"SAINT
STEPHEN'S DREAM"
has
something to do with three trips taken to Ireland over the course of 15
years, two of them disastrous, one healing. There's a little Paris in
there, too.
------
LEAD
VOCAL: Douglas
Imbrogno
BACKING VOCAL: Heidi
Muller
LEAD GUITAR: Ryan
Kennedy
BASS/PERCUSSION: Chuck
Biel
RHYTHM GUITAR:
Douglas Imbrogno, Bob Webb
------
REFERENCES:
/ The
'Via Dolorosa' is a reference from a Latin country, not a Celtic one,
of course. Blood from both mix and toss in my family.
/ Visit
Inis Mor, a strange, spectral island off Galway, a 'thin place,' as the
Irish say, where the space between earth and heaven is thinner.
/ 'Mara':
Buddhist reference to the spirit of worldly temptation and distraction.
/ 'Charon':
Back to Western references and the river Styxx.
/ Ryan 'Bean'
Kennedy rules on guitar.
All songs by Douglas Imbrogno (except 'Lights' by Rebecca Skeen Webb, 'Rosie's Lullaby,' by Bob Webb and 'Scarborough Fair,' traditional) Copyright 2004.
"SAINT
STEPHEN'S DREAM"
words & music by Douglas Imbrogno
(copyright 2004)
---
For Lisa
Graveyard on Inis Mor
in the Arran Islands off Galway, Ireland
/ photo by Douglas Imbrogno
Walking
down the Via Dolorosa/ staring at the flapping of a crow/
Carrying a book by Buddhagosa/ Thinking of a lover long
ago.
On a curving road in Connemara,/ sky above is incandescent blue/ Once again, I'm wrestling with Mara/ Then my thoughts again they turn to you.
CHORUS:
Waltzing across the waves/ Standing upon the graves/ of Druids, priestesses and missionaries of the stones/ Floating above the clouds/ Staring down at the crowds/ who dream of owning pieces of this empire made of bones.
Stumbling through the Place de Trocadero/ moonlit puddle shining at my feet/ The Way is difficult and it is narrow/ There's a cafe where we used to meet./ In the blooming Wicklow Mountain heather/ Orange sun behind a Celtic cross./ Meditating on the changing weather/Are these tears of love? Or tears of loss?
CHORUS:
Drowning in foreign seas/ Crawling upon my knees.../ With gorgons, minotaurs and goblins out of Charon's stream/ Standing on Eire's soil/After these years of toil./ Glad to have at last awakened from Saint Stephen's Dream.
INSTRUMENTAL
Waltzing across the waves/ Standing upon the graves of Druids, priestesses and missionaries of the stones.../ Standing on Eire's soil/After these years of toil./ Glad to have at last awakened from Saint Stephen's Dream... from Saint Stephen's Dream.