1. |
Etched in Stone
05:05
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Delicate curves of faces carved in stone
The lines are soft but hard as bone
While each shape is carved, it changes on its own
Love is etched in stone
When we were dancing a dance with no name
No two movements were ever the same
Pressed solid against me, artist of the unknown
And our love was etched in stone
Bridge:
One rainy day a sculpture took shape
In the lines of your face
And the curves I love to trace
Love grew its own way ’til we became soft clay
Molded by hands we couldn’t see
Making love was poetry
Spoken in a voice we could not hear
You are still near and our love is etched in stone
When the rain comes down year after year
And the mountains dissolve inside the sky’s tears
When there is no form, nor lover’s hand to hold
Listen and know
Love is etched in stone
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2. |
Dance Me
04:43
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We glide through the crowd in a smoky hall
All evening dance to moody rock and roll
Slip out the back to get some air
You run your fingers through my hair
When the music ends you take me home
Before we go inside
You wrap your mouth around mine
Against the back door, feel you through my jeans
I still hear the music, won’t you please
Chorus:
Dance me
Slide into my eyes and wear me all over
Look out through my mind and breathe my sighs
Feel yourself against my skin
Be the rhythm as I let you in
Chorus
One love, one beat
One lover with four feet
One drummer, two faces
One rain dance to wash me clean
Chorus
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3. |
Roll Over With Me
04:48
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I was so shy to let you love me so strong
But you were so kind, I knew it wasn’t wrong
Our first night together you never let me go
When I turned over you held on to my soul
Chorus:
Roll over with me
Through all the seasons our lives will see
Roll over and over with me
You are turning into my dream
When you held me all night I had a beautiful dream
That you were the one who never did leave
I was a flower held in your hand
You still loved me as I grew into a seed
Chorus
I awoke for a moment and found you still there
Heard the song of your heartbeat
Sweet breath in my hair
I could love you forever in the blink of an eye
Dream of the years before they roll by
Chorus
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4. |
No Safe Place
04:49
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What kind of world is this? To take a little boy
Lock up his father and take away his pride
The crowds threw stones at you
Just because you were a Jew
Unfortunate enough to be born in World War II
There’s no safe place, there’s no safe time
They will come to take you away
To the place where people die
There’s no safe place they won’t find
What kind of world is this? For a grown man
To make him feel so bitter,
He had to start all over again
Your father pounded it into you
This man who was born a Jew
He lost everything in World War II
Bridge:
How could people stand behind the wire
And still find the heart to smile?
What kind of world is this?
What kind of world is this? For a little girl
When her father’s generation lost six million lives
I throw my love at you
’Cause that’s what daughters do
Even in the aftermath of World War II
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5. |
My Island
04:43
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Awake from a dream that shattered my sleep
I discover your shore
Lost in a sea of blankets and sheets
You reach through the mist to pull me aboard
Chorus:
You are my island, you are my island
Stone is smooth, the ocean is rough
Your body is enough
Anchor and ship, harbor and lips
You reach through the waves to hold me safe
Chorus
Adrift on the waves, the waves of your breath
Sound of ocean from your core
Soft and warm, water with form
You reach from your soul to breathe me whole
Chorus
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6. |
Journey
01:53
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7. |
Island Suite
03:41
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8. |
Madrone
03:16
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The madrone tree sheds its skin
Every year when autumn begins
You know that’s how I feel
Every time I let you in
The madrone tree keeps its leaves
When winter turns the sky to steel
You know that’s how I feel
When I think of leaving you for real
Bridge:
Love grew tall with the first shoots of spring
So tall we couldn’t see the ground
Path overgrown by seeds love had sown
In the forest, other trees
Keep their bark, lose their leaves
Branches bare, all alone
Let me always be your madrone
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9. |
Church of Sky
06:02
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At thirty thousand feet in the church of sky
You’re on the ground below,
Grandmother, eighty-nine years old
I can see a long, long way and land beside you
Before your dying day
You live ten states away and I’m afraid
At thirty thousand feet
There are blue skies every day
I can almost taste the clouds melting
Into my face
Chorus:
I never lived the way you like
Living in sin more than twice
Scolded by the silence
And the sadness in your eyes
At eighty-nine years old
Finally starting to go slow
It’s almost time to go, wish you could wait
I’ll be at the airport ’til you leave me
At the gate
Chorus:
I remember spinning
Round and round and round
Looking up ’til I fell back down
Laughing ’til my face was tired, laughing
Cause I felt you by my side
I am white and blue and blue and white
So full of clouds I start to cry
Soon you will know why
I belong to the church of sky
At thirty thousand feet in the church of sky . . .
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10. |
Looking for a Storm
04:49
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Often time is way too thin
The past comes out and reaches in
Takes me back a page or two
Until I can remember who
Put hard words inside my head
Before there was a wall
Made love to my body
When there was no love at all
Sometimes things get stuck inside
Like all the tears never cried
Something got wired in, saying,
This is gonna hurt again
Whatever you put inside me never came back out
I’m still braced against the wind
That years ago died down
Chorus:
I’m still looking for a storm
I know it’s coming down
All the things I feel inside
Won’t listen to my mind
I’m still looking for a storm
It takes something soft as snow
To wear down thoughts as hard as stone
Glaciers thaw in their own time
And give themselves to dandelions
Infinite moments lie in a piece of the ground
Waiting to grow up when the rain comes down
Chorus:
I’m still looking, I’m still looking
I’m still looking for a storm
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11. |
You Are My Soul
04:12
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I’d like to fly with the wind
Over the city down below
I’d like to fly with the wind
Show my neighbors a rainbow
We talk to each other
Through closed doors of culture
And never know
I’d like to walk in the street
With every color
Wrapped around me
I’d like to walk in the street
Until all races live in peace
We talk to each other
Through closed doors of culture
And never know
You are my soul
Bridge:
The sidewalk’s hot
Bare feet get burned
When the heat is on
We can try to learn
I’d like to fly with the wind
Where the wild places grow
I’d like to fly with the wind
Where oak trees don’t mind
Growing next to a pine
We talk to each other
Through closed doors of culture
And never know
You are my soul
You are my soul
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12. |
Hard to Hold
03:56
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When the wind rose up
She heard the wind chimes blow
Hard like china smashed on the floor
The day she couldn’t hold on anymore
His words told
Of a love he used to know
Gentle as a daisy petal
Brushing his face with her fingers of gold
Chorus:
Now she’s hard to hold
When she’s feeling swept away
Like pieces of a broken vase
When he held her sometimes
She was in another room
Where the pictures on the wall
Were all that got her through
Chorus:
She’s hard to hold
Feeling swept away
Like pieces of broken clay
There’s ivy growing on a fence in the back yard
You can’t see where it’s going
But it works really hard
Chorus:
It’s hard to hold, feeling swept away
Like pieces of broken fence,
It’s hard to hold, feeling swept away
Like pieces of broken fence someday
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13. |
Going Twice
04:09
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Did you ever stop to look in my eyes
To see how I felt as you walked out on my life?
I can’t remember being three,
When you left you took a piece of me
And left me with the rest
As if that’s all I’d ever need
Chorus:
You’re going once and going twice
You left me then and left again
You’re going once and going twice
I paid the highest price
I found you down at the corner café
Twenty-three years after you left me that day
I told you,
I’ve been looking for you most of my life
Then I looked you in the eye and said,
I am the child you left behind
Chorus
Bridge:
Next time I called, they said, let him rest in peace
The quiet of that moment came alive in me
A silence so familiar, it all came back again
You didn’t say goodbye this time,
and you didn’t say it then
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14. |
Fallen Heart Blue
03:28
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Chorus:
It’s a long way out of this river
It’s a long way out to the sky
You can go where you want to, I will fall into you
It’s a long way out of this fallen heart blue
Inside my body
There’s a place I go
I’ve been swimming in this love
Dive in my swimming hole
It’s true, I love you
I’ve been trying to take it slow
But all the good things about you
Are too good to let go
Chorus
Bridge:
On top of a mountain
Into the sky
I let myself fall
And your open arms told me why
Chorus
It’s a long way out of this fallen heart
It’s a long way out of this fallen heart
It’s a long way out of this fallen heart blue
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15. |
Between the Lines
02:38
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On the first day of grade school
Time to draw, and the first rule
Broken ’cause I couldn’t confine
My crayon to stay between the lines
Teenage years are time to try
Everything except to die
I kept my clothes on until the wine
Let someone touch between the . . . lines
Chorus:
Older and trying to be wise
When there’s a teenager still on the loose inside
It’s harder to stay in the lines
When the moon is out and I’m out of my mind
I’m in love with the man of my dreams
Hearts can’t remember their lines it seems
Pulled to the left in the dark of a dance
About to cut in on an extra romance
Chorus
I know you’re not mine . . .
Better stay between the lines
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Shantala Portland, Oregon
Benjy and Heather Wertheimer have been leading kirtan worldwide since 2001 as the duo Shantala. Known for their special gift of bringing the audience into a vast and loving experience through their unique blend of exquisite voices with instruments of India and the West, they create music with beauty, passion, and reverence. ... more
Shantala recommends:
Voice of the Esraj
by Benjy Wertheimer
Excellent music for meditative listening and yoga. Beautiful flowing vocals bring ancient sacred writings to life, featuring special musical guests Steve Gorn, Jami Sieber, and David Michael.
go to album
Anjali
by Michael Mandrell and Benjy Wertheimer
Instrumental meditations for yoga and the healing arts. Soulful sounds of the esraj, tamboura, and tabla – with lyrical splashes of acoustic guitar.
go to album
The Hanumen create a soulful and ecstatic celebration combining Naada Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, delivering a mesmerizing set of chanting, world rhythm, poignant stories, and mystic poetry.
go to albumIf you like Shantala, you may also like:
Reissued by UK label Death is Not the End “The System” is a sugar-sweet slice of ’80s digital reggae.
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Promised Land
by Nairobi Sisters
featured on Bandcamp Radio Sep 12, 2023
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Aug 8, 2023
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