LYRICS
DON'T DRINK THE POISON
Lyrics & Music by Linda Sussman
Don't drink the poison
That's what Mama said
Don't drink the poison
It'll go right to your head
Keep your head on straight
Let it be used for good instead
Why is it always the simplest refrains
That are the hardest to follow?
Always a bit of poison at the end of the day
Comes around again, again and again
Don't follow no one
That's what Mama said
Don't follow no one
Walk in your own tracks instead
And if the road runs out
Look to the stars above your head
Don't hide your spark
That's what Mama said
Don't hide your spark
Shadow the sun from East to West
May every turn of the wheel
Always find you mighty and blessed
Why is it always the simplest refrains
That are the hardest to follow?
Always a bit of poison at the end of the day
Comes around again, again and again
Oh, wake me softly
That's what softly
Oh, wake me softly
Let the tears fall from my bed
I'm doing what I can
To remember all that Mama said
ALL THE SONGS OF PEACE
Lyrics & Music by Linda Sussman
If we could study _ all the songs of peace
What would we learn _ if anything?
Hearts of hope _ and hands full of courage
We are standing on _ moral ground
If we could rest _ whenever times are troubled
Throw all our cares _ into the morning mist
Changing tides _ would soon be at our feet
Drawing a line _ in the sand
How much pain _ does it take to wake the spirit
From eyes that have cried _ and cry once more?
How many sisters _ and how many brothers
Would we carry _ to safer shores?
Let us move _ across the icy rivers
Break through the glass _ at every edge
With all the eyes _ of the world upon us
Let righteous arms _ turn us around again
If we could study _ all the songs of peace
What would we learn _ if anything?
REMEMBER DOROTHY
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
I'm gonna raise some hell tonight
I'm gonna raise it good
Take all the pieces of my life
Lay the tracks where I know I should
There've been so many stormy nights
Always chokin' out the light
So thick with haze, the eye can't see
What's on the other side
Remember Dorothy
It wasn't poppies set you free
Oh, Dorothy
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
Every closet shields a pain
Protects our deepest fear
But darkness simply harbors rust
Where salt runs into tears
Heaven knows time don't last
Not for you and not for me
Let's shave the thorns right off the rose
Walk away from withered grief
Remember Dorothy
It wasn't poppies set you free
Oh, Dorothy
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
I now see what you see
RUN FROM THE LIGHTNING
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
There's a train on the loose
Running wild and fierce
What it's bringing, you don't wanna be near
Don't stand in the way
If you don't wanna get rolled
When the brakeman yells, “Clear the coast”
(CHORUS)
You gotta run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
Run from the lightning
You gotta run, run, run, run, run!
When the wheels are greased
The switch is thrown
What rolls and rumbles in the night alone
Is the weight of steel
With its heavy load
What it's hiding lies way below (CHORUS)
How many times
We've heard that whistle blow
Same bloody sound, heaven help their soul
When they round the bend
Like they own the whole damn track
That's our cue we won't be riding back (CHORUS)
A POWER YOU'LL NEVER KNOW
Lyrics & Music by Linda Sussman
Keep your laws off my body
I’m not your church, I’m not yours to own
What stirs inside me
Is a power you’ll never know
There’s a storm movin’ sideways
‘Bout to unravel your throne
Things might not have been perfect
But they were workin’ pretty fine
At least there were options
You had yours, I had mine
Till the gavel came down
Dropped like a sinker and broke the line
We’ll find the answers we need
Won’t let the wind slow us down
We all know there’s an off-ramp
For the girls on the other side of town
We’ll find our way ‘round the mine fields
As we shout, “Foul, Foul, Foul”
In every story you hear
Told straight up with no gin
Not drunk with illusion
When it’s just her against him
Who’s left to hold the weight
Kept down with no way to win
Now, what I find sinful
Is how you pound your chest
A thin veneer of pretense
As if you gave a rat’s ass
And you use your religion
To strong-arm all the rest
Keep your laws off my body
I’m not your church, I’m not yours to own
What stirs inside me
Is a power you’ll never know
There’s a storm movin’ sideways
‘Bout to unravel your throne
WIN OR LOSE
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
I'm singin', singin' the blues
I can't seem to win or lose
There's a hill I'm gonna climb
So join me or leave me _ you choose
I'm tellin' you it ain't been no fun
There are no fish in the river left to run
You were always sayin' something better would come
But it's just weeds growin' in the sun
I'm singin', singin' the blues
I can't seem to win or lose
There's a hill I'm gonna climb
So join me or leave me _ you choose
Can't do much about the painful memories
Collect my sorrows to smolder like burnin' leaves
Grief, it would steal and it would bleed
I'm just tryin' to save what's left of my dreams
I'm singin', singin' the blues
I can't seem to win or lose
There's a hill I'm gonna climb
So join me or leave me _ you choose
We've been pushed 'round way too many years
Buried our faith along with so many tears
So, I'm packin' up, takin' all I need to own
And I'll kick up the dust behind me when I go
I'm singin', singin' the blues
I can't seem to win or lose
There's a hill I'm gonna climb
So join me or leave me _ you choose
CHALK AND STONE
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
Let me see
Let me feel
Let me hold onto all that is real
Let me know
I am safe
When the wind comes to pull my heart away
Let me walk
As I often do
On the trails, past the pines, to a water view
Where the sun
Lights the leaves
Cuts a path right on down through the evergreens
Through the fire
And through ice and storms
A long time hidden from prying eyes and scorn
Mark our time
Etched with chalk and stone
Is a love that falls as softly as a powder snow
Let me dance
Into your heart
Worn and stained from all life's battle scars
Let me trust
Like the day we met
When our hands held a time they would not forget
Through the fire
And through ice and storms
A long time hidden from prying eyes and scorn
Mark our time
Etched with chalk and stone
Is a love that falls as softly as a powder snow
Let us see
Let us feel
Let us always remember what is real
Let us know
We are safe
When the wind tries to pull our hearts away
When the wind tries to pull our hearts away
CHAIN OF HOPE
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
The world is watching
In disbelief
And the tears are flowing
In an ocean of grief
We raise our voices
And stand with those
Who provide for the refugee
Mama, I'm so tired
And I don't understand
Why the bombs are fallin'
Across our beautiful land
Will we find shelter
Against the wind and snow
Please don't let go of my hand
Freedom is fragile
On any shore
The march for peace is long
The brutal orders
Of an unprovoked war
Truth lives at history's core
There's a chain of hope
Ready to meet the pain
Lines of heroic souls
Helping to sustain
So many splintered lives
Seeking safety from harm
Openly weeping in foreign lands
The world is watching
In disbelief
And the tears are flowing
In an ocean of grief
We raise our voices
Give thanks to those
Who provide for the refugee
MY HEART IS SINKING
Lyrics & Music © Linda Sussman
My heart is sinking
It's drowning in tears
My mind can't hold
What's too hard to hear
There are hands of the brave
And eyes full of hope
While so many dreams
Will never unfold.
When hatred consumes
And blinds us to peace
Past lines that are drawn
Throughout history
When all that we see
In a land that lies scorched
Where milk and honey once ran
Is lost at what cost?
My heart is sinking
It's drowning in tears
My mind can't hold
What's too hard to hear
There are hands of the brave
And eyes full of hope
While so many dreams
Will never unfold.