Lyrics

Red Curtain
by Still on the Hill (2012)

Inside Out
#1
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

Wish my words were so provocative
They could crawl into your dream
Wake you up from a dead sleep
Thinking wild things about me
I wish my melody could touch you
In places so deep
That you couldn’t take it anymore
And you’d wake me from my sleep
Then you’d do to me the things
That I had written all about
And I would know my song was worthy
Cause you’d turn me inside out

Wish my song was so seductive
It could curl up in your bed
Be a blanket for your nakedness
A pillow for your head
Wish my song could be immortal
Take you past the point of death
Place a perfect kiss upon your lips
And whisk away your breath
Then you’d do to me the things
That I had written all about
And I would know my song was worth
Cause you’d turn me inside out

Inside out…I need your love to turn me
Inside out…drink from you loving cup
Until I drown

Wish my song was so strong
It could rise up from the page
Make a beeline for your heart
Like a bird freed from its cage
If my words could make you love me
Way on past forever
I’d write it on a paper boat
And float it down your river

Then you’d do to me the things
That I had written all about
And I would know my song was worthy
Cause you’d turn me inside out

Inside out…I need your love to turn me
Inside out…drink from you loving cup
Until I drown

There Was a Man
#2
by John Spillane

There was a man who took a wife
To walk beside him through his life
They walked through sunshine and through rain
They walked through pleasure and through pain
She wore a dress of yellow gold
She was a wonder to behold
And underneath a purple sky
She was the apple of his eye

And when the moon arose in flight
And stars went blazing in the night
They crept into each other’s dream
And slept beside a silver stream

They flew together through the air
And landed on a distant shore
They walked along a golden strand
They walked together hand in hand

She was not the easiest woman in the world
To get along with if you understand
But then again on the other hand
He may not have been the easiest man
But when the moon arose in fright
And stars went blazing in the night
They crept into each other’s dream
And slept beside a silver stream

The world will turn and the rivers flow
The sun will shine and the winds will blow
While angels in the afterglow
Will light their candles in the snow

Space
#3
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

HER
You give me the space,
to waltz with my Muse,
explore all my planets,
discover my Moon-----
You give me space, to pick up a pencil,
draw my own mountain…
then climb it with grace.
You give me the space to LOVE You.

HIM
You give me the space, to take rusted tin,
and turn it to gold, let alchemy in.
You give the strength,
to follow that tunnel
into my own music,
then dance on it’s waves.
You give me the space to LOVE you

HER
You give me the space, to push to the edge
or sit in the quiet or dance on the ledge.
You give me the space
to write my own story,
with my own conclusions,
you fill every page…
but still give me space to LOVE YOU.

HIM
You give the space to take my own time,
to conquer the world
with rhythm & rhyme.
You give me the strength,
to be your lover, your husband and friend
and then once again,
you give me the space…to LOVE YOU

Precious
#4
by Donna Stjerna

A little Buddha told me once,
There’s so many ways to die
Bow to everyone you meet
See the goodness deep inside
Take your lover in your arms
Fold him like an origami rose
Hold him like a precious flower
Life is fragile… heaven knows

My Great Grandfather calls to me
Through the veil I hear him say
Life is short there on Earth
Count your blessings every day
Take your lover in your arms
Hold him till the morning sings
Make every kiss…glorious
Love’s the most precious thing

So my love, I say to you
Our life’s a wonder to behold
Treasure every moment Love
They’re more valuable than gold
Let me take you in my arms
Lead you to our downy nest
Hold you like a newborn child
Pressed against my loving breast

The Need
#5
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

I need to hold you like a pod holds its seed
like the ocean holds its treasures, like the night holds a dream
like a cradle holds a babe, like the ground holds a grave
like an addict holds the needle of the drug that he craves
like a ring holds a diamond…precious and rare
like wings hold an aero-plane up in thin air
like gravity…holds me…to the earth

I need to hold you like an artist holds his brush
like a blind man holds his cane, like a tool holds rust
like a good friend holds a secret, like a tower holds a bell
like a bucket holds the water from a deep, deep well
Like a diver…holds his breath, while trying to find a pearl
like the Internet holds all…the info in the world
like gravity…holds me…to the earth

I need you to hold me…like a bottle holds whiskey
to wet the lips of the thirsty

I need to hold you like precious memories
like a winner holds his trophy, like a sail holds the breeze
like the studs in my walls hold up my tin roof
like an innocent man, holds onto the truth
like an hour glass…holding back the shifting sand of time
like a rhyming dictionary…holding all those rhymes
like gravity…holds me…to the earth

I need you to hold me like a cloud holds the rain
like a hypochondriac holds onto pain
like a protestor holding up a hand-painted sign
like a connoisseur holds up a glass of fine wine
like a little boy holding the string of his kite
like a long summer day…holding back the night
like gravity…holds me…to the earth

I need you to hold me... like a bottle holds whiskey
to wet the lips fo the thirsty

Sing with Me My Love
#6
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

Alone I’m only random notes
Fickle as fair weather
You bring the rhyme and rhythm Dear
Hold me all together
When our voices mix & marry
They become a song…no longer notes strung all apart
We become as one

So sing with me my Love
Your sweetest harmony
Alone I’m only ½ a song
With you-a symphony

I think there’s something special Love
About this song we share
You’re grounded like the bass notes Love
I’m spinning way up there
Sometimes when I can’t hold the beat
You stay strong and true…
I cannot imagine Love
Singing without you

So sing with me my Love
Your sweetest harmony
Alone I’m only ½ a song
With you-a symphony

You Electrify Me
#7
by Lee Ruth

Your phone is out of order and your doorbells on the blink
You blew a circuit breaker running water in the sink
There’s feedback in your stereo and lightning’s struck your aerial
And Thomas Alva Edison is crying from his grave
But he can’t save us

There’s devils in the line and demons in the power
Receivers of the sun, the glass, the hour
And some mad prince or doctor’s throwing switches in the tower
Defines the dark, defying us to see
There’s plastic grass laid in his yard, his tarnished brass, no spirits guard
The world of possibilities, wonder and beauty, nearing reality
The chancing of perfection
May it be so --- what other way to go.

You electrify me, love
Most of all, when you are by me, love
and even when, you deny me, love
Your warm alive electric body, love,
Your kiss kinetic and potential, love
Charging the living battery, full of
You, electrify me, you, electrify me

Hidden Harps
#8
(Italics are excerpted and inspired by a Rumi poem)
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

Even if this world burns up
Hidden harps would still play here
Their melodies would ride the wind
Then rain down like a prayer
Brand new life would dance upon
Flowering fields of green
And all the sorrows of the past
Would melt into a dream

You..ooo..ooo and I may become a pair of wild geese
You..ooo…oo and I may become a speck of dust
But somehow we’ll be together, it’s just a matter of trust.

If mountains crumble to the sea
And time comes to an end
There’ll be magic underfoot, starting up again
Brand new life will dance upon
All our hallowed graves
And this world will rise up singing
Blessings to another day

You…oo…oo and I may become a constellation
Two bright stars dancing in the sky above
I just know we’ll be together…
There’s no ending to love

I trust that the river finds the bend
I trust that this poem finds paper and a pen
I trust that the spark that burns within…never ends.

Even if this world burns up
Hidden harps would still play here
Centuries of memories could never disappear
I believe in mystery…love can never die
Oh it can change and rearrange
Grow some wings and fly

These Two Arms
#9
by Donna Stjerna

If I had a magical lamp, with a genie at my command
I’d use my 3 wishes right now, to make you mine
And if I could play a harp of gold, like one from the legends old
My songs of love would take, your breath away

But I have no magic, no secret spell, no super power, no wishing well
I have no mojo…no good luck charm…only these two arms

If I had an amulet, with a potion of love in it
I’d tie it around your neck, to make you stay
And if my Persian rug could fly, I’d take you up into the night
On a blanket of stars we’d make love, high above

But I have no magic, no secret spell, no super power, no wishing well
I have no mojo…no good luck charm…only these two arms

If the fountain of youth were mine, and I’d live till the end of time
Without you by my side, I’d rather grow old
And if I had the wings of an owl, I’d silently fly right now
Straight to your cabin door, I would soar…

Bright Moon
#10
by Kelly Mulhollan and Donna Stjerna

Through my open window I see you bright moon
Tonight you seem restless, so very restless
When you’re this restless…I cannot sleep
So I get my guitar and write you a song
You smile like a Cheshire cat then you’re gone
Oh how many songs have been written about you?
Down through the ages…on manuscript pages
In margins of Bibles…Monks sang your praises

Out in the desert in Bedouin tents, in a dark city
On a lonely park bench
lovers discover romance in your light
while I sing this sweet song, to you tonight

Through my open window I see you Bright Moon
Tonight you’re so lovely, incredibly lovely
When you’re this lovely…I cannot sleep
Words they flow through me, pull like the tide
I shimmer and shine, just like a blushing bride
Oh how many poems have been written about you
For centuries…sages have filled parchment pages…
Coyotes…have prayed to you down through the ages
In some run down farmhouse, old lovers still kiss…
You make them feel young on an evening like this
My whole universe…basks in your light
While I sing this sweet song…to you tonight

Through my bedroom window, I see you Bright Moon

Crane Wife
#11
by Donna Stjerna

My path is lined with eggshells
About a quarter mile thick
They keep the weeds of insecurities
From overtaking it
I’m walking softer than I should to keep the shells intact
But with every single step I take
I feel the eggshells crack
Beneath those shells, the shifting sands
Are pouring through the hourglass
If I turn the glass onto its side
Can I slow down the hands of time
I’m dancing….just like a crane
Dancing…calling out your name
Please. lay your warm red carpet down beneath my feet
So I can walk the path with you and my poor heels won’t bleed

Let me be your crane wife
I’ll leave my fields of green
Lay right down beside you in the forest and the trees
Let me be your crane wife

Talk:
I’m lying by the road
All alone and broken
With an arrow in my wing
Take me to your nest
Teach me how to sing
And I’ll weave for you a silken robe
To keep away the winter’s cold
So soft and downy white
I’ll pluck my finest feathers out and place them in the loom
Then I’ll sing for you each night (Chorus)

Desert Dream
#12
by Kelly Mulhollan

On dunes of desert sand, a long forbidden land
my world begins to spin, my eyes grow ever dim

and in this spinning place, I see your perfect face
‘neath folds of cavern deep, you lie in quiet sleep

my slightest motion make, mere ripples on a lake
till one’s reflection brings, your iridescent wings

and without touching skin, our making love begins
my breath upon your breast, to loose your slender dress

revealed to cavern walls, on down the fabric falls
round bird and human form, a nest to keep us warm

not touch but dare admire, as one can’t touch a fire
so close but not to kiss, your eyes in sleeping bliss

‘round beak like tears have fallen, sweet beads of desert pollen
while down your yielding neck, each bead I softly lick

weightless my head will rest, on flesh so slight of breast
my thirsty mouth devour, nectar of cactus flower

beyond this garden bloom, a rising crescent moon
my lips by cavern dark, will sketch its graceful arc

and not a feather’s space, beneath my fingers trace
along each downy crease, and down your silken fleece

yet part my body must, else dreaming turn to lust
just one false sound I utter, might cause your wings to flutter

so, one kiss before I gather, fallen dress round skin and feather
take leave of desert dune, for fate of the earth and moon

as cogs in cosmic gear, ever far and ever near
dance apart from death to birth, still the moon does love the earth.

Red Curtain
#13
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

I’m a One-Way street
Drive to the end, park and come in
I’ve left my heart open
I’m a jigger of gin
Juniper berries, spirit and sin
Drink me slow
I’m a lamp on the table, Light me now
I’m a shade on the window
Pull me down
I am the fingers all sinew and bone
That trace down your backside
And find their way home
I am the breath…I am the lips
I am the one who loves you the best
My sheets are turned down
My curtains are red
Come lie down with me…
I’ll be your feather bed

There’s a fault line down- the center of me
I’m trembling, I’ve been split open
Open so wide
It should be easy to slip on inside
Come on in
The clock on the mantle is ticking
I can’t wait any longer, I’m spinning
I am an angel who burst from the flame
Who wants to consume you
And call out your name
I am the breath, I am the lips
I am the one who loves you the best
My lamp is turned low-my pillow is red
Come lie down with me
I’ll be your feather bed

The End
#14
by Donna Stjerna and Kelly Mulhollan

In your book of days
When you turn the final page
May you read between the lines and find me there
May the author of your book, give me a 2nd look
And with his feathered pen, write my name in the end

I don’t have a golden crown or a silken gown
I tie rags around my waist and in my hair
Though my feet are cracked and bare
no silver slippers there
I’ve a love so true, that I’ll give to you
In the end

In the end I might not be a lovely maiden anymore
I might be an old woman
Knocking at your castle door
But the apple that I’ll offer you
Holds the wisdom of my years
I have nurtured it and watered it with tears
Take a look and you will see, all the love inside of me
Then give me a kiss and I’ll become your princes

In your book of days
When you turn the final page
I will climb, up behind, you and ride…
Off into the setting sun, the two of us as one
And the author will then pen
the words…THE END