SONGS / LYRICS

 

All lyrics by Paul Marsteller, except as noted

 


1.  ROVING LILY - MAIN THEME

(instrumental)


2.  THE NEW WORLD

 

It's a new age

to a new world I'm bound

 

As we made land

I looked away and prayed

the ship would turn back again

Back to my home

where it's not so strange  

But I have to change

 

Here the sun rises

where it used to set

 

So I must be the one

that turns around,

and forgets all that I've known         

And try to feel less alone

and make this my home

 

It's a new age         

and a new world I'm in

 

 

 

3. BEGIN

 

With my hand in yours

we begin our dance

We feel so sure

as we take this chance

 

With you right here

from now on

All my fears

are gone

 

So side by side

we'll ride the tides,

Just like we sailed 

the ocean wide

 

We'll dance, we'll dance

on this our day

We'll dance, we'll dance

and forever hold each other just this way

Just like this,

just like this we'll stay

 

With my hand in yours,

Always and ever

 

 

 

4.  COULD LIFE BE SWEETER?

(instrumental)


5.  BLISSFUL

 

This beautiful land,

Virginia

In fields so green

we begin our dream

 

My love she blushes

He speaks in hushes

Tender with all touches

 

These beautiful days

we have shared

Like blossoms of Spring

Floating in the air

 

White doves sing their songs

in the early morning

So we can't hear 

the cannons way out there

 

 

 

6.  DO YOU HAVE TO GO?

(instrumental)


7.  THE CONSCRIPT (Marsteller & Hattem)
 

The dawn breaks

as my heart aches for home

The red sky rings battle cries, 

         a clarion call             

to do what I must, 

whatever the cost 

 

Oh, this harm I'm in 

never ends,

as I rise for the day

and step out in line

                   to shoot at my brothers,                  

To keep up the fight, to keep the fight

 

 

 

8.  WHEN WILL HE RETURN?  (Gabriel Rhodes )

(instrumental)


9.  THE DESERTER  

 

From my lookout I search the night

but the gathering clouds snuff out the light

So I don't seea glow from my own country

 

Our tattered flag flails above

its colors now look like blood    

                 But what I most fear                  

No angels are here

 

So I raise my head up

and look skyward         

Clouds open to show me 

         the glow of the stars             

 

Now I can retreat to the light 

     from the shadows below        

Now I can see 

my way home

 


 

10.  ONE DAY I'LL SEE HIM

 

He must be out there somewhere

         beyond the clouds, at sea           

With that long, last look he gave

He'd bid farewell to me   

 

Some say that he could always see

way beyond what others see

Right now he's sure to be

looking back at me

 

Gone to the sea

      that's where he must be         

Where he'd be free

But, too far away from me

 

He must be out there somewhere

out where he had to go

One day I'll see him,

            one day I'll know               

 

 

 

11.  GO WEST

(instrumental)


12.  IN CALIFORNIA 

 

From far away to here    

for nearly a year

Crossed mountains, deserts and seas

That's how we came to be

in California

 

From far away to here

      through blood, sweat and fear      

We are pioneers

to this last frontier

 

We build where we live 

Some warned us

 but we made it here,

We made it here

to California

 

A long way here

a hard way here

But we're here,

in California

 

From far away we've come to here

we've come to California

California

 


 

13.  THE MINER'S TOWN 

 

I can still smell my Dublin roses

though it's years since I sailed away to here

They don't grow at all in this miner's town

where dust is the only soil around

 

We danced in the moonlight back there,

and sang as loud as we dared

But here it's the gold,

dancing in these hills, 

that gives men's hearts a thrill

 

So I stand out in the dark night air

and look towards my green isle back there

Take a deep breath,

I whisper a prayer,

And pray for the day that I can return

and wash all this dust from my hair 

 

Now I dance in the moonlight, 

the moonlight so fair

And pretend that I'm back there 

and haven't a care in this world

 

Then I dance in the moonlight, 

the moonlight so fair

 And pretend that I'm back there,

and haven't a care

in this too big world 

 



14.  LONG, LONG AGO (Thomas H. Bayly -1833)

Tell me the tales that to me were so dear,
Long, long ago, long, long ago,
 Sing me the songs I delighted to hear,
Long, long ago, long ago,

Now you are here all my grief is removed,
Let me forget that so long you have roamed
Let me believe that you love as you loved,
Long, long ago, long ago.

Do you remember the paths where we met?
Long, long ago, long, long ago.
Ah, yes, you told me you'd never forget,
Long, long ago, long ago.

 



15.  DOWN THE COAST

 

I bought my ticket,

goodbye, San Francisco!

Where singing made me a star

 

Oh, the men stared 

and the women glared,

 I left that saloon back there

To go, down the coast,

towards Mexico

 

I rode that train

to my new job in San Diego,

teaching Indians about God

 

Those Mission walls 

were way too tall     

So I made my plans to go

to Mexico,

Mexico

 


 

16.  MISSION INDIANS

(instrumental)


17.  RED SKIES  (Marsteller & Hattem)

 

When Spanish ships first came

the native world changed

Eagles vanished from sight,

the silver bays turned dark and quiet

 

Under stars and sun

Their people ever on this shore

Fathers, then their sons

But from this day, nevermore

 

Red skies be their guide

Take them from this shore to find

A new home, a new home

 

 

 

18.  THE BULLFIGHTER 

 

In Mexico, a bullfighter

swept me off my feet,

   A tragedy - 

                                                                                                           he loved that life more than me

 

On Fiesta days,

as the Pasadoble is played

    I sit alone in the plaza

for him I'm afraid

 

The deadliest time 

is the bull's arrival at five,

when the sinking sun

dazzles his eyes

 

My matador stares

when the clarions blare

Then it's just God, and the bull,

facing him there

 

I watch from the stands

again and again

Will red carnations or his blood 

be left in the sand?

 

 

 

19.  WHAT NOW? (Gabriel Rhodes)

(instrumental)


20.  THE STAGECOACH ROBBER 

 

He robbed our stagecoach,

held a gun on me

And though the night was moonless

we still could see

That we were meant to be

 

His trail ended in a Baja jail

Oh, I wrote him there

In our letters our truest selves we shared

 

About his robberies this he swore,

he took what he needed, nothing more

Now he's stolen my heart forevermore

 

The day he escaped, he wrote me this song:

"Think of me long,

think of forever,

For soon we'll be together,

always and ever"

 

So now I wonder

will his words he keep?

Or will love end in sorrow?

Oh, how my heart leaps

Is he the true one for me?

 



21.  DANZA FLORA

If that fickle moon
hadn't come back so soon
I might have missed
just how good you look tonight

Like this desert in bloom
and the roses outside our room
shimmering white 
under the blue moonlight  

And if those flowers could get up and dance
they couldn't thrill me like you can

When I look into your eyes
they're like a prism
where I can see
all the colors I've been missing 

And if those flowers could get up and dance
they couldn't thrill me like you can


 

 

22.  PALACE HOTEL  

 

I wait at the first table in the courtyard cantina

under a canopy of red bougainvillea 

I hope he can see me,

hope he will be here

 

The wrought iron lanterns

sparkle light on the entering faces,

I hope I will see his

But I don't see him

Don't know if he still cares

 

It's been a year since he left town        

                       He left with a whisper                                 

The last time the gardenias bloomed

was the last time I was in his room

 

His letters were warm when they came,

but tonight I feel something's changed

I wrote him I'd be here

But I don't see him,

I don't see him

 

 

 

23.  THE RIDER  

 

Hurry,

Hurry to me,

The torn letter said,

Hurry to me

 

Stagecoach,

it leaves at 3,

85 pesos

and cracked leather seats

 

Red sun

Red sun burns slow

Six days

through Mexico

 

"Always,

always and ever"

That's how it ended

I folded the letter

 

And there in the moonlight,

a rider tracking our stage

My husband!

Come to take me away!

 

 

 

24.   ALWAYS & EVER 

 

After all this time

you're finally here

When I look in your eyes

all that time disappears

 

All these feelings

from all these years 

Like colors captured in crystal  

in a chandelier

 

With my hand in yours

we begin again,

Like we said

on our wedding day,

Just like this

we'll stay

 

Always and ever,

Always and ever,

Always and ever,

Always and ever


25.  LA VALENCIA

 (instrumental)


26.  THE END MUSIC (Gabriel Rhodes)

(instrumental)  


 

 

© 2016-2022 Paul Marsteller  / Big Moment Music / BMI  / All Rights Reserved