1. |
Rise Up Singing
02:58
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Rise Up Singing
© Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
Seen in the light of reason
Seen in the light of a clear blue day
Some people I can’t please them, but
I’ve got to please myself I say,
Oh I’ve got to please myself I say
No matter the time or season
When I get out of my own way
Where there is rhyme there’s reason
And a song to sing most every day
Oh a song to sing most every day
(Chorus)
And I will rise up singing
Lift my voice and soar
For as long as I am breathing
Song is what my voice is for
Oh, song is what my voice is for
Some days my wheels are spinning
I can’t figure out which way to go
I’m searching for new beginnings
And a high follows every low, oh
Oh, a high follows every low
Sometimes the words flow freely
And a melody comes out to play
And inspiration leads me
To another song, another day
Oh, another song, another day
(Chorus)
(Bridge)
I won’t lie to you
Some days I feel blue and wrong
But I have a choice
I can lift my voice in song
Seen in the light of reason
Seen in the light of a clear blue day
Some people you can’t please them, but
You’ve got to please yourself I say,
Oh, you’ve got to please yourself I say
(Chorus)
And you can rise up singing
Lift your voice and soar
For as long as you are breathing
Song is what your voice is for
Oh, song is what your voice is for
Oh, song is what your voice is for
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2. |
Harvee's Song
04:26
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Harvee's Song
© 2012 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
My love she went out walking, down in the piney wood
She came upon a sunbeam, bathed in light she stood
It felt like a warm blanket, cast down from above
It wrapped itself around her, while she dreamed of our love
(Chorus) If I could have one wish, or be granted one more dream
It would be to hear my songbird sing
My love, she went out walking down below the canyon rim
She spied a raven’s feather, from wings that owned the wind
It rose upon a thermal and circled high above
Like that raven’s feather, her heart soared with our love
(Chorus)
(Bridge) Some say she imagines me, but even if she does
Whenever my love dreams of me, her heart soars with our love
(Chorus)
My love sits by the campfire, the flames flicker in her eyes
The songbird caught within her throat, beats its wings to fly
Her friends sing all around her, she loves those melodies
Then like an angel lifts her voice and sets my songbird free
(Chorus)
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3. |
Dust Tracks in the Road
04:12
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Dust Tracks in the Road
© 2012 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
In South Dakota how those prairie winds did blow
Set out from Yankton, wagon sagging ‘neath her load
To Harding County we set out to stake our claim
Me and sweet Alma, my lovely flower of the Plains
I staked a good claim, built a small tar-paper shack
Tilled up a garden, strung up a clothesline in the back
Grain elevators sprung up like steeples on those Plains
Beneath their promise we sowed our fields of grain
(Chorus) Oh those clouds rolled ‘cross the Plains,
Vessels empty of the rain and
The ground beneath us baked and broke in veins
Not a living thing could grow,
So we packed our goods to go
And the only thing we left behind
Were dust tracks … dust tracks in the road
Ryegate, Montana … foreman in the lumber yard
Lived in the guesthouse, pay was fair but times were hard
We had a daughter, she could do no wrong in my eyes
Could not make ends meet, the good Lord knows how hard we tried
(Chorus) Oh those prairie winds would blow
But how was I to know
It was the seeds of my misfortune they would sow?
And with our wagon sagging low,
We moved to Buffalo and
The only thing we left behind
Were dust tracks … dust tracks in the road
I worked the sawmill. Alma birthed a baby boy
My wife and family, they were my pride and joy
Then influenza, with the soldiers on the train
Took my sweet Alma, left me no reason to remain
(Chorus) Oh those prairie winds did blow,
They whispered in my ear
You might find some greener pastures
Not far down the road from here
We packed all that we could stow,
To California we would go and
The only thing we left behind
Were dust tracks … dust tracks in the road
Oh – how those prairie winds would blow
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4. |
One By One
03:27
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One by One
© 2011 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI), Elisabeth Williamson/Through-the-Mist Music (ASCAP); Lon Williamson/Dunebilly Music (BMI)
The silver slipper of the moon steps down from the horizon
She turns the lights out when she leaves the room
The evening fog comes coursing through
Leaving this hillside damp with dew
Listen to the Chuck-will’s-widow’s tune … and
(Chorus)
One by one
One by one, they flicker on
The stars come out and shine on me and you
One by one
Two by two, me and you
Watch falling stars and fireflies kiss the dew
Here in this moment the sublime
Opens up our hearts and minds
To treasure that is way beyond compare
Someday when we’re old and gray
I will hold your hand in mine and say
Darling close your eyes I’ll take you there … and
(Chorus)
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5. |
This Garden Place
03:59
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This Garden Place
© 2011 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
My hands and feet are filthy, my hair’s in disarray
I’m digging in my front yard on a muggy August day
I feel fine and I’ve found grace in this garden place
Bees in conversation, butterflies abound
Mockingbird in yonder tree, makes a joyful sound
He feels fine and he’s found grace in this garden place
(Chorus) Something’s always blooming Summer, Fall or Spring
Winter slows and sleeps the ground, so playful while it dreams
A brilliant flash of red, a glint of emerald green
A Ruby-throat swoops by, rests on a branch and preens
Beneath the wild blueberry bush, kicking up the leaves
Towhee dressed in orange and black is singing “drink your tea”
He feels fine and he’s found grace in this garden place
(Chorus)
People stop to wonder, beauty they have found
Here’s a banquet for the soul rising right up from the ground
They’re for a moment mesmerized and what was lost is found
They sip this sweet elixir and the knots just come unwound
They feel fine, they’ve found grace in this garden place
They feel fine, they’ve found grace in this garden place
… in this garden place
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6. |
'56 Blue Chevy
04:12
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'56 Blue Chevy
© 2011 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
Eating lunch this afternoon I looked up to see
A poster of a little girl that reminded me of me
She was standing in her frilly dress, it was halfway up her thighs
By a ’56 blue Chevy, though it was in black & white
My momma used to drive one to the Dixie Day Old Store
She’d park it in the hot sun right outside of the front door
She’d drag me in real quickly with my little bro’ in tow
Buy some discount white bread then she’d say, “It’s time to go.”
(Chorus) Oh I hated that old Chevy though it was my shade of blue
She could never get it started, and I’d have to help her to
She would hoist me o’er the fender with my underwear exposed
And I’d have to hold the choke down ‘til she got that thing to go
Oh she’d have to coax us several times from the cookies and the cakes
We’d whine and beg for something sweet but rarely would she cave
Oh and she’d grab her bags, my brother’s hand, wipe dirt off of his face
Then head back to the parking lot where stood my big disgrace
(Chorus)
Now the fender burned my belly, by the noise I was undone
Hanging o’er that greasy hell, I was baking in the sun
And for those sudden backfires I could never quite prepare
In mortal fear I dangled ‘til she dragged me out of there
(Chorus)
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7. |
Rio
04:47
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Rio
© 2010 Mary Elaine Mahon & Steve Friedman/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
Through rocky crags she tumbles, the barbed wire snakes along
It trails her banks, it mars her flanks, but the Animas flows strong
Through paintbrush fields and columbine, through monkshood and wild rose
Past avalanche, abandoned mines – she ferries her lost souls
(Chorus) Rio, Rio, de las Animas Perdidas, last of the free she flows
Rio, Rio, down from the San Juan Mountains, into New Mexico
A legend of a mountain man in leather gloves and jeans
In a T-shirt, sleek, knife in its sheath, from a photograph he beams
All sinew stands the steward, his flinty resolve strong
He’ll mark his days upon this Earth, until the wire is gone
(Chorus) Rio, Rio, de las Animas Perdidas, last of the free she flows
Rio, Rio, down from the San Juan Mountains into New Mexico
Skip Conrad he went missing, some thought him hurt or lost
But made of barbed wire by his trailer, stood Jesus on the cross
A get-well card mailed to a friend arrived after he’d gone
Upon the margin he had written, “All the wire is gone…”
(Chorus) Rio, Rio, de las Animas Perdidas, last of the free she flows
Rio, Rio, down from the San Juan Mountains, she ferries his lost soul
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8. |
Rabbit Hole
04:20
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Rabbit Hole
© 2011 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
I sit beside the rabbit hole,
And I fear what may come out
“The time has come,” I tell myself,
“To tear this old house down”
It lingers like an afterthought,
Hunkered down behind the dunes
As if its architect had danced
To some mad hatter’s tune
The kitchen’s dark, I can’t abide,
Those claustrophobic rooms
It makes me want to run outside,
Jump in that ocean blue
(Chorus) The rabbit waits and watches while quietly I sit
Decides it’s safe to wander out and join me for a bit
I’ll tear it down right to the ground,
With all that I hold dear
I’ll vanquish fear, I’ll dry my tears,
Wait ‘til my vision clears
In silence sit together, me and my golden muse
He says “It’s time to seize the day”
then vanishes from view
The thrill of thoughts unoccupied,
of nothing left to lose
“The time has come,” I hear a voice,
“Honor your vision true”
(Chorus) How sweet is revelation,
when the missing link is found
“The time has come” I tell myself “to tear this old
house down … to tear it down”
I sit beside the rabbit hole
And I fear what may come out
The time has come
I steal myself and tear this old house down
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9. |
Six Pelicans
03:02
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Six Pelicans
© 2010 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
It’s sunset on the inlet and the tide is roaring through
The evening sun paints everyone in amber honeyed hues
… in amber honeyed hues
Six Pelicans fly over and eclipse a quarter moon
Transparent or transcendent, expanding out beyond this room
The window is wide open and the wind is blowing through
… the wind is blowing through
The window is wide open and the wind is blowing through
… ooooooo
Six pelicans fly over and eclipse a quarter moon
I wasn’t asking for redemption or even searching for a sign
I was quietly observing when stillness fell upon my mind
… stillness fell upon my mind
I was quietly observing when stillness fell upon my mind
Maybe this is heaven and I’m only passing through
Where the latitudes of reason meet the longitudes of truth
… the longitudes of truth
Where the latitudes of reason meet the longitudes of truth
This is all that I remember and all I’m going to
The window is wide open, and my heart is open too
… my heart’s open to you
The window is wide open and my heart’s open to you
… oooooooo
Six Pelicans fly over and eclipse a quarter moon
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10. |
The Selkie Bride
05:28
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The Selkie Bride
© 2009 Mary Elaine Mahon & Tom Nelly/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
Silver slipstream through dark water
Slides upon the shore
Sheds her skin, those dark eyes shining
Him they do implore
Lonely boy on the cliff above her
Spies her bathing there
Never has he seen such beauty
It’s more than he can bear
(Chorus) He feels the tugging of love undenied
Breaking inside him like waves
Scrambling down to the rocks way below
He fell within her gaze
Into her eyes he stares with wonder
Windows to the deep
Wraps his shawl of wool around her
Steals her skin to keep
(Chorus) He feels the tugging of love undenied
Breaking inside him like waves
Launching his skiff on the incoming tide
A Selkie bride he takes
She bore him three sons and
Two dark comely daughters
A loving wife she did make
But strange was her gaze
And unearthly her singing
Beneath the moon she would bathe
(Chorus) She feels the tugging of love and of tides
Breaking inside her like waves
Today her young children found her Selkie hide
In the attic hid away
(Part 2)
So she flew like the wind to claim her Selkie skin
Fled straightaway down to the rocky shore
There she dove into the sea and as a seal swam free
Beyond the breakers, turned her gaze once more
Though she was held against her will;
even so, she loves them still
But they’ll wait in vain and for them she will yearn
And then she’ll turn
Silver slipstream through dark water
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11. |
Calusa
04:51
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Calusa
© 2012 Mary Elaine Mahon & Lisa Aschmann/Nashville Geographic (ASCAP)
We wait by the water, watch the tide as it rolls in
While the sun sinks beneath the waves
We search the horizon for the boats that bear our men
We knot our nets and count the days
The village feels empty like the missing tooth
That I trace over with my tongue
Still lies the water blanketing the oyster beds
I listen for their voices, hear no one … Calusa
(Chorus) We wait by the water, watch the tide as it rolls in
While the sun sinks beneath the waves
Upon the horizon, only seabirds sailing in
We knot our nets and count the days
We gather together like the seagulls on the beach
Work on our nets with worried hands
A call in the distance then the cackle of an owl
Sends a chill as it drifts ‘cross the sand … Calusa
(Chorus) We wait by the water, watch the tide as it rolls in
While the sun sinks beneath the waves
We search the horizon for the boats that bear our men
We knot our nets and count the days
The sound of their paddles drifts as music on the wind
Stirring the longing in my bones
Leaping like mullet we run schooling on the shore
Wading out to welcome them back home … Calusa
(Chorus) We wait by the water, watch the tide as it rolls in
While the sun sinks beneath the waves
Upon the horizon, only seabirds sailing in
Knots in our nets, a count of days … Calusa
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12. |
Honey Tree
04:33
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Honey Tree
© 2011 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
This morning I went walking out in a field of green and
I could see a great big live oak waiting there for me
Draped in moss its arms spread out so gracefully
I could hear the cardinals and the chickadees
Calling out to me
It was hot and so I laid down within its cool dark shade
And through its branches watched the squirrels at play
Time passed and with it my cares of the day
What exactly happened here is anybody’s say
(Chorus) Looked over at its trunk and saw a little door
I wondered why I hadn’t noticed that before
I looked a little closer, saw it was ajar
And a sign above it read,
“HERE IS WHERE YOU ARE,” here is where you are
It was dark and dim in there, but I could see some stairs
And they were leading down,
Leading deep down into who knows where?
A little light it beckoned me and curious I followed
I bet by now you’re thinking this tall tale’s
Too big to swallow
(Chorus) Upon a little table was a candle lit
Beside it was a comfy chair where I could sit
Oh and I sat down and in it I fell fast asleep
All that happened next is still a mystery
It’s still a mystery
I awoke and I found something
Had been dripping down
Forming an amber puddle on the ground
A strange sort of magic here was taking hold
I was covered in a blanket made of black and gold
Honeybees from the honey tree
(Chorus) I could feel their feet and feelers tickling
Their soft and certain humming strangely comforting
Safe and warm inside my cell I felt complete
Next thing that I knew those bees were feeding me
They were feeding me – honey from the honey tree
Quiet in my chamber I sat listening to the honeybees
I swear I heard them whispering to me
Next thing I awoke outside beneath that tree
Their words were flying circles in my memory,
Words of the honey bees in the honey tree
(Chorus) Sometimes the best advice is given free
And some days I am my own worst enemy
Oh but there is always honey here just look and see
For you are always welcome in this honey tree
Here with the honey bees in the honey tree
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13. |
So Small
03:07
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So Small
© 2012 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
So small, so utterly amazing
So small, into your blue I’m gazing
Past the night into the light of you
So small, Summer’s leaves have started changing
So small, lives around you re-arranging
Wanting you so much – you came too soon
So small upon your arm his wedding band
So small beside you through the night he stands
Born with Fall, in Winter you were due
So small, so utterly enchanting
So small, in my dreams you are dancing
I hear your childish laughter fill the room
So small, such tiny lips and tiny fingers
So small, captivated I must linger
You’re the sun and I’m your harvest moon
Autumn Lily … bloom
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14. |
Give It Up
03:59
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Give It Up
© 2012 Mary Elaine Mahon/Six Pelicans Publishing (BMI)
(Chorus) Oh when powerful emotions are pulsing through my veins
It’s a matter of wanting and needing and knowing that they’re not the same
It’s a matter of living and loving and letting loose the reins
It’s a matter of life and growing with each change
I’ll give it up to the wonder of each waking day
Give it up to discovery in finding my way
I’ll give it up to the hope that keeps my dreams alive
I won’t wait for time ‘cause it’s just passing by
(Chorus)
I’ll give it up to the wonder of life on this Earth
Give it up to discovering my own inner worth
I’ll give it up to the hope that keeps passions alive
I won’t wait for time ‘cause it’s just passing by
(Chorus)
I’ll give it up to the wonder of stars up above
I’ll give it up to discovering the power of love
I’ll give it up to the hope I’ll do more than survive
I won’t wait for time ‘cause it’s just passing by
I’ll give it up!
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Elaine Mahon Gainesville, Florida
With her 2017 release, REACH FOR THE STARS, Elaine Mahon has written a collection of songs that evoke a sense of wonder while inspiring hope and offering empowerment. Mahon's songs reflect her perspective as an astronomer, while remaining deeply rooted in the natural world we all live in. Mahon performs solo at festivals, venues and house concerts in Florida and throughout the Southeastern US. ... more
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