The River Driver

Canadian traditional
arr. Great Big Sea & Ian A. Cook

I was just the age of sixteen
when I first went on the drive.
After six months hard labour,
At home I did arrive,
And courted with a pretty girl;
’Twas her caused me to roam.
Now I’m a river driver
And I’m far away from home.

CHORUS
I’ll eat when I am hungry
And I’ll drink when I am dry.
Get drunk whenever I’m ready,
Get sober by and by.
And if the river don’t drown me,
It’s down I’ll need to roam.
For I’m a river driver,
And I’m far away from home.

I’ll build a lonesome castle
Upon some mountain high
Where she can sit and view me
As I go passin’ by,
Where she can sit and view me
As I go marching on.
For I’m a river driver
And I’m far away from home.

When I am old and feeble
And in my sickness lie,
just wrap me up in a blanket
And lay me down to die.
Just get a little blue bird
To sing for me alone.
For I’m a river driver
And I’m far away from home.

Helplessly Hoping

Crosby, Stills & Nash,
arr. Home Free,
trans. Rémi Maréchal,
ed. Ian A. Cook

Helplessly hoping,
Her harlequin hovers nearby
Awaiting a word.
Gasping at glimpses
Of gentle true spirit,
He runs, wishing he could fly,
Only to trip at the sound of goodbye.

Wordlessly watching,
He waits by the window and wonders
At the empty place inside.
Heartlessly helping himself
to her bad dreams, he worries.
Did he hear a goodbye?
Or even hello?

They are one person.
They are two alone.
They are three together.
They are for each other.

Stand by the stairway,
You’ll see something certain to tell you
Confusion has its cost.
Love isn’t lying, it’s loose
In a lady who lingers,
Saying she is lost.
And choking on hello.

They are one person.
They are two alone.
They are three together.
They are for each other.

Kiss from a Rose

Seal
arr. Stefan Wyatt

There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea,
You became the light on the dark side of me,
But love remained a drug that’s the high, not the pill,

PRE-CHORUS
But did you know that when it snows,
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can be seen.

CHORUS
Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the grey,
The more I get of you the stranger it feels, yeah,
And now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey.

There is so much a man can tell you, so much he can say,
You remain my power, my plasure, my pain,
Baby, to me you’re like a grow’n’ addiction that I can’t deny.
Won’t you tell me, is that healthy babe?

Bridge
I’ve been kissed by a rose on the grey.

OUTRO
And now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the grey.

Red Is the Rose

Irish traditional
arr. The High Kings,
ed. Ian A. Cook

Come over the hills my bonnie Irish lass,
Come over the hills to your darling.
You choose the road, Love, and I’ll make the vow,
And I’ll be your true love forever.

CHORUS
Red is the rose that in yonder garden grows.
Fair is the lily of the valley.
Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne,
But my love is fairer than any.

’Twas down by Killarney’s green woods that we strayed
When the moon and the stars they were shining.
The moon shone its rays on her locks of golden hair,
And she swore she’d be my love forever.

It’s not for the parting that my sister pains,
It’s not for the grief of my mother.
It’s all for the loss of my bonnie Irish lass
That my heart is breaking forever.

Upon on the Roof

Gerry Goffin & Carole King
arr. Deke Sharon & Anne Raugh

When this old world starts getting me down
and people are just too much for me to face,
I climb way up to the top of the stairs,
and all my cares just drift right into space.

On the roof’s the only place I know
where you just have to wish to make it so.
Oh, let’s go up on the roof.

When I come home feeling tired and beat,
I go up where the air is fresh and sweet.
I get away from that hustling crowd
and all that rat race noise down in the street.

At night the stars put on a show for free.
And, darling, you can share it all with me.
I keep telling you that

Right smack-dab in the middle of town,
I found a paradise that’s trouble proof.
And if this old world starts getting you down,
there’s room enough for two up on the roof.

Come on! Come on, babe. Up on the roof.

Ebb Tide

Robert Maxwell
arr. Fred King

First the tide rushes in,
plants a kiss on the shore,
then rolls out to sea,
and the sea is very still once more.

So I rush to your side,
like the oncoming tide,
with one burning fire:
will your arms open wide?

At last we’re face to face,
and as we kiss through an embrace,
I can tell, I can feel,
you are love, you are real,
really mine in the wind,
in the rain, in the sun.

Like the tide at its ebb,
I’m at peace in the web
of your love.

The Longest Time

Billy Joel
arr. Ian A. Cook

Oh, for the longest time.

If you said goodbye to me tonight,
there would still be music left to write.
What else could I do? I’m so inspired by you.
That hasn’t happened for the longest time.

Once I thought my innocence was gone.
Now I know that happiness goes on.
That’s where you found me when you put your arms around me.
I haven’t been there for the longest time.

Oh, for the longest time.

I’m that voice you’re hearing in the hall,
and the greatest miracle of all
is how I need you, and how you needed me too.
That hasn’t happened for the longest time.

Maybe this won’t last very long,
but you feel so right, and I could be wrong.
Maybe I’ve been hoping too hard,
but I’ve gone this far, and it’s more than I hoped for.

Who knows how much further we’ll go on.
Maybe I’ll be sorry when you’re gone.
I’ll take my chances. I forgot how nice romance is.
I haven’t been there for the longest time.

I had second thoughts from the start.
I said to myself: “hold on to your heart.”
Now I know the man that you are.
You’re wonderful so far, and it’s more than I hoped for.

I don’t care what consequence it brings.
I have been a fool for lesser things.
I want you so bad. I think you ought to know that
I intend to hold you for the longest time.

Oh, for the longest time.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

George David Weiss, Luigi Creatore, & Hugo Peretti
arr. Jon Nicholas

In the jungle, the mighty jungle,
The lion sleeps tonight.
In the jungle, the quiet jungle,
The lion sleeps tonight.

In the village, the peaceful village,
The lion sleeps tonight.
In the village, the quiet village,
The lion sleeps tonight.

Hush, my darling, don’t fear, my darling,
The lion sleeps tonight.
Hush, my darling, don’t fear, my darling,
The lion sleeps tonight.

Il bianco e dolce cigno

Jacques Arcadelt,
ed. Edward Tambling

Il bianco e dolce cigno cantando more,
Ed io piangendo giung’ al fin del viver mio.
Stran’ e diversa sorte:
Ch’ei more sconsolato,
Ed io moro beato.
Morte che nel morire
M’empie di gioia tutto e di desire.
Se nel morir, altro dolor non sento,
Di mille mort’ il di sarei contento.

Translation

The white and sweet swan
Dies singing, and I,
Weeping, reach the end of my life.
Strange and different fate,
That he dies disconsolate
And I die a blessed death,
which in dying fills me
full of joy and desire.
If in dying, were I to feel no other pain,
I would be content to die a thousand deaths a day.

The Luckiest

Ben Folds,
arr. Ian A. Cook

I don’t get many things right the first time.
In fact, I am told that a lot.
Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls
Brought me here.

And where was I before the day
That I first saw your lovely face?
Now I see it every day.

And I know
That I am,
I am, I am
The luckiest.

What if I’d been born fifty years before you
In a house on the street where you lived?
Maybe I’d be outside as you passed on your bike.
Would I know?

And in a white sea of eyes,
I see one pair that I recognize.

And I know
That I am,
I am, I am
The luckiest.

I love you more than I have
ever found a way to say to you.

Next door there’s an old man who lived to his 90s
And one day passed away in his sleep.
And his wife, she stayed for a couple of days
And passed away.

I’m sorry, I know that’s a
Strange way to tell you that I know we belong.

That I know
That I am,
I am, I am
The luckiest.

Crabbuckit

k-os,
as sung by Good Lovelies,
arr. Melody Hine,
ed. Ian A. Cook

Took a trip on a bus that I didn’t know,
Met a girl sellin’ drinks at the disco,
Said truth comes back when you let it go,
Seems complicated ’cause it’s really so simple.

Walkin’ down Yonge Street on a Friday,
Can’t follow them, gotta do it my way.
No fast lane, still on the highway,
Movin’ in and out, no doubt there’s a brighter day.

No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
Ah, check out the crabs in the bucket.

It’s like flies on the windscreen, writing on walls,
Square these clones claim they’re havin’ a ball,
Foolin’ themselves just before last call,
Tick-a-tick-a-tock, tick-a-tick-a-tock.

Clock strikes twelve, clock strikes one,
Smokin’ gun put these fools on the run.
I know it’s not that simple,
I know it’s not that hard.

No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
Ah, check out the crabs in the bucket.

It’s a conniption fit when the microphone’s lit,
I take it higher like a bird on a wire, retire the fire,
I never ’cause I’m just moving on up,
Choosin’ to touch the unseen craving the clutch.

Damn, if mirrors were created by sand,
Then I’m looking in the water for reflections of man.
Understand the minds above time when it’s empty,
Emcee Tragic’ly Hip, ahead by a Century.

No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
Ah, check out the crabs in the bucket.

No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
No time to get down ’cause I’m moving up,
Ah.