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Allyson Adair

Album Lyrics

  1. Shining Night
  2. River Song
  3. Wings of Peace
  4. Love Never Fails
  5. Vision Upon a Psalm
  6. Clarissima Mater
  7. Lark Song
  8. The Way Home
  9. Out of the Fire

Shining Night
Inspired by  the poem"Sure on this Shining Night" by James Agee (1909-1955)
and Psalm 139
Starmade shadows line the path
That pilgrims travel faithfully
The journey seems a lonely task,
The stars are far and few between.

The heavens are as still as ice,
The wind it sings ‘cross endless seas
No moon directs the traveler’s night,
No mind may pierce its mysteries

But darkness is as light to you,
The night shines like the day

CHORUS
Sure on this shining night
I weep for wonder
Stars were my only guide
But they’re shadows to your love

If I rise on wings of dawn,
Or lay my head in Sheol deep
When the years have quelled my song,
You find me, greet me, comfort me

O, wand’ring far alone  I  cry
With wonder at my inmost being
Creator, search me and test my heart
Lead me on to everlasting.

O, when I wake I’m still with you
The night shines like the day.

River Song
We’re rowing up the mountainside
Just you and me, far as I can see
We’re paddling o’er the great divide
 Between emptiness and liberty
You listen and I listen,
Tell me the story

The river slakes the wilderness;
The hawk he spins in moonlit skies
The stars are points of ice, unlike
The biding trust that fills your eyes
You listen and I listen,
Mmmm..tell me

CHORUS
As one we’re born, as one we die
As the river breathes white clouds into the sky
As two we love, as two we fly   
Swift through the gales that render this divide.

The origin of life I’ve heard
Is of fire and of stars
But the stirrings of the soul they come
In the quiet rowing hours
She listens and he listens,
Tell me.

The diamond waves they shift and play;
We’re deep within the riverbed
A thousand fish as one fish move,
And dawn rolls nearer, blushing red
She listens, and he listens…
Mmmm…

BRIDGE
 We are lost in the sound of our voices telling stories
We can’t see through the fog what is swimming past the oars
And we go on, on in fear, though the rain it near destroys us
And I’m praying to God to guide us through the forest
Of our fears, of our doubts, of our miscommunications
And I feel in my soul, it’s a lightening sensation
And I know you are with me and the light will come upon us
For the end of the world couldn’t quench the love that’s drawn us.

Wings of Peace
I thought I’d write to you a song to make you love me
A song to open your eyes
But then I realized you don’t need me to love you
It’s what I feared inside.

I thought I’d sing with a voice could charm the angels
Its echoes filling the skies
But you alone are not to be deceived
You know what’s wrong and what’s right

CHORUS
You soar on wings of peace
You’re the breath of life itself
I faint that I might be strong
Falling into the arms that never leave me
I won’t be helpless for long

Any man will give in if she’s beautiful enough
Thought I’d trap you as such
And though I was ashamed when you said I was amiss
Your truth’s a kiss on the lips.

Thought I’d sing you a song to make you love me
A dazzling work of art
But then you reached out and made me to love you
From the depths of my heart

You’re who I live for, my strong and radiant king
You’re holy through and through
Don’t give me glory, or fame or anything
If it should steal me from you

Don’t give me power, except to say I love you
Don’t give me riches, but let your will be done
Don’t give me beauty if it leads my heart astray
But give me an eternity so I will always say,
I love you.

Love Never Fails
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
If I speak with tongues of men, sing with the breath of angels
But have not love, I am nothing
If I have the gift of prophecies, fathoming all mysteries
But have not love, I am nothing
If I give all I possess to the poor and the oppressed
But have not love, I am nothing

Love is patient, love is kind; it does not envy, is not proud   
Love rejoices with the truth; always perseveres, always hopes and trusts

CHORUS
Love never fails; but where there’s prophecy it will cease
Love never fails; but where there are tongues they’ll be stilled
Love never fails; but where there’s knowledge it will pass away.

Now we see a poor reflection as in a clouded mirror
But soon we shall see face to face
Now I only know in part soon I shall know fully
Even as I’m fully known.

Vision Upon a Psalm
Faraway on an ancient summer’s day
A shepherd rose to greet the sun
A flute he found, in the old burial ground
And he took it to his lips at once, singing,

La le la, la le la
La le la, sha la la la, la la la le lai la

There appeared, in a vision bright and clear
The song in lovely human form
No eye had seen, no ear had heard
Such beauty as was him before.

And he sang out, sha la la la…

But the song was still, she shook, was silent
When he asked her why she didn't dance
He said, “follow me, to yonder stream,”
And she carefully took the singer’s hands.

And by that stream, which was frozen o’er
She knelt beside his naked feet
Seeing her there, he chose a minor key
And the song began to sigh and weep

Oh that river flowed freely again
In sadness, the song became
More beautiful than she ever had been.

She fainted then, and the only restoration
Was to drink those salty tears
He held her close, though she was unaware
And sang with a voice you’d hardly hear…

Singing la le la…

When she came to, the night had fallen
The dark and ominous sky was quiet
A song alone, she stumbled ‘round
The gravestones which in the valley lieth.

And in the shroud of mist which lay
O’er her mind and over sleepless night
She heard a voice, so faint, so bare,
And she sang along to ease her fright

Singing la le la…

The eastern sun was a fiery sight
She saw a rod and staff before her feet
All that time, the shepherd was near
Each stumbling rock a way to lead.

She saw him standing over by his flock
And for the very first time, she went to speak
“Why,” she asked, looking in his eyes,
“Did you ever choose to sing me?”

He said, “I am, and you are,
And I am a singer,
And you are my song.
And you are… singing la le la…

Clarissima Mater
Inspired by Sue Monk Kidd's novel, "The Secret Life of Bees"
Latin text from a chant of the same title by Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179)
I lay awake in bed last night
As a distant hum from another universe
Came and shook my bedroom walls.
One by one they filled the air        
Their own dear Queen had sent them there                                        
As the honeyed moonlight falls.
          
The womb of sound enveloped me,                            
A blaze of love and anguish freed                               
By a hundred thousand wings.
They lift my hair and brush my skin;
My mind’s afraid but my heart within,
It yearns to send them love.

CHORUS
Clarissima Mater, Stella Maris; pour upon me your noble light
Lily of Eden and Queen of Heaven; in your healing embrace I find life
Star of the Soul’s Sea, and Comb of Honey; by God’s spirit you are glorified

Their hum ran through my heart my head
Their hum ran through the whole wide earth
Twas the oldest sound there was
Oh if I rose and entered heaven
I’d plant a million flowers there
Let the honey trickle down

But doubt it stings the most beautiful dreams
I’ve yet to find immunity
to its cruel uncertainties
I’d hoped to catch them unaware
and steal into their secret lair
To become one of the bees.

All around me, loving memories are taking wing
I could touch the rim of heaven with wings like these.

Lark Song
"And yet through all these trials and in spite of the lack of interior joy, there is in my soul
some central place, which all these waves of sorrow cannot reach" - Elisabeth Leseur

First three verses to the melody of "The Wind that Shakes the Barley", Irish traditional
On the dark night of my defeat
A lark soared through my dreams
She led me o’er the ruined streets
With the white moon on her wings.

She led me to a rushing river
Washed away my fear and woe,
Its crystal waters cooled my fever
With a plaintive song from long ago.

Over my grave now a tall tree stands
Breathing, flowering, giving shade
Pilgrims come from a thousand lands
To lay down arms and sorrows trade.

There is in my soul a place
Where waves of sorrow
Cannot reach, cannot reach
Will you meet me there?

It’s beyond, and yet within me,
The peace within me.

I hear your call
From a far country
May your faith cover me.

You’re the lark and I’m the night
You herald in the morning light

Though it’s dark within the grave
Your spirit wings far, far away
I chase the shape, the dream of you,
You lead me to a world made new
You lead me to a world, to you.

The Way Home
Lord may I find the way back home
Lord let me follow you, take me home
Help me to find the way back home
Lord lead me, and I will be one of your own


I stepped through the gates of paradise
Followed the voice that led me higher           
My shield and breastplate I laid aside
And rose with a whirlwind of fire.

Here, all are found, not a single soul is lost
They rise and burn like stars in the awesome space
You are their heartbeat, the pulse of all their joy
As they play, sing and dance with infinite grace.

Eternity, beauty, a heavenly feast
I am captured and I’ve no desire to be released.
God of earth, water, fire and air, of all creation
You have gathered ‘neath your wing saints from every nation.

This vision is fading into the night
I wake with darkness at my side
My soul has traveled far in dreams
It tells me you’re still here with me.
Out of the Fire
Words from "On the sweet comfort of grace" by German poet Catharina Regina von Greiffenberg (1633-1694)
Translated by Jane Hirshfield and Samuel Halevi

I look at gold and world and see
Children’s trinkets and sand
Heaven’s joy carries me
Far beyond myself.

If only my breath were a wind,
If only my breath were a wind.

If only I, from endless night
Could rise like the phoenix, bright
As a fire, rekindled
My one desire,
So pure and simple.

The sages and mystics have tasted love
And joy beyond words of men
They’re of my kind and of my blood
But how can I speak with them?

If only my breath were a whirling wind
Through-sweetened with flames of love
I’d set the world on fire for you
Till it shone like the heav’ns above.

If only I from endless night
Could rise like the phoenix, bright
As a fire, rekindled
My one desire, pure and simple
Is to perish, into this bliss
Like the dawn into the morning mist.

I look at gold and world and see
The bride you’ve loved since time began
The truth through the veil has set me free
Here she is, Lord, take her hand.

Tell Wisdom to open her ancient doors,
Tell Mercy to pave the way,
Tell Beauty to grace the room in store,
For the bridegroom comes on wings of day.

As I rise from endless night
Rise to life like the phoenix bright
See its fire rekindled
My one desire, pure and simple
Is to perish into this bliss
Like the dawn into the morning mist.
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