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Life’s Suite

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I (Adagio)

Days begin

Light falls in

We are not alone

Spring again

Flowers bend

‘Til their seeds are sown

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Caught on a cloud

Wond’rin which way to go

to get to  the ground

They’re tryin’ to reach ground

 

Days goes by

You and I

How long must we roam

Seasons fly

Night birds cry

On a journey home

 

Caught in a cloud

Wondering which way to go

to get to the ground

We’re tryin’ to reach ground

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II (Allegro)

Came home from school my ma was not at home

Went by your house then called you on the phone

You were out high stepping with some other guy

Dancin’ in the street you know your shoes don’t lie

 

(Chorus)

Or wasn’t it you—only a dream again

Suddenly  blue  Got to get  a grip—again---

 

[Chorus]

Meet you down town about a half past four

Buy you somethin’ pretty then we’ll see a show

Keep you all night make your daddy mad

Show me better lovin’ than your boyfriends had

(Break) (2nd time)----grip again---grip again

You know I like to take you drivin’ when the stars are out

Open all the windows let the music shout

Way out in the country and we’ll park the car

Walkin’ to the river cuz it ain’t too far-----------

 

Take you back home in the mornin’ to a brand new dawn

Sneakin’ through the backyard with the sprinklers on

In the side gate to your bedroom door

One last kiss I’ll be back for more

One last kiss I’ll be back for more

One last kiss I’ll be back for more

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III (Andante)

Happy when we wake up put the coffee on

Do some morning pages and water the lawn

This will be my gift to you

To stick around and see it through

 

Any time you want me call out the back door

Livin in nature is a fine thing for sure

You will be a gift to me

We got all we need to be

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Homage to Jobim

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I can't believe you're really gone

Now I'll never hear that sweet Brazilian song

Drifting down the streets of Rio

Somewhere in that upward sky

If you're listening please heed this plaintive call

And answer with a song

 

Jobim- send me a song from up above

So that I may sing it for all your friends down here

Jobim- make it a samba lullaby

I thank you for the songs you gave us all these years

 

Jobim- where is that lilting melody

that your guitar was always the first to find

Jobim- listen again to the wave and sky

and bring it back to all in sweet Brazilian song

 

Once I saw  a sad-eyed lady sing your song

It was a meditation on her solitude

Then I knew that someone somewhere had heard an angel's song

Beating on a batukada rhythm, wings a flappin' with a samba motion

At some heavenly carnival

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Trail  of  Tears    

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Lessons are for learning that's what teachers used to tell us when we were in school

Always tell the truth just listen to your heart and never ever play the fool

 

You got to see beyond the morning when you're cold and empty and there ain't no place to hide

You gotta walk into the colors of the day to try and turn away the pain inside

 

I know I’ll never lose the moment when you chose to walk me soft upon the open plain

The grass was high your windblown hair and both our hearts knew we were heading home again

 

I remember what you told me when we said we would be lovers till the end of years

You said that if another ever came between us that would lead you to a trail of tears

 

(Chorus)

We yana we ya heya, we yana we ya heya

We yana we ya heya na we yana he ya

We yana we ya heya, we yana we ya heya

We yana we ya heya na we yana he ya

 (Break)

And in the end we start again

We are all the same inside

And then the days turn to the wind

Take that lonely dream and ride

 

You said you never saw me comin' when we met again that night at the Blue Saloon

You said you wouldn't be a victim once again to the magic in that pale moon

 

I said the story's never over till the pages empty white and the voices fail

You said the dreamer always find a way to make himself a hero in a fairytale

 

Why couldn't love be like a stone of granite, takes the ice and rain and lasts a thousand years?

Or were we meant to wander aimless searching for a friend to only find a trail of tears?

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Sicily

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If you won’t have me here

I want no one

If you won’t see me clear

I’ll hide the sun

 

If you won’t be my girl

Then life is wrong

I’ll move to Sicily

They like sad songs

 

(Refrain)

They always lock their gates

Hold grudges long past late

Won’t loan their motorcars

And curse the sea

 

If this is love my dear

Sing sweet to me

I’ll tune my guitar and

accompany

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Finding History

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Was there really anything between us

I would like to know—think I need to know

Answered by this searching to find history

to make a peace with thee

then I’ll let it go-------Ohhhhh    Ohhhhh  

I’m better on my own

 

I said let’s be friends you said “then we’re enemies”

How can that be so—know I need to know

I was taken and you were calling out to me

I fell for thee

Could not let go------Ohhhh    Ohhhh   

We’re better on our own

 

(Refrain)

Living in the shadows of a world I’ve come to own

Lately it’s been pulling at my sleeves

Watching cars rush by me in the striped no passing zones

While I slow to observe the falling leaves

 

Seasons wander by as children play their games

Waiting to be told—they need the stories told

You are taking time write your fairytales

Hope your words won’t fail

Don’t let them go--------Ohhhh  Ohhhh 

When are we finally grown?

 

When the days grow dark and we are weary

Would you like to know—do you want to know?

If I’m happy and I ever think of you

Did you love me true

Just let it go-------

Ohhhhh    Ohhhhh

I hope you find a home

I hope you find a home

I hope you find a home

 

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Whitefish Song

 

Had I known you then

Had it been in some small town so far away

I would have run to you, eyes to eyes and pulled you in

Saying to you: "Please let this love begin. 

Let it start right now I have much to say

Let the song begin, hear the fiddles play

For the morning sun has not broken noon

We could run to the beach, we could be there soon"

 

Had it been in Spring- swallows turning in the lilac air

Your mother was gardening, saying don't stay out too late

Knowing in her heart love had found its fate

You're a diamond fixed in this gypsy ring

Or the softened rain making sidewalks sing

You take my hand with the school bell's ring

We are in the park doing everything

An afternoon that storytellers use to take you in

 

Had you danced in my backyard

all the neighbors inside with their TV's on

Your eyes a-sparkling like a million stars over our town

Dancing with you, making my love go 'round

It goes round and round like a leaf in stream

You would take my heart when the earth was green

The night so blue in the skyline dream

And the Northern Lights riding in between

 

Somewhere in between

An age of innocence and this crazy city scene

I saw you in the light, like a hero from my childhood dreams

Or some movie when love comes finally clean

And the lovers dance on the open ground

While the clouds collide with the thunder's sound

Then the credits roll out the cast and crew

And some singer sings while it fades to blue

The way I feel about you is like a love song with no end

 

Where are you in reference to the wind

I close my eyes and find no comfort there

If I could see you now, if I could hold you again

We'd know in our hearts life begins again

Let it start right now we have all this time

Let the song begin the poets weave their rhyme

We are both so young and our feet so free

We are sons and daughters of our harmony 

 

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Sun is Goin Down

 

Sun is goin down moon a comin bright

Crickets on the prowl stars a flashin light

Sun is goin down

Owl in the air cars are drivin home

Sky a gatherin night dogs’ll start to roam

Sun is goin down

 

Mountains fade to gray coyote on the field

Children playin games fiddle starts a reel

Mountains fade to gray

Greasewood in the air nighthawk dips a wing

Lovers on the porch choir starts to sing

Mountains fade to gray

 

River on the rise mammas rock their babes

Mice a skitterin out music starts to fade

River on the rise

Breeze a whisperin sweet TV’s flicker blue

Squirrels in their nests cooks a mixin roux

River on the rise

 

Dove a cooin low grampa falls asleep

Sprinklers on the lawn  gramma starts to sweep

Dove a cooin low

Doors a creakin shut children comin home

Birds are on the wires widows all alone

Dove a cooin low

 

Sun is goin down moon a comin bright

Crickets on the prowl stars a flashin light

Sun is goin down

Owl in the air cars are drivin home

Sky a gatherin night dogs’ll start to roam

Sun is goin down

 

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© Cravath 2017