The Glory
Some call it a feeling
some call it blue
some say it over and over and over again
I love you
Some think it’s the only thing worth living for
some have got to have it they say
give me more and more and more
You cannot touch it
it can’t be seen
still it’s as real as any dream
it is as real as the air that you breathe
you will inspire it
if you believe
Climb high into the mountain
Dive deep into the sea
Find out all about the glory
that moves through you and me
Paupers and Princes
practice the art
Winners and Losers
gamble their hearts
It makes the world go round
it is the sweetest sound
a many splendoured thing
bells ring, birds sing
Climb high into the mountain
Dive deep into the sea
Find out all about the glory
that moves through you and me
Climb high into the mountain
Dive deep into the sea
Find out all about the glory
that moves through you and me
©2001 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
I Gave You All My Love
You were stuck on yourself
Like a lot of boys get
I was too good for you
But you were easily met
And easily pushed to the side of my life
I kept my dirty little secrets out of sight
And out of your sight
I kept everything else
My friends and relations
My heaven and hell
My whole world was exploding apart into space
I kept my dirty little secrets to save face
But I gave you all my love
I gave you all my love
What did you do with it?
What did you do with it?
Where do you get off showing up after so long?
With some romantic fantasy, coming on strong?
Demanding an answer and freaking me out
You never knew me then and you don’t know me now
You say now that you recall everything
Well I don’t, it was messy and painful, I think
I remember the sound of the November wind
Your sweat against me and my shame in it
Cause I gave you all my love
I gave you all my love
What did you do with it?
What did you do with it?
©2001 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Afraid of the Dark
I saw him reflected in my windowpane
standing near the garden in the summer rain
heavy and still with his arms held high
stretched to heaven, he was grabbing at the sky
He grabbed at the sky like he was looking for God
in between the clouds and the sparkling fog
then he turned his face, I caught my breath
a sight so hideous, it scared me to death
Scaly, scarred and stained with tears
rotted teeth and furry ears
with a sorrowful voice that pierced my heart
he cried, “Why is everyone so afraid of the dark?”
Was he talking to himself or did he speak to me?
I pulled away so he would not see me
“I know you’re there,” he said, “You hide like them all.
You’re not very brave and that keeps your mind small.
"They call me a warning, tell me I’m a sin,
so I live on the outside, looking in.
And from here, the truth seems pretty clear,
still it hurts to be the target of so many fears.
"All the people run away crying,
‘Monster! Monster! We’re afraid!’
But they return with flame and spark.
They’re not afraid of me, they’re afraid of the dark.
"Born like this, with my beauty inside.
No say in it, but I will not hide.”
He laughed and then wandered away
as the birds all sang goodbye to the day
And he sang as he limped along
I overheard his little song
(it went like this…)
“Wear your masks and hide your faces.
Hang out in the sunny places.
The Nightingale sings as well as the Lark,
but you’ll never hear the song if you’re afraid of the dark.
"You’ll never hear the song if you’re afraid of the dark.
You’ll never hear the song if you’re afraid of the dark."
©1999 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
The Devil
O you all know the devil
He's been just around the bend
For what seems like forever
On the make or on the mend
The devil's been waiting
But he hasn't missed a trick
Now he's got his chance
He has to move quick
He's been sharpening his fingers
He's been polishing his wit
So he can point out evil
As quick as he can spit
It's the old switcheroo
and a very good game
When you know you do wrong
Find another to blame
He's been tearing up the land
and knocking down the trees
He's been poisoning the water
and burning the breeze
He's counting on you
and your quick desire
To turn heaven on earth
Into pure hell fire
Yes, the devil is greedy
He likes to make a quick buck
and when he wins your trust, bub,
Well, you're plain out of luck
He will buy your beauty
He will trade your health
and, of course, your soul
For just a little bit of wealth
And not just your soul
You lonely little thing
The soul of the whole world
and every pretty thing
O you all know the devil
You just like to pretend
That everything will work out
Just fine in the end
©2002 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Goose Steppin’
Gun your machines and run them wild
Fly your flag, it’s the latest style
Fill your gas tank to the brim then
Turn the volume up to ten
Dull your senses, clench your fist
You won’t notice driving off that cliff
Goose steppin’
Life is different now except
Promises will not be kept
Experts will keep you all informed so
Go shopping and keep that TV warm
All for one and one for all
United we stand, united we fall
Goose steppin’
History is a bunch of facts
A lot of opinion and a bit of crap
War and conquest, god and country
Greedy, crazy, power hungry
Again and again the fools rush in
To follow the fool who claims he’s king
Goose steppin’
©2002 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Shadow dance
It’s so hot
I have got to get out of the sun
I am spinning
I’m dizzy, this isn’t much fun
I remember thick carpets of dew
when morning was new
how the vapors arose in the air
with sparkling vows
unfolding in moments of now
take my hand
you’re just standing around like a fool
let’s go dance
no place fancy, just somewhere that’s cool
I remember the shade of the trees
the color of leaves
how the breeze moved the branches
and made the sun dance with the shadows
flecks of light shimmered through windows
sole to sand
rock, dust and bits of bone on the ground
such a burning
we’re turning, we’re turning around
I remember when night fell
the stories we would tell were filled with the music of
campfires crackling
choruses of frogs croaking
whippoorwills calling
wolves in the hills howling
sylvan wind whistling on high
let me dance in your shadow, now…
©2000 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Pendulum
You can see the moon in the morn
ing
you can feel the warmth of the sun at
night
everything changes and is re
placed
as pendulum swings from left to
right
And there will be a bright wind
that blows, they say
that its force will drive the night away
You can see the moon in the morn
ing
you can feel the warmth of the sun at
night
everything changes and is re
placed
as pendulum swings from left to
right
And there will be a white flare
that haunts the sea
and it will be a nightmarish thing to see
You can see the moon in the morn
ing
you can feel the warmth of the sun at
night
everything changes and is re
placed
as pendulum swings from left to
right
And there will be a cold shell
that seals the world
and it will take a great strength
to reap the pearl
©1981 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Terminal
I rolled my suitcase the length of the airport
every flight cancelled after the weather report
what is the difference if we all are grounded?
we’re in between everywhere, clutching maps, confounded
some have made plans for the very last minute
made reservations know what they will wear in it
how will it feel to cross over the finish line?
nobody's talking about it, no one's got time
the wheel spins, the dice roll, we've played along this far
how brief the spells of the crowned heads and judges are
who made this game up? I know that I didn't
so why should I care if I lose it or I win it?
I watch the lightning explode from the cloud cover
ripping the sky apart, shining light all over
I could be riding that, I could be glowing
pure energy for a split second, all knowing
then swallowed up by the surrounding darkness
freed from emotion, plunged into nothingness
I could be that where that is nowhere special
away from the bone, the blood, nerve, hormone and muscle
we could be riding that, we could be glowing
pure energy for a split second, all knowing
©1998 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Painting at 2 AM
for Charlotte Salomon
This is how I find my solace
late at night
I sort through water
by candle light
I keep all of the windows open
I let all of the darkness in
mix up the love and sin
my fingers hover burning
I sort through water again
funny words are buried
bare emotions hide
how could I not know my own heart
all these years inside?
throb against the darkness
beat beat against the flame
all the open windows beckon
it remains
This is how I find my solace
late at night
I wade through blood
and I drink moonlight
©1987 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Bonny Anne
I chased a seagull on a sunset breeze
past ripening fruit trees and flowers
across the cobblestones, down to the docks
unchaperoned for hours
dressed in cap and trouser legs
I haunted the sailing craft
my father swore I was a wild girl
but he shook his head and laughed
until I grew a little older
willful, impulsive, well-read
a dangerous combination
in a pretty little head
suffocating in drawing rooms
bored with niceties
I fled my fine life and inheritance
for the call of the salty sea
Aye, aye…
From Charles Town to New Providence
Havana, Barbados, Turneffe
I lived beside my pirate lover
and I dressed as a man on deck
I followed the code of the Brethren
kept my cutlass close at hand
sailing beneath the skull and crossed swords
waving "catch us who can"
Aye, aye…
"We will rob your rum and silver,
spices, lace, doubloons of gold.
Plunder water and provisions,
we'll take all that we can hold.
Beat the drums and blow the trumpets!
We're about to come on board.
I would bow my head if I were you.
See the way I shine my sword?"
Cerulean blue
wild, shocking wind
salt stinging in my scalp and skin
the ever rolling motion of
water below and sky above
Finally, one night our luck ran out
while the men were all drunk below deck
our schooner fell and we were captured
the men were all hanged by the neck
but me, I pled my belly
and I won a brief reprieve
and slipped away one day in secret
and out of history
Aye, aye…
©1998 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
In Perfect Time
The hands of the clock met
sometime near sunset
footstep on footstep
I must have followed you down
followed you down
down to the water
out over the river
giver to giver
we move in perfect time
Four oars in a long boat
stroking together
excellent weather
for traveling somewhere
With dolphins beside us
and seagulls to guide us
we pull in a nimbus
that seems to circle us ‘round
circle us ‘round
‘round like we’re all one
round like the setting sun
dusk cloaks the horizon
and we move in perfect time
Four oars in a long boat
stroking together
excellent weather
for traveling somewhere
Four oars in a long boat
stroking together
excellent weather
for traveling somewhere
©1998 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
Terminal
I rolled my suitcase the length of the airport
every flight cancelled after the weather report
what is the difference if we all are grounded?
we’re in between everywhere, clutching maps, confounded
some have made plans for the very last minute
made reservations know what they will wear in it
how will it feel to cross over the finish line?
nobody's talking about it, no one's got time
the wheel spins, the dice roll, we've played along this far
how brief the spells of the crowned heads and judges are
who made this game up? I know that I didn't
so why should I care if I lose it or I win it?
I watch the lightning explode from the cloud cover
ripping the sky apart, shining light all over
I could be riding that, I could be glowing
pure energy for a split second, all knowing
then swallowed up by the surrounding darkness
freed from emotion, plunged into nothingness
I could be that where that is nowhere special
away from the bone, the blood, nerve, hormone and muscle
we could be riding that, we could be glowing
pure energy for a split second, all knowing
©1998 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
At home in Paradise
for Jason Smart
Fragrant and balmy
breezes through palm leaves
Sapphire Shores of North Lido
at home in paradise
we were eternal
sun-kissed, brimming and barefoot
Sarasota
When the storms hit hard and fast
threatening with thunder
you strung your charms like jewelry
and said I love you
and will forever
wear this close and remember…
warm to the touch
fate, luck and trust
carry us forward
Once, we went dancing
on New Year’s morning
gulls laughed, waves soaked our clothing
the day was shining
and we were crying
beauty, beautiful
sunken in soft sugar sand
How far my darling
have we since traveled
on pavement through cities in foul air
the causeway of memory
keeps us connected
listen close and remember…
warm to the touch
fate, luck and trust
carry us forward
©1996 Suzanne McDermott/Drexel Road Music (ASCAP) All Rights Reserved
