Lyrics

Here are the lyrics to the ten songs included on Libby’s compilation CD
How Could Anyone. For use of any of these songs, please see Request Use of Libby’s Songs on the home page.

HOW COULD ANYONE

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1988
BMI All Rights reserved.
From If You See a Dream
How could anyone ever tell you
You were anything less than beautiful?
How could anyone ever tell you
You were less than whole?
How could anyone fail to notice
That your loving is a miracle?
How deeply you’re connected to my soul?

CRADLE OF DAWN

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1989
BMI. All rights reserved.
From If You See a Dream
Go to sleep, welcome the night
I will be here in the morning light
Slip into dreams, you’ve done all that you can
I’ll hold you hear in the dawn.
Sunset in your country, sunrise in mine
Lay down your body, feel mine begin to rise
Sunset in my country, sunrise in yours
I feel you there in the dawn.
The forces facing us are terrible indeed
My hope may flicker in the night
But in the morning I will plant another seed
And while you sleep it seeks the light.
Go to sleep…
There are no promises that we will see the day
The dreams we live for will succeed
But I can promise you that half ‘way round the world
I’ll hold the light up while you sleep
We need a quiet place to let our spirits be
Somewhere that we are safe from harm
So my beloveds, as the moonbeams touch the sea
Rest in the cradle of the dawn
Go to sleep…
I’ll hold you here in the dawn
Rest in the cradle of dawn.

LOW TO THE GROUND

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain

We stand on the edge of a cliff in the deepest night I’ve ever seen
People looking for light, people who cherish a dream
But the light’s shining out from our eyes and the dream’s resting deep in our souls
If it’s magic we’re needing to keep us from falling, it’s magic we already know
It’s music that keeps us alive, it’s dancing that sets our hearts free
It’s children remember the laughter in life, it’s animals teach us to see
Stay low to the ground, live close to the earth, don’t stray very far from your soul
It’s simple things show us the reason we’re here and it’s simple things keeping us whole.
Tell me the place you were born, the lives your ancestors led
The ground that surrounded the people you love, the streams from which you were fed
It’s the wind that carries the seed, and the seed that carries the song
The food that we’re eating is rooted in soil, and it’s soil that is keeping us strong
It’s music….
The temples are falling around us, we stand strong and fierce where they’ve been
I never have seen a holier sight than a person who sings in the wind
Our blood is the river of life, our joy is the sun on the land
All of the love that is inside this heart is more than one person can stand
And it’s music…

IF THE WORLD WERE MY LOVER

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved.
From If the World Were My Lover

If the world were my lover I would ask her to dance
Under skies filled with thunder and with lightning and flame
If the world were my lover I would wrap her in leaves
And build her a shelter at the close of the day
If the world were my lover I would lay down beside her
And caress her with laughter and with roses and rain
If the world were my lover I would never forsake her
I would always remember her name.
If the world were my lover and I told her a lie
I would search through the danger for the source of the pain
If the world were my lover and I lashed out in fear
I would fight like a warrior to redeem her again
If the world were my lover, even deep in my anger
I would always forgive her, never leave her to blame
If the world were my lover I would never forsake her
I would always remember her name.
And I would do the same for you, the same for you, for you are of my world
And I will do whatever I must do, whatever to be true, to a lover of such beauty
If the world were my lover I would venture my life
To try and protect her against hunger and pain
If the world were my lover I would walk by her side
Every step a reminder that her heart knows the way
If the world were my lover I would hold her so tender
As she wept at the horrors that I cannot explain
If the world were my lover I would never forsake her
I would always remember her name.
And I would do the same for you, the same for you, for you are of my world
And I will do whatever I must do, whatever to be true, to a lover of such beauty
Sing for me, sing, for we always will be deep in the heart of mysterious love
If the world were my lover I would fight to be true
To the passion inside her, to the source of the flame
If the world were my lover I would know in my soul
That her heart is a fire only wildness can tame
If the world were my lover I would see myself shining
Knowing deep down within her, we are one and the same
If the world were my lover I would never forsake her
I would always remember her name.

BONES

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1997
BMI. All rights reserved.
From Lay it All Down

I come from a long line of dead people
I come from a tall pile of bones
My people lie sleeping all under the world
Their souls turn to roots, leaves and stones.
My grandpa went by whiskey in an L.A. hotel
His dad died of Ohio coal
And before him, and before that, they slipped under the ground
Fewer bones walk above than below.
My great grandmother’s eyes stare out from my face
Her skinny bones dance around in my clothes
You can almost hear the whisper of her sweet southern song
In this voice I’ve been calling my own.
A toast to the living, walk us walk down the aisle
So these bones can be married to the flesh for awhile.
A song, a song for the living, though the flesh worries when
These bones will be leaving to join family again.
I come from a long line of dead people….

THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain

Thinking like a mountain and trusting like the dawn
Raging like a wildfire and loving like the black-necked swan
Moving like the lightning and dreaming like a stone
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Thinking like a mountain and breathing like a whale
Bending like the birch trees when the heavens blow we cannot fail
Roaming like a turtle, growing like a seed that’s sown
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home
Make it home, like a mountain, make it home, like a stone
Find the mountain deep within your heart, nobody is alone
The wilderness calls out our names from deep inside our bones
And thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Watch the eagle circle, smell the bear upon the land
Feel the ocean, hear the wind, our bodies understand
With spirits open to the sky and feet on living ground
Thinking like a mountain we will turn this thing around
Thinking like a mountain we will turn this thing around
Thinking like a mountain and yielding like a stream
Patient as a porcupine and steady as an evergreen
Singing like the wild geese as they wend their way along
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Make it home…
Find the mountain deep within your heart, it’s calling you back home!

DANCING IN FRONT OF THE GUNS

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain

We’re facing the guns again, we have faced them before
Humanity’s longing after so many deaths
For something more human than war
But part of me whispers “Take your body and run away.|
Leave the vision to somebody else,” then I hear myself say,

I’d rather be dancing at the edge of my grave.
I’d rather be holding you close as we march forward loving and brave.
I’d rather be singing in the face of my fear.
I’d rather be dancing in front of the guns as long as I’m here.
Life is so dangerous that there’s little to fear
Life is so possible, every breath a frontier
They’ve brought out the guns once again ‘cuz they haven’t a clue
That we could be dancing, the whole human race, each one must choose
And I’d rather be dancing at the edge of my grave…

To the drum of my heartbeat pounding up through my feet
With millions of lovers urging me on as we take to the streets
As we face the terror, if I leave here before my time
One thing’s for certain, I’ll go dancing and I’ll go alive!
And I’d rather be dancing at the edge of my grave…

ROSA

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1988
BMI. All rights reserved.
From If You See a Dream
Rosa call to me, she say, “Don’t you take the back of no bus.
Every woman here deserves respect, ain’t nothing too good for us, sweet women,
Nothing too good for us.
Nikki Giovanni she tell it like it is, she say, “Ooooh,
When you’re black like me you are queen of the world,
Ain’t nothing too rich for you, sweet women, ain’t nothing too rich for you.”
And Shirley, she pound her fist, she say, “No other voices will do.
Women of color got to speak for themselves. Ain’t nobody smarter than you,
Sweet women, ain’t nobody smarter than you.”
Rosa…
And Fannie, Fannie Lou Hamer, say “People deserve enough food
And everybody got the right to vote. Ain’t nobody better than you,
Sweet women, ain’t nobody better than you.”
Audre Lorde, surviving cancer, speaking so clear and so true,
She say “With women’s love and your own bold vision,
Ain’t nothing too scary for you, sweet women, nothing too scary for you.”
Singing Rosa…
Winnie Mandela, her fist held high, she say, “My people are going to be free.
Racism trying to make me die, but ain’t nothing too big for me, sweet women,A
Ain’t nothing too big for me.”
And Alice, Alice Walker, writing us all back home
She say, “Go in search of your mothers’ gardens
And find yourself your own, sweet women, find yourself your own.

Singing Rosa…
Women, if we’re going to be free, it’s got to be all of us or none
While racism lives we all stay in chains, ain’t none of us make it alone,
Sweet women, ain’t none of us make it alone.
Singing Rosa…

DIG DOWN DEEP

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved.
From If the World Were My Lover

I’m digging way down, down to the bottom of my soul
I’m digging way down, way down deep
I’m digging way down, down to the bottom of my soul
There’s clear water running through me.
Ain’t got no answers, got a whole lotta questions and
Nothing on the surface seems to satisfy me
Can’t find it on the outside, got to feel it on the inside and
Dig down deeper in the mystery.
So I am, I’m digging way down…
When terror strikes me in the middle of the night
And even arms around my body can’t comfort me
My heart is thirsting for that cool drink of water
Got to pull out my shovel, get busy
So I am, I’m digging way down…
Cool, clear water flowing through me
Washing all my fears away
Cool, clear water flowing through me
Moving me up, moving me up towards the light of day
When daybreak finds me in the morning light
And it’s hard to hold onto what set me free
I go down to the river ‘cuz it helps me remember
To dig down deeper in my time of need.
So I am, I’m digging way down…

LAY IT ALL DOWN

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1997
BMI. All rights reserved.
From Lay it All Down

Lay it all down when you can’t hold it
Let it all fall, set it all free
When the night falls and it grows cold in
The midst of the journey and you fall to your knees
Sometimes two legs simply can’t hold us
Sometimes two arms are simply too weak
Lay it all down when you can’t hold it
Let your life carry you like a boat on the sea.
Like a boat on the sea that has slipped all its moorings
Like a boat on the sea with no wind in its sails
Like a boat on the ocean drifting far from the harbor
With not even a thimble for the drifter to bail.
Oh…
Lay it all down when you can’t hold it
Let it all fall, set it all free
When you are lost, down to the bone and
You’re calling for mercy, calling out “please,”
Sometimes two legs simply can’t hold us
Sometimes two arms are simply too weak
Lay it all down when you can’t hold it
Let your life carry you like a boat on the sea.
You turn to the east, nothing but ocean
You turn to the west, no sign of the shore
You turn to the south, water to the horizon
You don’t even need to turn to the north
Like a boat on the sea…
Ohh….
LYRICS to THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN CD
THINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN
Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain
Thinking like a mountain and trusting like the dawn
Raging like a wildfire and loving like the black-necked swan
Moving like the lightning and dreaming like a stone
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Thinking like a mountain and breathing like a whale
Bending like the birch trees when the heavens blow we cannot fail
Roaming like a turtle, growing like a seed that’s sown
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home
Make it home, like a mountain, make it home, like a stone
Find the mountain deep within your heart, nobody is alone
The wilderness calls out our names from deep inside our bones
And thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Watch the eagle circle, smell the bear upon the land
Feel the ocean, hear the wind, our bodies understand
With spirits open to the sky and feet on living ground
Thinking like a mountain we will turn this thing around
Thinking like a mountain we will turn this thing around
Thinking like a mountain and yielding like a stream
Patient as a porcupine and steady as an evergreen
Singing like the wild geese as they wend their way along
Thinking like a mountain, honey, we will make it home.
Make it home…
Find the mountain deep within your heart, it’s calling you back home!

DANCING IN FRONT OF THE GUNS

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain

BLUE MOON

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1991
BMI. All rights reserved
From Thinking Like a Mountain

I am standing at a crossroads, my heart is in my hands
In all the four directions an endless flow of land
A full moon shines above me, the rain pours down like fire
May the colors of the rainbow be my guide.|
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red rage

Three times in a snow white passion I burst the walls of this cage
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red sky
Three times in a coal-black evening I spoke the words of goodbye
As I look into your very blue eyes, I stand here wondering why
Once in a very blue, once in a very blue moon
Once in a very blue moon.
You are standing at the crossroads, deciding where to go
The fields are ripe with harvest, your feet are deep in snow
A brilliant sun above you, your eyes are raining tears
May the colors of the rainbow be your guide
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red rage
Three times in a snow white passion, I burst the walls of this cage
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red sky
Three times in a coal-black evening I spoke the words of goodbye
As you look into my very blue eyes, you stand there wondering why
Once in a very blue, once in a very blue moon

Once in a very blue moon

Reach out your hand, tell me you love me, give me a sign, show me the way
Lend me your voice, heavens above me, earth is below, I’ve got nothing to say
Open my mind, open the floodgates, open the door, open the way
Reach out your hand, tell me you love me, tell me goodbye
I am standing at the crossroads, my heart is torn in two
I am thinking of my own life, I am thinking just of you
My legs grown into tree roots, my heart is now the moon
May the colors of the rainbow be our guide
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red rage
Three times in a snow white passion, I burst the walls of this cage
Once in a very blue moon, twice in a very red sky
Three times in a coal-black evening I spoke the words of goodbye
As you look into my very blue eyes, you stand there wondering why
Once in a very blue, once in a very blue moon

Once in a very blue moon

GO

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1990
BMI. All rights reserved

Child of two families, I’ve held her all her life
She asks, “Can I go live with dad and his new wife?”
I watch her face asleep, I sit on the bed and weep
And when she awakens, I say, “Go.”
Go where your heart is leading, go, I tell you, go

Go, though my heart is pleading to pull you back in, to never let go
Where the sun rise beckons, go, where the dream awakens
Go where your heart is leading, go.
Closer than all the world, this precious friend to me
Now she is longing a much wider world to see
I watch her speak her dreams and I see the light they bring
And when she asks me, I say, “Go.”
Go where your heart is leading….
Go with the wind, my love, fly with the wind my love, go with the wind, the wind, the wind, the wind, the wind, my love, go!
Lying in a hospital, a nurse takes his pulse
This man, my father, taught me run and build and trust
Now he must fight to breathe, I see that he wants to leave
And I take his hand and whisper, “Go.”
Go, where your heart is leading….

COME ON IN

Words and music by Libby Roderick
c Libby Roderick Music 1990
BMI. All rights reserved

I know I’m only human, and I’m glad that I am
We’re not made to live separate, that’s not part of the plan
And I want you so close to me, but I understand
That your heart is afraid, many times been betrayed, so I offer my hand
Come on into my neighborhood, walk right up to my door

Come on into my living room, I can’t say any more
We can turn all the lights down low, that’s a place we can start
Here’s a key, come on in, let’s begin to begin, come on into my heart.
Now I knew when I met you we were two of a kind
There’s a wildness inside of you that might even match mine
But I’ve noticed with wild things, that they’re often quite shy
And they’re wary of snares when they’re caught unawares, but alone they can die
Come on into my neighborhood…
Now I never would hold you back, though my heart it might break
‘Cause I’ve tasted the wilderness and I live by its grace
But I want you beside me now, just to hold for a time
Oh, my door’s open wide, honey please come inside, touch your wildness to mine
Come on into my neighborhood….
Here’s a key, come on in, let’s begin to begin, come on into my heart. Honey I’ll let you in, let’ begin to begin, come on into my heart.

HOLY THING TO LOVE

It’s a human thing, a holy thing, to love what death can take
It’s a human thing to love the thing whose loss will cause your heart to break
It’s a funny thing we can’t stop ourselves even as we wait for the final hush
It’s a human thing, a funny thing, a holy thing to love
I once loved a human being and then watched him slip away

A fist smashed through my grand design, I would sit alone and I could not pray
But sometimes on a sleepless night, silent and frozen inside my fears
The angels came and circled me and sang the song only spirit hears
Have you seen how the world moves on? Every hand we touch will go
Every face we cherish will disappear, taking everything that we used to know
But somewhere deep inside our bones we must be tied to the morning star
For knowing that our hearts will break, we love each other all the more
It’s a human thing….

SONG FOR SUMMER SOLSTICE

Daylight comes and nighttime goes, nighttime falls, day flies
Round and round the cycle goes, we live and then we die and then we live and then we die.
The seasons of my life go round, the sunshine and the rain
The fallow and the fruitful days, the joy and then the pain and then the joy and then the pain.
As light below, so light above, so light in all we see

The light is in the act of love, the light that sets us free, yes, it’s the light that sets free.
Daylight comes…

TELLING MYSELF LIES

I am telling myself lies, emotion in disguise
No welcome in my eyes in the mirror
My heart has gone behind, daring me to find
The One who is still kind, can you hear Her?
I am telling myself lies.

Tell me, have you seen her there, the one with the distant stare?
Who just does not seem to care, a child all alone
Do you know where she sleeps at night, when heartache consumes the light?
And her bird has escaped in flight, have you seen her go home?
I am telling myself lies, no need to advertise the murder of suprise
I keep smiling
An evening filled with pain, we talk about the rain
Politeness will sustain all our dying
I am telling myself lies.
Do you know where she goes by day
When money has all the say
And she cannot find a way to talk like others do?
Do you know how she finds her food
Where the language is raw and crude
And the people have all withstood
Have you seen her go home?

I am telling myself lies, there is no compromise
I am not civilized, no such mercy
The tenderest appeal, forgotten how to feel
Forgetting that we kneel as a breathing
I am telling myself lies.

IS THAT WHAT YOU REALLY WANT?

Is that what you really want or did nobody ask you?
Is that what you really think or did nobody care?
Is that who you really are or did nobody notice?
Is that what you really want or did nobody dare?
Are these your most precious dreams or did you leave them behind you?

When you were a young one, just to get through?
Is it money you really need or someone to come find you?
Hold on darling, I am coming for you
Do you need another beer or should I just hold you?
Do you need another child or a dream for the world?
Is it sex that you really need or are your search for god herself?
Have you painted a picture of you as a boy, as a girl?
Remember the playground dreams that kept us enraptured?
The boy who would dance his life, the girl who could fly
The longing to touch and be touched, the burning for life
The passion to have it all deep down inside
Is that what you really want or did nobody ask you?
Is that who you really are, just to run with the crowd?
Is that what you really love, or did nobody ask you?
Well, if nobody asked you, I am asking you now.
For once we can see the dream we will get there somehow.

LOW TO THE GROUND

CAUGHT (BETWEEN A ROCK AND A SOFT PLACE)

I am standing on a stack of defenses acting two times my size
She is standing on the ground in front of me asking me “Why?”
Caught between a rock and a soft place
I am struggling to save my face from showing how much I care
Caught between a rock and a soft place
Sometimes joining this human race is almost too much to bear
So I answer sincerely a very polite and absolute lie
And disregarding all forms of civilized manners she asks again “Why?”
Caught between a rock and a soft place
I have to defend my space so I can still take in air
Caught between a rock and a soft place
Suddenly there is not a trace of safety left anywhere
Caught between a rock and a soft place
I can tell by the look on her face she’s got feelings to spare
Caught between a rock and a soft place
No luck, I’ll just have to face, what I did wasn’t fair
Caught between a rock and a soft place
I slowly stop building my case and start feeling what’s there
Caught between a rock and a soft place
Suddenly I come face to face with my own private scare
So I bravely admit my horrendous behavior and hope to die
Another issue comes up and all of a sudden I’m asking her “Why?”
Caught between a rock and a soft place
She is certain she is a disgrace, so she’s putting on airs
Caught between a rock and a soft place
Who knows maybe one of these days, we’ll have a soft place to share
This is my hope and my prayer, say a prayer for me, ooh, heaven help us to dare.
InstanceEndEditable
©2005 Libby Roderick. All Rights Reserved.