The Wild Places Lyrics

Aurora Nova/The Wild Places
I was walking alone through the loft
San Juans
With a heart full of light
And a head full of songs
I was thinking of time
And how much it will cost
To recapture the souls
That we surely have lost.

In the cities and towns
There are millions who dream
But the traffic's so loud
That you can't hear them scream
There's a heaven on earth
That so few ever find
Though the map's in your soul
And the road's in your mind.

So many mountains before us
So many rivers to cross
Where is the wisdom to bring
Back the vision we've lost?

Can we gaze with the wonder of children
Into the deafening night
Has it gotten so dark
That you cannot remember the light?

When you sleep on the ground
With the stars in your face
You can feel the full length
Of the beauty and grace.

In the wild places man
Is an unwelcome guest
But it's here than I'm found
And it's here I feel blessed.

Forefathers
They came from Scandinavia
The land of midnight sun
And crossed the North Atlantic
When this century was young
They'd heard that in America
Every man was free
To live the way he chose to live
And be who he could be.

Some of them were farmers there
And tilled the frozen soil
But all they got was poverty
For all their earnest toil
They say one was a sailor
Who sailed the wide world round
Made home portgot drunk one night
Walked off the pier and drowned.

My mother was of Scottish blood
It's there that she was born
They brought her to America in 1924
They left behind the highlands
And the heather covered hills
And came to find America
With broad, expectant dreams
And iron wills.

My grandad worked the steel mills
Of central Illinois
His daughter was his jewel
His son was just his boy
For thirty years he worked the mills
And stoked the coke-fed fires
And looked toward the day
When he'd at last turn 65
And could retire.

Chorus
And the sons become the fathers
And the daughters will be wives
As the torch is passed from hand to hand
And we struggle through our lives
Though the generations wander
The lineage survives
And all of us
From dust to dust
We all become forefathers
By and by.

The woman and the man were wed
Just after the war
And they settled in this river town
And three fine sons she bore
One became a lawyer
And one fine pictures drew
And one became this lonely soul
Who sits here now
And sings this song to you.

(Repeat chorus)

Song of the Sea
Broken clouds along the blue horizon
The sun is setting and the wind is dying down
Outward bound
There is music all around
Can you hear itit's the
The song of the sea.

Sounding taken at the edge of darkness
The widest silences the heart will ever hear
You can steer to the stars along your lee
Set your bearings to the
The song of the sea.

And the song is as ancient as the days
And the wind upon the waves
Let it carry you away, so far away.

Trim my sails to greet the breaking morning
Past the headlands to the rolling, open sea
And it comes to me
I have never felt so free
As when I'm listening to the
The song of the sea.

And the song is as different as the days
And the wind upon the waves
Let it carry me away
So far away.

Some were meant to watch the
World from windows
And never look beyond the road
Beneath their feet
But for me
I was always meant to be
One forever chasing
The song of the sea.

Anastasia's Eyes
There's thorns on the cactus tree
There's thorns on the rose
There's thorns in the heart of me
That nobody knows
They tear at the flesh until
The tears start to rise
They form in my heart
But they fall from Anastasia's eyes.

And I was lost in the wilderness
Without courage or hope
I was setting my signal fires
And watching the smoke
When out of the smoke appeared
The sweetest surprise
And I knew I'd been found
When first I looked in
To Anastasia's eyes.

There's thorns on the cactus tree
There's thorns on the rose
There's thorns in the heart of me
That nobody knows
But finally I've found out where
My salvation lies
It lies in the love that lives
In Anastasia's eyes.

Blind To The Truth
In the overcrowded cities
Where the nights are bright as day
You spend your weekly paycheck
And turn your eyes away
From the crisis we've created
With our self-indulgent ways
Living like there's no tomorrow
Well that just might be the case.

Now they're tearing down the forests
In the jungles of Brazil
Without a second thought about
The species that they kill
But extinction is forever
And still the forests fall
And push it ever closer to
Extinction for us all.

Chorus
But you're so blind to the truth
Blind to the truth
And you can't see nothin'
You're so blind to the truth
Blind to the truth
But the judgement day is coming.

Now the politicians bicker
On the early evening news
Pledging their allegiance
To whoever they can use
And the corporate bosses snicker
As they watch the profits soar
They don't care what they make next month
Just as long as it is more.

The take our farms and marshlands
Drive nature to the wall
Just so they can build another
Goddamn shopping mall
And it doesn't seem to matter
If we cannot see the stars
Just as long as they can keep
On building obsolescent cars
'Cause they're so...

(Repeat chorus)

Now you cannot drink the water
And you cannot breathe the air
The sky is ripping open and you
Still don't seem to care
The soil is tired and toxic
And unable to provide
The clock is running out and
There is nowhere left to hid.

Now there's laws that we must live by
And they're not the laws of man
Can't you see the shadow
That moves across this land
The future is upon us
And there's so much we must do
And you know I can't ignore it
And, my friend, neither can you
Unless you're...

(Repeat chorus)

Bones In The Sky
Up through the branches
The stars shine above
On the arroyos
And mesas you loved
And as the moon rises
The black mountain mourns
For the old friend
He'll look on no more.

Jacks-in-the-Pulpit
Bones in the sky
Long winding rivers
That never ran dry
And the secrets she gathered
From the wild blowing sands
Breathed in her heart
And her hands.

I sing to your spirit
Where all my dreams dwell
The visionthe freedom
The life lived so well
And I sing in your canyons
And the echoes ring clear
And I wish somehow
You may still hear.

The Spirit Trail
The light is long
The sun is low
I'm riding fast across this dusty road
But I don't want to be
No, I don't want to be
Above the ridge an eagle flies
In lazy circles in the western skies
I want to fly with him
I want to walk the spirit trail.

I've seen them come
I've seen them go
Off to the oilfields and rodeos
To find a better way
They leave their native soil
But I can hear a different song
The drum within my heart is beating strong
I want to follow it
I've got to walk the spirit trail.

Chorus
Let every creature I see
Be a brother and a friend to me
Let every step that I take
Leave the footprints of a warrior
Along the spirit trail.

Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo
Heya-heya heya hiyo.

The took the land
They took control
They robbed my father of his very soul
To be like one of them
To be like one of them
But I was born a native son
And I will never be another one
To give it all away
I've got to walk the spirit trail.

(Repeat chorus)

Ever On
May the trail rise up to meet you
May your heart rejoice in song
May the skies be fair above you
As you journey ever on.

Ever onever on
Ever onever on.

And in this planetary circle
We are but a single stone
Spinning on our fragile axis
Through the endless night along.

Ever onever on.

May your love be there to guide us
May it always keep us strong
May we walk within your footsteps
As you lead us ever on.

Ever onever on.