Home Before Dark

Words and Music by Judy Collins, David Buskin, Dwight Batteau, Jr.
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ Rocky Mountain National Park Music (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.) Poso Music Co.

I packed up my bags
Put in my favorite Levis
Laid my mandolin beside the door
Said to momma
I won't be long
Don't worry about me
I'll be home before dark

Bought a ticket to New York City
One way out and no return
I watched the sun go down
Across the plains from Denver
Lord, how the western sky can burn

Met a boy in the darkness
Handsome, tall and heartless
I loved him like an eagle loves the wind
Till I heard him say
I won't be long
Don't worry about me
I'll be home before dark

I'll be alright
And you'll be fine without me
I'll be home before dark

My daughter looks like him they say
To me she looks like momma
I see an eagle's shadow in her eyes

Last night at her birthday
We blew the candles out together
I wonder will she take me by surprise
When she says momma
I won't be long
Don't worry about me
I'll be home before dark

I'll be alright
And you'll be fine without me
I'll be home before dark
I'll be home before dark

Houses

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

You have many houses, one for every season
Mountains in your windows, violets in your hands
Thru your English meadows your blue-eyed horses wander
You're in Colorado for the Spring

When the Winter finds you, you fly to where it's summer
Rooms that face the ocean, moonlight on your bed
Mermaids swift as dolphins paint the air with diamonds
You are like a seagull as you said

Why do you fly bright feathered sometimes in my dreams?
The shadows of your wings fall over my face
I can feel no air, I can find no peace
Brides in black ribbons, witches in white
Fly in thru windows, fly out thru the night

Why do I think I'm dying sometimes in my dreams
I see myself a child running thru the trees
Searching for myself, looking for my life
Looking everywhere crawling on my knees
I cannot see the leaves, I cannot see the light

Then I see you walking just beyond the forest
Walking very quickly, walking by yourself
Your shoes are silver, your coat is made of velvet
Your eyes are shining, your voice is sweet and clear
"Come on" you say "come with me, I'm going to the castle"

All the bells are ringing, the weddings have begun
But I can only stand here-I cannot move to follow
I'm burning in the shadows and freezing in the sun

There are people with you living in your houses
People from your childhood who remember how you were
You were always flying, nightingale of sorrow
Singing bird with rainbows on your wings

I Know Where I'm Going

Traditional Song - arranged and adapted by Judy Collins
© 1961 Universal Music Group (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

Chorus:
I know where I’m going
I know who’s going with me
I know who I love
And the devil knows who I’ll marry

I have stockings of silk
Shoes of bright green leather
Combs to buckle my hair
And a ring for every finger

Feather beds are soft
Painted rooms are bonny
I would trade them all
For my handsome whimsome Johnny

Some say he’s bad
I say he’s bonny
Fairest of them all
My handsome whimsome Johnny

Chorus

IN THE TWILIGHT

Words and Music by Judy Collins
The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)

She’s a lady, 
and she barely knows her name now
In the twilight as she sleeps
And her memories chase her down the days of childhood
There was music, always music

And her brothers – there was Robert, 
the captain of a freighter that sailed to China
There was Shannon, who ran off one icy morning
And then Herbert and then Frank, all so handsome
And her sisters, who were beautiful
and yearned to be together.

She’s a lady, 
and she’s sleeping like a princess
who will wake up and drink amber
from a slipper made of diamonds
She was married to a blind man who was my father, 
such a charmer, and another whose name was Robert
Who holds her fragile hand while I am weeping

Chardonnay in a crystal glass, 
amethysts on her fingers
Roses and forget-me-nots
in the garden where she lingered
All around her the snowy peaks
drew her eyes with wonder
All of her betrayals drowned
in the roaring canyon’s thunder 

She’s a lady, 
and she always dressed in silk and had her hair done
and her clothes were pretty colors
and the scent of Chanel in her satin cloak
when she went dancing with my father
when they were very young

She’s a lady, 
and saw nearly twenty presidents and she voted for Obama
In the old days, 
sipping Presbyterians, she’d argue with her children
who had opinions about everything that mattered
And she’d tell of the time she saw Rachmaninoff.

Chardonnay in a crystal glass, amethysts in her
necklace Roses and forget-me-nots
and three sons so fine and reckless
Daughters too, who were free like her
One who sang and one who painted
She loved them all ever more and more
And thought all of us should be sainted

She’s a lady, 
and she barely knows my name now
In the twilight, and she sleeps most of the day
and when she wakes up she says that she’s going home
And asks me how I knew where to find her
In this home that’s not her home

She sees her garden, 
Growing wild since she had to leave the sweetness
of those afternoons on her patio
Where Robert kept the flowers blooming.

She’s a lady, 
and she’s going home she tells me
in the twilight as her eyes close
I ask her where, 
and she says that it’s a secret
Then she’s gone just like the flowers in her garden.

Chardonnay in a crystal glass, amethysts on her fingers
Roses and forget-me-nots in the garden
where she lingered
All around her the snowy peaks
drew her eyes with wonder
All of her betrayals drowned
in the roaring canyon’s thunder

Marjorie, my mother, sweet Marjorie of the garden
That blooms now in my heart

Kingdom Come

By Judy Collins
copyright April, 11 2002

It was seven months since 9/11
And the work was almost done
It was seven months since 9/11
And the work had just begun
Ground Zero lit the evening sky
Like a beacon through the heart
The searchlights drove through Heaven’s doors
And blew them far apart
A few miles north on the Hudson River
We had gathered for a sort of wake
Nobody felt like celebrating
But the Firemen needed some kind of break
They’d been to so many funerals
And seen so many God-awful sights
They’d been to Ground Zero from dawn to dusk
And round the clock some nights

To Kingdom come, to hell and gone
To somewhere far away
Where murder doesn’t break the heart
On a sunny day

I was all dressed up like the rest of the crowd
At the Roxy Club that night
The men and women in Uniform
Tried hard to keep it light
Kevin Bacon played and sang
And folks began to smile
Chris Bodi played his silver horn
With rhythm and with style
I sang my song Amazing Grace
And people laughed and cried
Ronan Tynan sang Danny Boy and
Not an eye was dry
Steve Buscemi spoke of life
At Engine 55,
Of how these heroes
Stayed the course and
Saved so many lives

To Kingdom come, to hell and gone
To somewhere far away
Where murder doesn’t break the heart
On a sunny day

A burly man with a handsome face
Stuck out his hand and smiled
Say, meet my wife, we like your songs
We’ve been with you mile for mile
Though he had a rugged face
I knew I saw the hurt
Then he pointed to a spot above the collar of his shirt.”
“Just look here on the back of my neck, 
There’s a tattoo, can you see? 
Just right here,” I got up close
And saw the number 343,
The number of the Firemen
Who were lost upon that day
The numbers of those heroes,
Ground Zero was their grave

To Kingdom come, to hell and gone
To somewhere far away
Where murder doesn’t break the heart
On a sunny day

Those firemen loaded up with gear
Climbed to their death’s that day
Along with all the other hundreds
Blasted on their way
Police and EMS and those
On whom death took its toll
And more whose dreams will never dawn, 
More than three thousand souls
I left the party after that
I could not stay my tears,
For all our gifts for all our hopes
For all our nameless fears
For all our heroes, men and women
Lost on that black day
Those firemen with courage
In their hearts so strong and brave, 
Who made sure in their final hours
There were 30,000 saved.

They’ve gone to where there are no tears
And every heart is gay, 
And they won’t be forgotten on a sunny day

To Kingdom come, to hell and gone
To somewhere far away
Where murder doesn’t break the heart
On a sunny day

Where murder doesn’t break the heart
On a sunny day.

Let's Pretend

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp. )

The party was over, it was nearly a quarter to two
Hearing your voice was the last thing I thought I would do
Seeing your face brought the pain back again just like new
Now I'm right back where I was I am lost without you.

I stood in a daze as you put your hand gently in mine
Once again, lost in the look of your love, so divine
I know you don't mean it, but tell me you love me again
I know we are over, but wrap me in lies that don't end.

I'll close my eyes so you won't see the tears
Let's make the best of those bittersweet years.

Let's pretend
We are lovers again,
Let's pretend
Our romance didn't end,

I'll play my part, 
I won't ask you for more,
Won't pull you back
When you walk out the door,

Just let me love you
For one hour more,
Let's pretend
We are lovers again.

I know that I will go home without you tonight,
I know there's nothing that I could do now to make it right,
Still I could dream that you never had walked out my door,
Still I could dream all my life if you kiss me once more.

I'll close my eyes so you won't see the tears,
Let's make the best of those bittersweet years.

Let's pretend
We are lovers again,
Let's pretend
Our affair didn't end,

I'll play my part, 
I won't ask you for more,
Won't pull you back
When you walk out the door,

Just let me love you for one hour more,
Let's pretend we are lovers again.

Everyone's left for the night,
The glasses are empty
No one will see us, I know
No one will know that I can't let you go.

I've got to learn to let go and you must teach me how
I love your arms wrapped around me like this even now,
Maybe if you give me just one more kiss

I'll learn it's something I really don't miss,
I'll close my eyes so you won't see the tears
Let's make the most of those bittersweet years.

Let's pretend
We are lovers again,
Let's pretend
Our romance didn't end,

I'll slip away in the night without you
But I'll have something to comfort me, too,
Just for old times, 
Kiss me once before the night ends,
Let's pretend we are lovers again.

Let's pretend
We are lovers again,
Let's pretend
We are lovers again.
Let's pretend
We are lovers again.

Lily Of The Valley

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley

They called her Lily of the Valley
And she lived beside the river
The youngest of her sisters
And the prettiest of them all
She was courted by the men in town
She could have married anyone
The one she made her husband
Was the handsomest of all.

They were married in a chapel
Lily bore him seven children
And every night he put her down
And made her feel ashamed.

He took the face she used to wear
And put a look of sorrow there
The more he made her suffer
The more she felt to blame

No more tears Lily
Don't cry anymore
Tears of yours won't fall another time.
Don't cry Lilly
We know how you've tried
Fighting for your life was not a crime.

One night Lily turned to him
Before he raised his hand to her
One more time she said, and not again
He laughed and threw another punch
The blow knocked Lily to the floor,
Somehow she grabbed the kitchen knife
And stabbed her husband dead.

The jury they decided it was murder in the first degree
They said she had provoked him
With her wild and wicked talk.
They hanged her by the river
Where so many times she wandered
And left her children motherless
In sorrow and in shock.

No more tears Lily
Don't cry anymore
Tears of yours won't fall another time.
Don't cry Lilly
We know how you've tried
Fighting for your life was not a crime.

A soldier in a uniform is meant to kill the enemy
But Lilly in her own defense was framed to take the fall
Her children watched their father beat their mother all too often
The battlefields of families are the saddest of them all.

The willow weeps for Lily
As its branches touch the water
The wind is crying, "Lily" 
As it sighs along the shore
The river's singing "Lily --
We all know that you are innocent"
You were promised marriage
But you had to fight a war.

No more tears Lily
Don't cry any more
Tears of yours won't fall another time.
Don't cry Lily
We know how you tried
Fighting for your life was not a crime.

Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley
Lily of the Valley

Love

Words and Music by Judy Collins
Universal Music Corp. (ASCAP)/ The Wildflowers Company (ASCAP)
(Administered by Universal Music Corp.)

Love don't say you can't forgive me
How can I bear to have you say goodbye
G-d has mercy can't you spare some
I'm beggin you to say if it's just a while
I'll take the crumbs you leave at my door
I just can't bear not to see you anymore
All those year of love can't be gone
Take me with you don't leave me here alone

Don't say goodbye love
I couldn't bear to hear it
Don't say goodbye love
It's what I always feared

Nightmares come I know I've had one  
Why can't we be awake say it's just dream
This is all to real for dreaming
Like something in a play truer than a scene

How did you love change to hate
Only a moment passed
Now its too lave
Bind to the truth I have loved
Lost, I am helpless without you

Don't say goodbye love
I couldn't bear to hear it
Don't say goodbye love
It's what I've always feared

High above the moon is hiding
Clouds covering her face so she cannot tell
Tears are falling from my own eyes
Truth dying and my heart struggles to be free
I want to hide in the past
Where I thought that I found love at last
Love that would suffer my sins
Love that would let me begin to live

Don't say goodbye love
I couldn't bear to hear it
Don't say goodbye love
It's what I've always feared