The stranger comes to Summerisle
Welcome noble gentleman
Won't you stay with us a while?
There's always a room at the Green Man Inn

Where is Rowan? (There's no one by that name)

Look where you must, Look where you can
pay no mind to what you see
behold the maypole rise again
join us on the village green

Where is Rowan? (She was never there)
Where is Rowan? (Perhaps she is the hare)

Welcome to the maor house
confront the secret that you fear
hold your morals tighter now
your king will not help you here

Where is Rowan? (Nowhere that I can see)
Where is Rowan? (Under the apple tree)

Welcome stranger, welcome fool
our agent of the crown
king today, our lamb, our tool
flames will rise as the sun goes down

Where is Rowan? (Right here, watching the fire)

Back to the place we know so well
the place where we go to return
Taking there with us a bit of the spell
we crafted before we'd adjourned

Merry we've met and merry we part
And meet again merry and well
So we declare at our parting of ways
Bidding you Hail and Farewell

Thanks for the presence that shows that you care
all the words said and unsaid
Thanks for the laughter and sorrow we've shared
and wishing safe journeys ahead

This journey we ride
Across mountains and oceans
We've gone far and wide
Leaving so much unspoken
A breath on the tides
and habitual motion
Just to remind
The circle is open
but never broken

Christmas lights already up, not even thanksgiving yet
red and green as far as the eye can see
My neighbor burns a yule log underneath the mistletoe
and baskets full of fruits and nuts are placed beneath the tree

Did you ever wonder how it came to be
history tells the story- you stole it from me

It was mine before it was yours
Nice idea you've got there, think I liked it better before
It was mine before it was yours

Every halloween I shake my head and chuckle quietly
little ghosts and goblins on my street
like the jack-o-lanterns perched outside of every door
it's obvious to me as trick or treat

Then there's Easter Sunday
You've got to be kidding me!

Every time I see the Catholics line up for communion
or pledge their love in sickness and in health
The priest raises the chalice and I really have to smile
they think they thought that up all by themselves

She's a pretty girl
with purple ribbons in her hair
she's got 23 tatoos and she don't care
about this world
Got a style all her own
with poison rings and safety pins
and she's so pretty, she's so pretty, she's so pretty, she's so...

she's so pretty
Pretty damn strange
she's so pretty damn strange

She writes poetry
likes black leather on her skin
looks for ghosts along the road and drinks absynth
to help her see
Got a place that's all her own
through the cemetary gates
and she's so pretty...

She's a pretty girl
Purple ribbons in her hair
Got a style that's all her own
velvet dress and silver stars
and she's so pretty...

I am the stag, I am the bull, I am the ram
I am the horned one running naked through the field
I am the summer in the forest I am the Oak King
I am the hunter when my prey has been revealed

Across the melting snow I see his green face
The face I saw above me on the day that I was slain
I cut him down like wheat he falls like rain
I am the Oak King and today I rule again

I am the wolf, I am the hawk, I am the fox
I am the predator stalking through the wood
I am the winter on the mountain, I am the Holly King
I am the predator, My role understood

Through the falling snow I see his green face
The face I saw above me on the day that I was slain
He falls like the dead tree under heavy snow
I am the Holly King and today I rule again

Get my robe I'm out the door
There's a north wind coming that I can't ignore
With my back to the mountains in the south so high
feel the white caps crashing on the shore to my side
The storm howls like Gaia's Choir
Hear the thunder rising as I light my fire
Breathe deep the acrid smell of flames
And the power of the earth runs through my veins

As as it all sinks in the forces I'm beholding
My world is unfolding

My Will be done

A force of nature floods my brain
Earth wind fire mind and rain
Reach up my hand to pull the sun
bind the elements into one
Burn in the sacred seal
To crystalize the moment and make it real
A realtime reaction tuns lead into gold
and leaves a radiant indelible mark on the soul

I reach into my soul
To keep my self control
Lead into gold

My will be done...

There's magic in the air
Energy inside, Makes me feel alive
There's magic in the air
The stars tonight are right, the planets all align

We stand in this clearing, with midnight still nearing
Equinox is tonight, she's skyclad, bathed in moonlight
Red cloth on the altar, she motions, I falter
So nervous, I'm choking, she laughs, tension's broken

Tide's rising, subsiding, she's riding, I'm flying
Not thinking, I'm drinking, her stares, her eyes are twinkling
delighting, inviting, inside there's no use hiding
This dagger, this chalice, two halves of the world in balance

And it's the day today
when everything comes back to life
And I can see it in her eyes
she sees the way I am on the inside
It's been a long long winter
but it's over now and everybody knows it
It's time we let ourselves believe
that everything will come up roses

Never mind this, Never mind this
Twenty one to hear the news
Twenty times to pay your dues
Nineteen possibilities
Eighteen hidden enemies
Seventeen new hopes for all
Sixteen stories down will fall
Fifteen evils still await
Fourteen ways to show restraint
Thirteen endings to the show
Twelve years waiting more to go
Eleven challenges to solve
Ten more things to be resolved
Nine men living all alone
Eight more chances to attone
Seven roads along the way
Six more couples wed that day
Five commandments gave to man
Four to rule over the land
Three to make a safe retreat
Two to worship at her feet
One to weave the elements
Never mind this, Never mind this

Another quiet summer night the perfect time to walk alone
and in the distance up above the looming standing stones
I must have passed this way a hundred thousand times before
and never did I loose the sight behind me of my own front door

A muffled rustle in the grass attracts my curiosity
And pity overcomes my thoughts and gets the best of me
For in the thicket is a white and red eared wild hare
I stoop and free the creature from the confines of a wire snare

The stones are closer now the circle towers on the hill
The summer breeze gives way to sudden unexpected chill
the sound of thunder as a storm approaches in the sky
and with it comes a snow white hound with crimson ears and blackest eyes

And the cold it saps the strength out of my limbs
and the hound he turns his head and begs to follow him
and the storm is now upon me but still I see the light of day
My conciousness abandons me I slip away I slip away

And I awake to find the the sky above is not the one I know
and all around me here the most fantastic flowers grow
There's not a soul in sight I'm lost , bewildered, all alone
The one familiar sight this ring around me of the standing stones

All the way above me do the stones appear to touch the sky
and where the stars should be above a shining point of golden light
The darkness closes in, my breath gives way to nervous pause
unseen but all around me come the sound of hungry teeth and claws

I brace myself as shadows draw themselves up all around
when suddenly the sound of giant wings begins to pound
a montrous eagle siezes me in feathered claws of lilly white
and makes her way upwards through the stones and to the light

Every year midsummer finds me standing near the stones
on the very spot I woke to find myself awake alone
I leave a bowl of milk and honey, fruit and little cakes
for I know the hills are hollow and some day they may awake

when years had passed and I found myself as an old man
I return again in midsummer to the the place that I now stand
to find I'm not alone this time- a woman's waiting there
with palest skin and tangled locks of vibrant scarlet hair

she knows me like I know myself, for a moment I'm struck dumb
But still I know enough to never ask where she is from
She takes my hand and leads me to the ring of standing stones
I follow her and know enough to ask not where we go...

I knew a girl way down in Key West
Never bothered to put on her sunday best
Sleeping on the rooftops, Living in the streets
Nowhere for a fifteen year old girl to be

Sunshine won't shine today

Sunshine's mother doesn't miss her
Her daddy's strung out and he won't come down to earth
Wonder's if she'll ever leave the scene, but then
Someone once said you can never go home again

Sunshine wonders where the day went
hustled 20 bucks but now thats all been spent
Woke up in the morning desperate for a fix
She knows a guy who will hook her up, but she needs it quick

I undertand your problem I really sympathise
And I'd think it was quite a problem too if it were mine
But there's nothing we can do for you here, guess your out of luck
You must have mistaken me for someone who gives a fuck

I get paid to work here, so that's just what I'll do
but at $5.25 an hour, your dollar's up- and now we're through
So the next time you yell at me, know what I'm gonna say?
Thank you for shopping, go fuck yourself, and have a nice day

Minimum wage Doesn't pay me enough to deal with shit like you
Don't you think that I can think of better things to do?
You think that you're so important with your money and your power
Take a number asshole, I see three of you every single hour

This is the view from the bottom up
Underpaid and screwed
Better think about it dude
You can throw your fit up there
Ask me if I care

Goes to the gym to lift weights but it doesn't hide
the real reason he don't have much of a life
Got a silver Corvette, a really fitting decision
got a really big car (small engine)

got a pickup truck with a new gun rack
wonders why the chicks don't cut him no slack
drinking Natural Light until he gets double vision
got a really big car (small engine)

Got a power tie got his feet on the ground
got a beautiful wife, likes to push her around
likes his BMW because it's built with precision
got a really big car (small engine)

The 19 year old halfback on the football team
cheats on his girlfriend, she's almost 15
daddy played the same team in the same position
got his daddy's car (small engine)

Thought we were strong
and never did wrong
until when we cried out for lost love
we grew up and threw out the kid gloves

so take it away
take it away (the pain and the fear)
take it away
but don't take away the things we hold dear

Never believed we were mortal
never concieved of the wa things would end
I dream of the nights spent beside you
I still see the footprints behind you

Let's raise a toast to memories kept
drank it all up til nothing was left
and over the rim of the last cup we drain
I see the pale light of a breaking new day

From time to time it's eye to eye and no one seems to question why
I think the things I'm thinking when it's you I'm thinking of
And once a while I question time and other things that pass me by
But never stop to wonder why I had to fall in love

And in my heart somewhere there's a photograph of you
And when it's dark in there, you come shining through

I look around investigating never really contemplating
The way I've been procrastinating Promises to you
I look around but all I see is there is nothing left for me
Disassociation sets me free I'm free to start anew

And when I look inside, I see you standing there
And when I try to hide, I know you still care

And if I sang you a lovesong would I capture your
heart and if i sang you a lovesong could you let us grow apart

I worry bout what might have been and all the things I should have said
I'm tired of playing let's pretend I want to know what's real
The distance in your eyes i saw has shaken my faith in the cause
we've broken heats we've broken laws so tell me what you feel

still in my heart somewhere, there's a photograph of you
And when it's dark in there, you come shining through

I remember a morning where the sunlight was rising on the horison
And I could see the palm trees sway
The smell of the salt air and my coffee a steaming hot con leche
and I was thinking this would be a perfect day

I remember the sunsets a carnival at dusk
out on the pier at Malory Square
playin my guitar out on the corner
sometimes I still wish that I was there

But memories are hard to come by
and I guess it's for the best
and maybe I might settle down
but I'll always have Key West

The nights went on forever at Bogart's Irish Pub
or one of the places where the locals go
hanging out at the Appleruth and we had it to ourselves
the tourists were all at Sloppy Joes

I've lived in other places
New England and the rest
But when I think of the good times
I think about Key West

As I was walking to St Ives, I met a man with seven wives
The seven wives had seven sacks and in each sack were seven cats
sacks, cats, wives and I, how many were going to St. Ives?

As I was walking to St Ives, a storm was brewing in the skies
I'd come to far for turning back, so I kept along the dusty track
A thousand stories, as many lives I saw walking to St Ives

Two men held a sword of gold, and each one bore a heavy load
Neither bore the blade to wait 'till one collapsed beneath the weight
A truce was struck, So I'd been told, but both had seemed so very cold

A ruler who had told a lie, but left his throne still dignified
His kin would under rumor drown the next in line to wear the crown
Whether they were justified, their aim was still the lie to hide

A priest who I had chanced to spy was also walking to St Ives
but walked along a crooked path, a weight of silver on his back
I don't know where his future lies, but certainly not in St Ives

I saw a farmer being stoned and realized him not alone
his crop had failed to meet the taste of the baron's fat and bloated waist
the fruit was rotting in the bowl while peasants starved to death below

Two monks stood upon a stone and watched the battle far below
and though the blood flow down the rock, neither gave the word to stop
the battle did destroy their homes, but neither left their foe alone

The conquered people did demand a payment from their rulers land
the poison seeped into their heads as they lay dying in their beds
against the sword they were so bold, but strangled on a thread of gold.

And as I stood upon St Ives, The storm was clearing from the skies
And though I knew I'd not return, maybe would my children learn
From all the things and all the lives I saw walking to St. Ives

When I think of my old friends I get all choked up and I think of the way
we'd get stoned and stared at the stars and talk about where we'd be someday
we were gonna be rich and live in identical mansions far from here
with thousand acres, pool, six cars, and a fireworks display every new year
And you had dreams so real they shone
and I could feel the rush down in my bones

we grew up for six more years 'till our other friends didn't come around
they went to college, married off, or moved to some other crappy town
I stuck around when you moved away and I think about you now and then
I keep thinking we had good times, but I really can't remember when

And sitting round and getting stoned
isn't fun when you're doing it all alone
and maybe I'm just getting old, but it leaves me bored
it's nothing special any more

Kept in touch for a while but people drift and distance helps them go
you grew up, got a real day job with a house and a car and a lawn to mow
Til one day you reminise about old friends and old Chevrolets
You call me up and say come down for a while, it'll be just like the good old days

And right away I knew you'd lied
'cuz there's nothing left to you inside
and the dreams you had seem to have died on some forgotten shore
you're nothing special any more

Back home I walk down streets that somehow just don't feel the same
and one day by chance in a coffee shop bump into my high school flame
She's working down in Boston, Living just a few miles from here
Try to make small talk and remember back those fifteen years

Say we had some good times way back then
and I get a thought into my head
maybe we should try it out again, she says what for?
You're nothing special any more

Alone she cries 'cause she misses him
and the way he holds her tight
Alone he cries 'cause no one ever sees
the way he shudders in the night

And by the light of day he shuts the ringer off
because he has to concentrate
And a million miles away she's lost her train of thought
Because she's thinking of the way

Alone she cries Alone she cries

She calls him on the phone, he says he's doing fine
but there's something in his tone
He bites his nails to the bone-
He knows she'd help him cope but he wants to do it on his own

He hates the way he lives, but he saves his money up '
cause she deserves more than he can give
She wants him to forgive himself-
he wants to give her so much but all she wants is him