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Peter Mayer

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Welcome to my music page!  Click on "Buy CD" links to make a purchase, or call 1-800-BUY-MY-CD (1-800-289-6923).  CD Baby handles all online and phone orders for CDs.

About MP3 Sales
  
  • Catching Rain
  • Third Street
  • Heaven Below
  • Novelties
  • Midwinter
  • Earth Town Square
  • Elements
  • Million Year Mind
  • Bountiful
  • Straw House Down
  • Uncrowded Sky
Million Year Mind
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Million Year Mind
1. Fall
Fall
What if the highest destination
Of any given human life
Was not a place that you could reach if
You had to climb
Wasn’t up above like heaven
So no need to fly at all
What if to reach the highest place
You had to fall

Fall, like a drunkard on your face
Like a parachuter jumping from a plane
Fall, like an astronaut from space
Or an acrobat from making a mistake

And what if all the sages
Talking about realms out of reach
Would memorize the pages
Of gravity
What if getting to the highest place is
Like learning what you know
Or like going to where you are now
Like coming home

Fall, like Adam falling down
From the strange, unearthly angels whence he came
Fall, finding a way of trusting in the ground
As if the highest and the lowest places
Are the same

What if the highest destination
Wasn’t up above at all
What if, to reach the highest place
You had to fall
What if you had to fall
2. John's Garden
John's Garden
Farmer John wandered back
And when he reached the pumpkin patch, began to speak
He said “the weather’s getting colder
Summer’s over and it’s almost Halloween
That’s the day, the reason you were raised
When everything about your life will change

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you’ll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
But remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern’s heart”

The pumpkins held a meeting then
Some were very apprehensive and afraid
“Could this really happen to us?
What could be the meaning?” is what they were saying
“This is home, it’s all we’ve ever known”
Then one bold, outspoken pumpkin spoke

He said
“I don’t need eyes to see , it sounds like a lie to me
I like it just fine here in John’s garden
And remember that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern’s heart”

There is much to ask and to ponder in the pumpkin patch
When imposing old October shows up at last

Then a pumpkin from the farther end
Who had been silent up till then
Over the commotion, said
“What would you rather have my friends
A chance to shine, or die here on the vine?
The better way seems very plain to me

You will have eyes to see, and for that night, you’ll be
A bright lamp burning in the darkness
And maybe that candle shines for only the briefest time
In a jack-o-lantern’s heart
Oh, but one goblin’s smile should make it all well worth while
You know you might even see the starlight
And knowing that time is brief, makes it that much more sweet
When you have a jack-o-lantern’s heart”
3. Like a Mountain
Like a Mountain
Driving near Mount Shavano
It seemed to be looking me over
Feeling that gaze down below
I pulled the car off on the shoulder

Staring at the rock and the sky
My heart began beating more slowly
Till I lost track of time
And forgot where it was I was going

CHORUS: Suddenly, I saw life from the brink
I watched an age pass me by like a wink
For just one heartbeat, I believe I could think
Like a mountain

Mountain, we measure our lives
By tens and by twenty years only
Teach us the ways of a million-year mind
What a million-year heart could be hoping

CHORUS:

And oh, if I’m wise I will strive and I’ll pray
To turn that one tick in time into a day
And lead this poor picture-flash life in that way
Like a mountain
4. The Dark
The Dark
Edgar Allen Poe had it
In his tell tale heart
It’s the finest time to strike
Said Napolean Bonaparte

Inmates make their break into it
Cavemen make their art
Spy planes fly and spelunkers hunker
Somewhere in the dark

Batman catches criminals in the dark of night
Saving Gotham City from evil designs
Darkness, lovers love in and
Dreamers tend to like
And if you think you’re neither one
Well, in the dark, that’s just what
You might become

Some celestial bodies like to
Strut their stuff alot
But we know Mr. Black Hole is the
Big boy on the block

King Tut looked pretty comfy
In that old dark tomb
What’s good for an Egyptian mummy
Might be right for you

What’s the fun relying on something you can see?
That’s just so passe when you run toward the light
Why not make a dangerous tryst with mystery?
It’s a downright frightening hole
Watch your head
Down you go

Larry lost his inhibitions
Sally felt a spark
Jacob saw a mystic vision
Somewhere in the dark

Black cats eke out a descent living
Monsters make it far
You might find what you’ve been missing
Somewhere in
The Dark
5. Holy Now
Holy Now
When I was a boy, each week
On Sunday, we would go to church
And pay attention to the priest
He would read the holy word
And consecrate the holy bread
And everyone would kneel and bow
Today the only difference is
Everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

When I was in Sunday school
We would learn about the time
Moses split the sea in two
Jesus made the water wine
And I remember feeling sad
That miracles don’t happen still
But now I can’t keep track
‘Cause everything’s a miracle
Everything, Everything
Everything’s a miracle

Wine from water is not so small
But an even better magic trick
Is that anything is here at all
So the challenging thing becomes
Not to look for miracles
But finding where there isn’t one

When holy water was rare at best
It barely wet my fingertips
But now I have to hold my breath
Like I’m swimming in a sea of it
It used to be a world half there
Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
‘Cause everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

Read a questioning child’s face
And say it’s not a testament
That’d be very hard to say
See another new morning come
And say it’s not a sacrament
I tell you that it can’t be done

This morning, outside I stood
And saw a little red-winged bird
Shining like a burning bush
Singing like a scripture verse
It made me want to bow my head
I remember when church let out
How things have changed since then
Everything is holy now
It used to be a world half-there
Heaven’s second rate hand-me-down
But I walk it with a reverent air
‘Cause everything is holy now

6. Charlie Porter
Charlie Porter
My name is Charlie Porter
I was a union soldier
In ‘61, I signed up to fight
And it was a great adventure
But I have to tell you
Not the fairytale I had in mind

And when General Lee surrendered
And victory finally arrived
I heard no one hoot or holler
No hip-hurray for the stars and stripes
We only cried

Back when it started
Proud and foolish hearted
I thought I had a taste for rebel blood
But we were only children
They killed us and we killed them
And the misery and the dying made us numb

By then, holding back the sorrow
Was kind of like holding back the tide
The men did not hoot or holler
Nor hip-hurray for the stars and stripes
We only cried

And oh, victory seems hollow
At the price of half a million lives
A cold and weary stillness follows
You hear no hip-hurray for stars and stripes
You only cry
7. Africa
Africa
They say the sights and sounds down in Africa
Seem like ones you’ve seen and heard before
Even though you arrive
For the very first time
You have a sense of returning

They say there is a dream down in Africa
Dreamt about 5 million years ago
It’s a dream to survive
A dream of standing upright
And setting out on a new life

CHORUS: So I say to my hands, can you remember Africa?
And I say to my feet, do you remember Africa?
Do you remember?
Do you remember Africa?

You can hear a song down in Africa
Between the eastern mountains and the coast
It’s a song that you know
Rising up from the bones
And it’s telling your story

There is a human heart born in Africa
Beating now for eons, it is your own
A tenacious, ancient will
Quite alive inside you still
And it’s dreaming on
Dreaming on

CHORUS:
8. Now Touch the Air Softly
Now Touch the Air Softly

Now touch the air softly,
Step gently. One, two...
I’ll love you till roses
Are robin’s-egg blue;
I’ll love you till gravel
Is eaten for bread,
And lemons are orange,
And lavender’s red.

Now touch the air softly,
Swing gently the broom.
I’ll love you till windows
Are all of a room;
And the table is laid,
And the table is bare,
And the ceiling reposes
On bottomless air.

I’ll love you till Heaven
Rips the stars from his coat,
And the Moon rows away in
A glass-bottomed boat;
And Orion steps down
Like a diver below,
And Earth is ablaze,
And Ocean aglow.

So touch the air softly,
And swing the broom high.
We will dust the gray mountains,
And sweep the blue sky;
And I’ll love you as long
As the furrow the plow,
As However is Ever,
And Ever is Now.
9. Magic Beans
Magic Beans
That’s not how the story goes
When do heroes play it safe?
You’ve got a job and a family-o
But not a single golden egg
And a pocket full of possibilities
Hey ho Jack, when
Will you plant them
Magic beans?

Jack, Oh Jack, what scared you so?
Made you hide those beans and run
Did you hear the rumors-o
Of the fee, fi, fo, and fum?
Were you frightened of the things you
Just might see
Hey ho Jack-o
If you plant those
Magic beans?

Jack, it’s not too late you know
To sow those seeds of fate
So throw them out your wind-o
Go to sleep, and when you wake
Things will happen
Things you never dared to dream
But they won’t happen
Unless you plant them
Magic beans
10. Brand New Harley
Brand New Harley
You might think I’m a banker, and on weekdays, it’s true
But underneath this poly-cotton blend is a skeleton tattoo
Which I got when I was drinking
And I’m showing off this weekend
On my brand new Harley-Davidson

I may work in an office and look respectable and clean
But you should see me dressed in leather on my American machine
You would swear that I’m blue-collar
On my 15-thousand dollar
Deluxe, brand new Harley-Davidson

Come Friday evening
I don’t shower, I don’t shave
And I put my little earring in
And it’s time to misbehave
Yes I will clean your teeth on Monday
Or put braces in your mouth
But don’t flash ‘em at me Sunday, boy
Or I just might knock them out

My psychologist, he told me that it’s important that I ride
So I recreate my warrior who is pent up nine to five
And it’s therapy for hours
On my fifteen-thousand dollar
Deluxe, brand new Harley-Davidson

I kick off my loafers
Put on my big black boots
And I swear and curse while I rehearse for
My nasty attitude
Yes I will do your taxes Tuesday
So you get some money back
But call me CPA on Saturday
And I’ll have to kick your ass

No I’m not in a costume, I’ll bet a junk bond I’m real
I am an archetypal man astride a stallion made of steel
I’m a rebel, I’m a gangster
I’m a whiskey-drinking prankster
On my brand new Harley-Davidson
11. One More Circle
One More Circle
We have been weighed down by sadness like a stone
And we have yearned, we have yearned
And we have sometimes felt so utterly alone
While we turn, while we turn

And we’ve been stricken by the wonder of it all
Stricken dumb, stricken dumb
And we have sometimes felt so faint we want to fall
Overcome, but all in all

CHORUS: I’d say this year in flight together has been fun
What say we make one more circle around the sun

We have raised our fists in anger and we’ve tried
To work it out, work it out
That we need each other, we cannot deny
There is no doubt, there is no doubt

So let us weave another dream in outer space
While we’re turning, while we’re turning
On this planet home that holds our human race
We still are learning, but all in all

CHORUS:

I’d say this year in flight together has been a good, good one
What say we make one more circle One more circle
One more circle around the sun
Mayer's Clean, percussive & melodic guitar style, clear, rich vocals and refreshing, intelligent lyrics, combined with a warm, personable approach to his music make him stand out among the best of the singer/songwriters on the scene today... All of this is captured beautifully on his latest CD Million Year Mind
-Presenter: Home Town Music: New Jersey

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Catching Rain
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