar AT - lead guitar SP - Upright bass & ebowed guitar

Wild Wind

words & music Kate Power http://www.artichokemusic.com At the foot of the mountain stands a high, high tree Its branches reach up to the sky, While a red-crested bird leaves her nest in the lee And from the tallest branch she cries... Chorus "Oh Wild Wind, won't you blow, And carry me to my love, / I know not where to go, I'll spread my wings / On your windy back I'll ride Oh, old wise wind won't you blow" On the banks by the bay where the mossy mussels lay And the castle on the hill meets the sky There a red-haired girl fetches dinner from the sea And walking out the jetty rocks, she cries... Chorus On the road by the wood, there a simple cottage lies Of thatch and painted windows, inviting me to bid. The old widow man within it, with his pipe and twinklin' eyes While stokin' up the embers there, he cries... Chorus Oh the cattle with the shepherd and the fishes in the deep You have no cause for sorrow, no love will trouble thee If I could be a blackbird in the tallest oaken tree There from its highest branch, I would cry... Chorus AT - lead guitar SP - fretless bass Anne Hills & Cindy Mangsen - harmony vocals

No Telling

words & music Linda Thompson/Hatfish Music Ltd., PRS http://www.rounder.com/feature/thompson/ Thanks & love to my daughter Suzanna who joins me here in singing this tender song. He came in the ballroom, just a crazy old man His eyes seemed to glaze in the light Just some old hawker to judge by his rags Come in from the cold of the night And the whole room was dancing - they paid him no mind As he slipped to the bar and said please be so kind And the music kept ringing in the back of his mind No telling what a love song will do As the queen of the ballroom sang a favorite song He stood with the glass in his hand He was weary of living the days of his life And tonight was the last he could stand He shut out the future, he shut out the past And even the present was running out fast As the queen of the ballroom said, make this the last No telling what a love song will do As she started to sing for the very last time He trembled as he stood there alone And the pain he'd been holding inside for so long Just fell from his heart and was gone It was only a love song, simple and clear But he bowed as it shook him with every last tear And he cried from relief, and he cried half from fear No telling what a love song will do Oh the queen of the ballroom still glitters and shines Each night at the "Old Kindness Sake" And maybe its something they put in the wine But her beauty refuses to fade I think she got married to a stranger they say Just a crazy old man who came passing one day And the whole town still dances and the music still plays No telling what a love song will do No telling what a love song will do AT - rhythm guitar SP - upright bass & mandolin AP - cittern DH - accordion SH - harmony vocal

Here

words & music Neal Hagberg http://www.nealandleandra.com Dedicated with all my love to my husband Dick Hermans, who suggested this beautiful song of comfort and hope to me. You see deserts in the distance, but you don't have to cross them yet Raging rivers without bridges that'll drown you in your loneliness You see storms on the horizon that take away your very breath I know these things are true, and I know I love you There's nothing we can do 'til we get there... right now we're here Here where the day is ending Here where the sky has finally cleared And no one can hurt you Here you don't have to say a word And you can cry your tears 'Cause I know what you've come through Stars are falling, the night is full And for at least this moment love won't disappear... here You've been burned before, I know it, you think your heart has been consumed But there are doors you haven't opened, the heart has got so many rooms I can't heal what has been damaged, but you can walk through any door you choose I know this much is true, that I will walk with you The road is long but some day we'll get there... right now we're here And I will not leave when the next storm blows through When it's too dark to see, I'm right beside you Here where the day is ending Here where the sky has finally cleared And no one can hurt you Here you don't have to say a word And you can cry your tears 'Cause I know what you've come through Stars are falling, the night is full And for at least this moment love won't disappear... here Stars are falling, the night is full And I promise you this love won't disappear... All we've got is here AT - lead guitar

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