I was sitting by a river when the thought occurred to me
There are a hundred thousand rivers that we never even see
They are the boundaries of all we know of truth and right and wrong
And I have written some examples for you here within my song
Some are bridged and some are forded, some are swollen from the rains
Some are the ultimate result of all our joy and all our pains
But when the rivers in your life are full and starting to wash down
You've got to drink up the river before you drown

Chorus: You've got to drink up the river,
             You've got to drink up the river,
                 You've got to drink up the river before you drown
         You've got to drink up the river,
             You've got to drink up the river,
                 You've got to drink up the river before you drown!

And through our nation's history, her times of peace and war
An overwhelming wave of misery has washed up on our shore
They did not ask for any fortune, just a corner and a plate
And how they shone with pride and honor as they made our country great
But migrants now are deportees, and more are turned away
We've forgotten it's the immigrants who made our fame today
Our salvation is that flood: white, yellow, red,& black & brown
We've got to drink up that river before we drown

         Chorus

We are surrounded by technology, a flood that's rising still
And we are praying we'll survive it or we're sure we never will
And all our speed and skill and reach will soon be taking us to space
It's a great day in the morning for our funny human race
But we're frightened of our future and we're scared to move along
So we scream that our technology is dangerous and wrong
Back-to-nature cannot save us but the stars could be our crown
If we can drink up this river before we drown

         Chorus

There's a river of humanity that's passing through your life
There is a sea of heavy sorrows and a stream of pain and strife
There is a river of tomorrow that will carry you away
And there's an ocean full of endless love to fill each passing day
There are rivers all around you in the life you have to live
All the rivers you've been given and the ones you have to give
So sing out this final message to the people all around
You've got to drink up the river before you drown

         Chorus

Dumb as dirt and twice as mean, such a son makes Mother crazy
Foul as sewers I have seen, ugly, loutish, large and lazy
That's the child I've had to raise, what's a mom to do?
Drag him in an ocean cave and stay to watch him, too

Chorus: Son of mine you've been a disappointment since your birth
         Now I've had to bury you in this cold Northern earth
         I know you would be sorry if you weren't so very dead
         But you never listened to a word I said

Everybody has to rest, even I got sleepy
Sonny left our little nest on errands cruel and creepy
Came back with a haunch of man gnawed down to the bone
Left each night from that day on as I slept like a stone

         Chorus

Vikings gathered in their hall, heroes all in war delighting
When my Grendel came to call, he was met with mighty fighting
One among them took his arm, ripped it off for good
Chased him to our ocean home and killed him where he stood

         Instrumental

When I found my wine was spiked, it was far too late to aid him
Though there wasn't much I liked I was often glad I made him
So I must avenge him now, what's a mom to do?
If he was yours anyhow, I'll bet that you would too

         Chorus

And the very saddest part is that I chose it on my own
I let him run my thoughts around to streets I'd never known
He drove me to distraction but I gave him all the keys
He drove me from my sanity and quickly to my knees

And the very saddest moment was the moment of goodbye
I knew I had just let him go without a decent try
He wore me while I shimmered and discarded me at last
He wore me out with overuse and then our times were past

         And of all sad words of tongue or pen,
         The saddest ones are these, "It might have been"

And the very saddest memory is all I didn't say
And all the things I could have done that somehow got away
I cannot blame him half as much as I must blame my fear
It's all that makes me want to die and all that keeps me here

And the very saddest story is to say it might have been
And if we never try at all we never have to win
The losing is much easier, it's only fear and pain
If I win once it only means I have to win again

         And of all sad words of tongue or pen,
         The saddest ones are these, "It might have been" (X2)

Crystal Singer, do you hear the crystal cry
Does it cut your soul; each small goodbye?
Waiting for that final farewell chord
Piercing to the heart like crystal sword

Crystal Singer, bride of spore betrothed in song
Will the silent spore that makes you strong
Also make you slave to Ballybran
Aching still to leave it when you can

Bridge: When the crystal song is floating free
         Stealing all your time and memory
         Is the endless joy you have today
         Worth the price tomorrow has to pay?

Crystal Singer, carving on a crystal hill
Torn between the wind and crystal will
Living out your doom without regret
Ageless actress on a crystal set

         Instrumental

         Bridge

Crystal Singer, do you hear the crystal cry
Does it cut your soul; each small goodbye?
Waiting for that final farewell chord
Is the crystal curse its own reward?

I'm the beat of your heart
In the guise that you wear
I'm the spark in your eye
For the love that you dare
I live deep in your breast
Feel me move, feel me rise
In your heart, in your soul
In your eyes

I am Lord, I am Light
Shining bright on the Earth
I am Love, and your soul
I will guide to rebirth
I am strength to be free
From all fear, if you're wise
In your heart, in your soul
In your eyes

I am Death, I touch all
I will come as I must
Bringing comfort and rest,
For your souls are my trust
And reunion my gift
Beyond death is the prize
For your heart, for your soul
For your eyes

I will pulse in your blood
I will ring from your core
When the Lady, my love,
Gives you flesh once more
You will meet and remember
The loves of your lives
For your heart and your soul
Are my eyes

I am Lord, I am Love
I'm the beat of your heart
I am Lord, I am Life
I'm the seed of your start
I am Lord, hear me laugh,
Feel me move, feel me rise
In your heart, in your soul
In your eyes

In your heart, in your soul
In your eyes

Chorus: We are not the heroes, all the words we say can never change it
         We are not the heroes, rewrite history or rearrange it
         We are not 'the white hats', they are not 'the black'
         And none of us on either side can save our children
         On the day that we attack
         
I watch my babies sleeping, and they are barely two
They look out on a universe that's magical and new
I sit here and imagine, in this smug, heroic nation
What my children will look like next year
As they die of radiation

We all move our missiles closer to our enemies, until
We are forced to use computers to decide just when to kill
But computers have no judgement, or no love or hope or fear
So mistakes are that much easier
And nightmares cluster near

         Chorus

I do not sing of spirits, so you're probably not scared
You couldn't do a thing about it, even if you cared
You are helpless pawns of masters, or you're blind and deaf and dumb
And you're also not responsible                       ("all so" ? - C. ;-)  )
For what surely has to come

Some are dying of diseases, so we're proud that we're not ill
If we cannot push the button, it's not our fault bombs can kill
Though we never reach to help, we didn't make the stumbler fall
When our children feel the atom's kiss
We'll share no blame at all

         Chorus

Chorus: Shai Hulud, send me a great worm, send me the courage to ride it well
         Shai Hulud, send me way to change the nightmare that Spice foretells
         Shai Hulud, give me a new way, and vengeance for all who died
         Shai Hulud, give me worm to ride
         
My homeworld was a water dream that I had left behind
Arrakis and the Spice had filled the corners of my mind
My mother was beside me, Father's ring was in my hand
I started up the drumming and we crossed the desert sand

I learned the ways of Fremen, and I taught them mine as well
We trained an army twice as fierce as any spawned in Hell
I had to prove my manhood if I wished to hold command
So I started up the drumming and I waited, hook in hand

         Chorus

I've drunk the Maker's waters, and I've searched each future path
And nothing in those visions can prevent the days of wrath
So I gather up the army for a final bloody stand
And we start the thumper drumming, and we ride across the sand

The tales and songs will live beyond the ending of my days
But all that I have felt and loved will pass too soon away
I'll walk into my future knowing every step by heart
And none will ever guess how much I dread to play my part

         Chorus

Chorus: Ivory Rose, I see your eyes in the petals of my bed
         They teach me more than all the highs that dance around my head
         Ivory Rose, oh Ivory Rose, you fit me like a glove
         Ivory Rose, you fill my garnet heart with love

You listened to my silver songs through all the diamond snows
And as the emerald leaves returned, I felt the golden glows
Of early love begin to fill my heart with treasures no one knows
You gave the spring to me with an ancient ivory rose

         Chorus
         
The love I found in your sapphire eyes is nestled into my soul
In the kisses of your ruby mouth my hollow heart grew whole
And came to know the touch that sows desire, a flower of fire that grows
And burns my pride to cinders, how I love you, Ivory Rose

         Chorus

Ivory Rose, Ivory Rose....

     C              FMaj7          G                  E7
When I was born and taken home all snuggled close and warm
  Am             Dm                  Dsus4         G
I didn't know at all that there were defects in my form
    C                  Dm                 E7               Am 
The years and all they brought to me have left their marks behind
       Dm          C                 G                 C 
But if someone can love me still I'm sure that I won't mind

      Dm        C            E7              Am      
I can only wish someone will know just how I feel
    F                C              G               C 
And love me when I'm shabby, quite enough to make me real


I've often heard the stories of the ones that love made real
And often I have thought that I would someday learn to feel
I sit here only watching at the borders of my life
And the fear of never being loved has pierced me like a knife

I can only wish someone will know just how I feel
And love me when I'm shabby, quite enough to make me real


Now someone special in my life has made my wish occur
In spite of my misshapen form and shabby worn-out fur
I know that I am loved each time I see that someone's eyes
They tell me I am real in ways that nothing can disguise

And I have got my wish for someone who knows just how I feel
He's loved me, though I'm shabby, quite enough to make me real


Now all you ladies worried 'cause your shape is not quite true
And all you men with loved-off fur and scalp that's showing through
And all you minds with failing seams and fear where all can see
Take heart from this true lesson from a worn-out shabby me

And I can only hope that someone will know just how you feel
And love you, though you're shabby, quite enough to make you real

Am                  C
Beside the world we live in  
  G        C       Em
Apart from day and night
                       Am
Is a world ablaze with wonder
   Em           Am
Of magic and delight

Like a magic crystal mirror 
My computer lets me know
Of the other world within it
Where my body cannot go

         Dm
Chorus: You can only see the shadows
            Am           G Am
         Of electrons on a screen
                  Dm               Am
         From the world inside the crystal
                 Em            Am
         That no human eyes have seen

The computer is a gateway
To a world where magic rules
Where the only law is logic
Webs of words the only tools

Where we play with words and symbols
And creation is the game
For our symbols have the power
To become the things they name

         Chorus

Now you who do not know this world
Its dangers or its joys
You take the things we build there
And you use them as your toys

You trust them with your fortunes
Or let them guard your lives
From the chaos of creation
Just their final form survives

         Chorus

Call us hackers, call us wizards
With derision or respect
Still our souls are marked by something
That your labels can't affect

Though our words are touched by strangeness
There is little we can say
You would only hear the echo
Of a music far away

         Chorus

A cover for your back, a hand across your heart
A warm and gentle breath across your spine
A tingle in the touch, the fires begin to start
And love becomes intoxicating wine
The night is full of spark
The velvet of the dark
Is warm and soft like fingertips that never leave a mark
And even if we only sleep the fires are banked inside
We waken in each others' arms and ride and ride and ride

Chorus: When the world is racing to attack
         Let me be the wall against your back
         Honey, you just come up to my room
         And let me cup you like a spoon

You touch me and I burn, I kiss you and you steam
And when we make connections we explode
And each time we're apart is one more fever dream
Just waiting for the next sweet overload
The night is full of spark
The velvet of the dark
Is warm and soft like fingertips that never leave a mark
You reach for me again and though I'm weary to the core
A voice so deep inside is crying "More, more, more!"

         Chorus

Once there was a Ship of Stone
That orbited a mighty Star
And from it flew the First Ship's crew
Whose children we all are

And no matter how long we've drawn our track
Still over our shoulder looking back
Through the hydrogen's hiss and the methane's moan
Past the polymer clouds of the Dead Stars' shrouds
All our roads run back to the Ship of Stone


There the First Crew all were made
And wakened from unknowing sleep
By the boundless sight of Heaven's height
And the fires of the Deep

And no matter how strange the forms we wear
How warped and wild, how rich and rare
How changed we've made the seed we've sown
We are blood of those who, singing, rose
From the body of the Ship of Stone


And there our own ships' frames were formed
To grow blue-glowing wings
And spread them wide to the farthest tide
Where the last lone beacon sings

And no matter how tight the net they knot
Of our web where the Wheel of Light is caught
How strange and lost, how grand they've grown
They, too, desire all Heaven's fire
Our comrades since the Ship of Stone


Once there was a Ship of Stone
Clear domed, broad hulled and clean
Where the air shown blue, through whose holds birds flew
And whose decks were growing green

And no matter odd these things may seem
As madly mazed as shards of dream
They are not a dream that you dream alone
All ships, all men, are of one kin
We shall not forget the Ship of Stone.