Music

Sample Tracks and lyrics are shown below for my album, Evenmere, A Song Cycle Based on the Novel The High House. A couple of people have mentioned that Sweetbird would make an excellent single.

EVENMERE

CARTER RETURNS (MY FATHER’S HOUSE)

THE LAST DINOSAUR

THE BOBBY’S SONG

THE LAMPLIGHTER (CHANT’S SONG)

NALEEWUATH

THE KEEPER OF TIME (ENOCH’S SONG)

FLIGHT TO THE TOWERS

OLD MAN CHAOS

THROUGH THE GATES OF DEEPEST SLUMBER

SWEETBIRD (DUSKIN CONFLICTED)

THE RAINBOW SEA

HEART OF STONE

NOTHING MAN/BATTLE IN THE WELL

VICTORY CELEBRATION

THE HIGH HOUSE

EVENMERE

Evenmere has all the answers
The questions are what’s hard to know
Choose a door, go down a hallway
Who’s to say how far you’ll go?
In a world that’s filled with wonder
I wonder where my childhood goes?
I will take the keys (For good and all)
I will take the keys (I’ll show them all)
I will take the keys (Don’t try to stop me)
I will win my father’s heart
I will win my father’s heart

My father always must be going
My father’s an important man
Enoch sometimes takes me fishing
It’s not the same, you understand
In a world that’s filled with magic
I’ll have it all at my command

I will take the keys (For good and all)
I will take the keys (I’ll show them all)
I will take the keys (Don’t try to stop me)
I will win my father’s heart
I will win my father’s heart

Wouldn’t it be wonderful?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful?
You could take the keys and see
What lies behind the door

Evenmere has all the answers
The questions are what’s hard to know
Choose a door, go down a hallway
Who’s to say how far you’ll go?
In a house that’s filled with millions
How can a boy be so alone?
I will take the keys (For good and all)
I will take the keys (I’ll show them all)
I will take the keys (Don’t try to stop me)
I will win my father’s heart
I will break my father’s heart

CARTER RETURNS (MY FATHER’S HOUSE)

Never thought I’d walk this way again
Up the path that brings me here to Evenmere’s front door
Never thought I’d see my old friends
Never thought I’d touch your hands
Ah, to touch your hands again!
My father’s house has been waiting a lifetime

Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome to us all
Welcome to the memories
The good ones and the bad
Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome one and all
Welcome to the only home I have ever had
My father’s house

Never thought I’d live to see again
This high house, the bedroom where my mother tucked me in
Never dared to dream I’d hear your voice
Your sweet voice singing in the wind
My father’s house has been waiting forever

Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome to us all
Welcome to the memories
The good ones and the bad
Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome one and all
Welcome to the only home I have ever had
My father’s house

Never thought I’d breathe this air again
Touch the red rose on the blue stained glass
Never thought you’d finally bring me back
I’ve been so alone and now I’m home at last

Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome to us all
Welcome to the memories
The good ones and the bad
Welcome, oh welcome
Welcome one and all
Welcome to the only home I have ever had

THE LAST DINOSAUR

Never should’ve come, never should’ve run
Never should’ve come slinking up my dark stair
Never should’ve done; it should never be done
It should never be done, but never say never
Life is full of unpleasantries, but you never should ever come looking for me

Come dance with me
The Last Dinosaur
Crumpets and tea
The Last Dinosaur
So nice to be
The Last Dinosaur
Last Dinosaur
(Repeat chorus)

Later in the evening I’ll have coffee, cakes, and bridge
Throw someone on the grill and play my banjo on the front porch

Know you should’ve known, should’ve known that you knew
That I’ve been in the world since the world’s been new
In the dust and dark I’ve been waiting for you
On the day you die, I’ll be waiting there too
If you ever have a moment’s despair,
Don’t look over your shoulder ‘cause I will be there

Come dance with me
The Last Dinosaur
Crumpets and tea
The Last Dinosaur
So nice to be
The Last Dinosaur
Come dance with me
The Last Dinosaur

Destroyer, deceiver, devourer of men
Root of all evil, dark leviathan
Last Dinosaur

Come dance with me, The
Crumpets and tea, The
So nice to be The
Come dance with me,
The Last Dinosaur

Come dance with me
The Last Dinosaur
Crumpets and tea
The Last Dinosaur
Come dance with me
The Last Dinosaur
Crumpets and tea
The Last Dinosaur

THE BOBBY’S SONG (BOMBS)

Uncertain days, unsettling nights
Everywhere you look there are bombs
The art of surprise, ain’t it a fright
Everywhere you look there are bombs
Say a single prayer
‘Cause everywhere you look there are bombs

Always glancing back over your shoulder
Waiting for the sirens to sing
Living in a world that is getting colder
Waiting for the bang bang bang bang bang

Stay out of sight, walk on tiptoe
‘Cause somewhere we’re making the bombs
We’re causing a scene; we want you to know
That down here we’re making the bombs

Always glancing back over your shoulder
Waiting for the sirens to sing
Living in a world that is getting colder
Waiting for the bang bang bang bang bang

When you’re strolling in a quiet place
You might find a bomb
Or taking children to the marketplace
We might have a bomb

Such happy lads, we’re so serene
Everywhere you look there are bombs
We’re certain the ends make up for the means
And everywhere you look there are bombs
Say a single prayer
‘Cause everywhere you look there are bombs
Everywhere you look there are bombs
Everywhere you look, we make bombs

THE LAMPLIGHTER (CHANT’S SONG)

I light the lamps, I light the suns
To the eight point of the compass
Though I love this job the most
Sometimes I get morose
I see the flaming of the stars
I can hear celestial trumpets
And the poetry of the endless sky
Brings tears to my eyes

I light the lamps, I light the suns
Like myriads of sparklers
Down the halls, up the stairs
I bear the torch of Evenmere
There were times when I was young
I acted far too heartless
I made a vow to recompense
Regardless of the consequences

But if not me
Who will it be?
If I falter, if I fail?
If I cannot win the fight
Will we go down to that long night?

I light the lamps, I light the suns
Though it sounds quite pretentious
It may seem like just a lark to say
I punch holes in the darkness
It’s only right, it’s only fair
That someone must have the intention
To ignite the stars and light the dawn
So life goes on and on and on

My mission is clear: light a candle in the darkness
I make my way down the halls of Evenmere

NALEEWUATH

Here there be tigers, running down the halls
Here there be tigers, padding to their lairs
Here there be tigers, sunning on verandas
Here there be tigers, sprawling on the stairs

Welcome to Naleewuath
Smell the wonder in the air
Welcome to Naleewuath
Jungle everywhere
Touch the trees, hear the thunder
Let the velvet drag you under
Welcome to Naleewuath

Welcome to Naleewuath
Welcome to Naleewuath

I just saw a sofa crawling down the stairs
I just saw an armchair grinning at me
Wasn’t there a lamp standing over there?
Fleeing for my life from a wardrobe

Here there be tigers, running down the halls
Here there be tigers, padding to their lairs
Here there be tigers, sunning on verandas
Here there be tigers sprawling on the stairs

Welcome to Naleewuath
Touch the trees, hear the thunder
Welcome to Naleewuath
Let the velvet drag you under
Welcome to Naleewuath

Welcome to Naleewuath
Welcome to Naleewuath

So we travel, passing neath the trees in our happy caravan
Our time means nothing, laughing with the wind, singing through the land
Here in this country, put me by a river, let me make my home
With the tigers, let me lay my head, let me rest my bones
Let me lay my head, let me rest my bones
Let me lay my head, let me rest my bones

KEEPER OF TIME (ENOCH’S SONG)

Every day I climb the towers
Up the stairways, down the halls
I’m the keeper of the hours
Nothing else at all
To this house the Lord God brought me
Gave me keys then went away
How I miss our conversations
So much I’d like to say

I have been empty without your love
I’ll never quit waiting; I’ll never forget you are mine
I will be with you, soon as I’m told my work is done
I must be patient, soon I’ll be going
I am the keeper
I am the keeper
I am the keeper
Yes, I am the keeper
I am the keeper
I am the keeper of time

So I do the task He gave me
Wind the clocks and make time go
Why he took me from my family
I may never know
In a house that stands eternal
What’s a century or two?
I could spend ten million hours
Dreaming just of you

FLIGHT TO THE TOWERS (INSTRUMENTAL)

OLD MAN CHAOS

I have this feeling the whole world is reeling
Pulsing and congealing on a quantum string
I have this notion we’re falling through ocean
Drifting to the bottom just to start again
I have this insight inside is out
So keeping me out would be a sin

Let me in from the darkness
Let me in from the cold
Let me in on your secrets
Let me in on your soul
Let me in
Drink me slow like some fine southern gin
Take the genie from the bottle
Let Old Man Chaos in

I am the shadows, the dust on the windows
Starlight, tornadoes, the hunch and the whim
I have this theory, far equals near
Here equals there, there isn’t anywhere
I’ll show you starkness, desperate and heartless
Splendid and tender and horror akin

The eye at the keyhole, the whispering threshold
Guillotine gaudies, the hat in the hand
The end of all Order, asking no quarter
Midnight spurned lover never more avenged
Lay down your lances, lay down the lightning
Enter the madness and call it your friend

THROUGH THE GATES OF DEEPEST SLUMBER

Last night as I lay sleeping
I went down to the Gates of Deepest Slumber
Down the crumbling stair
Twisted walls and misty halls
Then through the Gates of Deepest Slumber
Where everything happens in dream

All that you wanted
All that you need
All you’ve imagined
Or dared to believe
All you have wished for
Or ever conceived
Can be found through the Gates of Sleep

Here there be heroes; here there be dragons
Here there be children whiter than snow
Fight all your battles and talk to the women
Meet an old friend who passed on long ago

Last night as I lay sleeping
I went down to the Gates of Deepest Slumber
All the monsters were there
You bowed and smiled, dear Lady Order
We danced through the Gates of Deepest Slumber
Into the Palace of Dream

All that you wanted
All that you need
All you’ve imagined
Or dared to believe
All you have wished for
Or ever conceived
Can be found through the Gates of Sleep

SWEETBIRD (DUSKIN CONFLICTED)

Isn’t it all a little sad?
Isn’t it more than you bear?
Isn’t it just a trifle rough?
Isn’t it more than you can carry?
I don’t know where the sweet bird sings
Fly me to where the sweet bird sings

Isn’t it all a bit too grim
Never knowing what to do?
Is the love you give away the love you win?
Is that the love that gets you through?
I don’t know where the sweet bird sings
Fly me to where the sweet bird sings

Time is not envious, but time is never fair
Still, time can take us there
To where the sweet bird sings
(Repeats)

BESIDE THE RAINBOW SEA

Why should I try? What is it moves me so?
Always so cold, so empty
What calls me on? What is this siren song?
Drawn like a lodestone

I fall down
Won’t you come and lift me up
Hoist the mast, let me live
I fall down
Mend the sailcloth of my soul
Raise the wind, let me go
Help my yellow boat back
To the sea

Why am I torn between two ways to go?
Why do I not know?
I stay the course, my son, this rambly-tambly man
I do the best I can
Won’t somebody help me?

I fall down
Won’t you come and lift me up
Hoist the mast, let me live
I fall down
Mend the sailcloth of my soul
Raise the wind, let me go
Help my yellow boat back
To the sea

I hear her calling, calling on the Rainbow Sea
I see her dancin’, dancin’ on the waves
I hear her calling, calling on the Rainbow Sea
Won’t you come and comfort me?
Won’t you come and comfort me?

I fall down
I fall down

HEART OF STONE

When you were a lad, your dad told you not to cry
You learned to push hard through the pain
Came a day, you thought you saw a tear in his eye
Made you wonder when the rules had changed

So you build your walls
You build them all
Around your heart of stone
You raise the mortar and the trowel
And seal your heart of stone
And when they leave you don’t know why
They left you all alone
It’s only in your dreams when you escape this heart of stone
It’s only in your dreams when you escape from
This heart of stone

You’re older now, nothing has turned out as you planned
You sit staring blindly at your hands
You look out unresponding from behind your father’s face
Is this the way he meant to make the man?

NOTHING MAN/BATTLE OF THE WELL

Just outside the halls walks a nothing man
I see him now and then
I don’t know what he wants
Hasn’t got a face
He is as blank as sin
He is the nothing man
I don’t know what he wants
Who will stop the pain
In my heart?

Just inside the halls walks a nothing man
Somebody let him in
Though the doors were tightly drawn
Slips up from behind
Whispers all my sins
He is a no-mouth man
And he just talks on and on
Who will stop the pain
In my heart?

Could it be? (Don’t tell me)
Could it be? (I don’t want to talk about it)
Could it be? (Don’t show me)
Could it be? (Cause I won’t see)
Could it be? (Ah, no)
Could it be? (No, no)
Could it be? (Don’t make me look there)
Could it be the nothing man is me?

Deep inside us all
Lurks a nothing man
Very sly and thin
Hiding in our souls
Waiting to creep out
To be free again
Am I the nothing man?
Am I even here at all?
Who will stop the pain?
Who will stop the pain?
Who will stop the pain
In my heart?

VICTORY CELEBRATION (INSTRUMENTAL)

THE HIGH HOUSE
Oh, this house we live in
It is the house we’re given
This house we live in
We pass from door to door
This house we live in
It is the house we’re given
This house we live in
As those who’ve gone before

The ticking clocks and the massive walls
The faceless men in the hidden halls
The golden lamps in the chandeliers
The lonely nights and the awful fears
The stairways steep and the towers high
The silent keep and the baby’s cry
And the tears in a young girl’s eyes

Oh, this house we live in
It is the house we’re given
This house we live in
We pass from door to door
This house we live in
It is the house we’re given
This house we live in
As those who’ve gone before

The schemes and dreams, the ifs and whens
The monsters, tigers, army men
The ringing bells and the winding ways
The mystery lights and the hearts so brave
The summer yard and the winter gate
The attic beast and the power of hate
The gift of love when it’s not too late

In this house we live
Through its halls we walk
We learn to give and we learn to talk
We see the sun and we see the night
We see the wrong and we see the right
We pass through change as we pass through doors
In a house that will stand forevermore