Gather 'round children,
I'll sing you a song
about a land
and what's going on.

Gather 'round children,
lend me your ear.
Open your mind
and get ready to hear

that it takes so long.
It takes too long to be free.

There will be times
when you are just fine.
You're having your way
with good living and wine.

There will be times
when things don't go well,
when no one is near ya,
no one who could tell ya

that it takes so long.
It takes too long to be free.

When we finally
get to Nowhere
we'll be laughing and playing
and filling to air.

When we finally
have us our fun,
we'll be blasting on trumpets
and banging on drums,

but it takes so long.
It takes too long to be free.

Lying and basking
'neath sun-setting skies,
with beautiful pastels
reflecting your eyes.

Lying and sleeping
'neath moon and the stars.
Our love and our life
will never depart,

but it takes so long.
Yes, it takes too long to be free.

When you open your mind
remember to take your heart along.
The mind some words can write,
but without heart there'll be no song.

Standing in the lot,
pointer finger in the air,
praying what I've got
will help me get in there.

I'm looking for a miracle
to get to the show.
The band is incredible,
listen to them go.

My friends sold my ticket
for a tab and a ride.
Talk about wicked
and killing my vibe.

Then a man walking by
whisperin' so I could hear:
"You'll see The Dead while alive
if you take this. Here."

Do what you can
or get out the way.
But don't lend your hand
if you can't take the weight.

Honey, you're my darling,
but do you know
what it is I'm starting?

Honey, you're my baby,
but do you know
what it is I'm saying?

Honey, you're a doozy,
but do you know
what it is I'm doing?

Honey, you're not ready,
and you don't know
where it is I'm heading.

I've sailed the seas of sorrow
and scaled the cliffs of fear.
I've lazed around this meadow
in every season of the year.

It has got me wondering:
Where would I like to go?
'Cause my soul, it feels like wandering
where my footsteps do not know.

In life I feel like loving
In love I feel like lying.
In truth I feel like moving,
'cause if I'm moving I'm not dying.

Since before this time's beginning
we've been rolling down a road.
When it feels like ending
something adds another load.

Whether you're whispering discretely
or screaming loud and bold,
an angel's choir will greet ye
before palaces of gold.

In life I feel like loving
In love I feel like lying.
In truth I feel like moving,
'cause if I'm moving I'm not dying.

So raise your voice in proclamation,
raise your voice for all to hear.
Sing your songs in declaration
to the time that must appear.

Don't be fearful of the future,
don't grieve the ancient pasts.
Fix love up with sutures
and pray that stitching lasts.

All these slip-stream silk canopies unfurling out at last keep the interchanging threads tangled in the past. It doesn't matter what I lose in the search to find my Self amid cacophonous raucousness and distractions from consciousness. When the flowers fully bloom, bearing fruit too ripe to wait, and a secondary sight sends me right into the zone, I'll walk the path the ancients tread and follow my voice back home. Sing me a song in medicine tongues, as serpents' illusions hiss from my lungs. Knowing how the angels' trumpets' wail and mourn the loss of prosperity hidden on the shore I'll listen, still reeling from the stars in my head, to the bliss that is waiting for "mine" to lie dead.