It's hard for me to believe I let this linger
It’s taken way too long
Don’t remember what it was that fueled my words
But I didn’t tell the truth 
About what was wrong

Before I opened up this door
I was prepared to walk away from you
My options pre-decided by a past
That’s been tainted black and blue

Let the bridges burn as I leave
I’m running from my flaws
With no plans to return - I still believe
Your love is just a beautiful mirage
 
It’s always hard for me but I know from experience
I can tell myself I’m just along for the ride
Don’t look down, look the other way
ignore all the things they say and the damage you’ve done
And bury it deep inside..

..This world nothing ever lasts 
'Cause everything is sabotaged
There are no exceptions - I know better
You’re just a beautiful mirage

Let the bridges burn as I leave
I’m afraid of my own flaws
Never to return - I still believe
Love’s just a beautiful mirage

Copyright 2021 by Mark Rabuck ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Beautiful Mirage

a yawn to greet the morning 
he's set to seize the day
he never looks too far ahead; tomorrow's just a come-what-may
and whatever might be coming
Surely it will give itself away

'cause he's got plenty of time
to put things off and keep them out of sight and out of mind
the urgent and emergent things will still be there to face
when there's no time left to waste
 
they welcome their first angel
into the family fold
and meeting needs from day-to-day becomes the need that takes control
and planning for the future
It always seems to end up being put on hold

see they've got plenty of time
to put things off and keep them out of sight and out of mind
the urgent and emergent things will still be there to face
when there's no time left to waste

it seems like it's been forever
that we’ve read our future in the weather 
but we have yet to come together
to alter course towards something better
and since the future tells our history
and right now decides what that will be
now’s the time for us to see . . .

we are out of time
there's no time left to still be led
by those who think we're blind
when it's time to face the truth that tomorrow is too late
that's when there's no time left to waste

Lyrics: HoboSage
Electric Guitars: Richard Bradley
Even more electrics: Timothy Reid
Bass: Jim Bryan
Drums: David Stahl

Copyright 2021 by Mark Rabuck and HoboSage  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Till There's No Time Left To Waste

For Erin and Brice's wedding.

A loose setting from a page of Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet"

You shall be together
When the white wings of death scatter your days.
And right now more than ever
You’re set to thread your lives in so many different ways

There will be spaces 
Where the winds will dance between you 
Some say love will bind you
(but) let it be a moving sea between the shores of your souls

Sing and Dance together
Love is still in need even more when it’s been tethered
As single strings, you quiver by yourselves
But when you join them together you’ll make music

We know you’ll give your hearts
Together and apart
As the cypress and the oak 
They will always grow
But not in each other’s shadow

And What Of Marriage?

adjust to situations
much simpler said than done
curveballs come out of nowhere hidden in the sun
 
and it's all we can do
to try to be prepared
 
to expect the unexpected
has never helped at all
it’s only after one shoe’s down we know the other’s gonna fall
 
and it's all we can do
to try to be prepared
 
because every day’s a day
we may not have a clue
how to find our way through
whatever it is we’re going through
I don’t know what else to say
but you know I’ll always do
anything and everything for you

Lyrics: HoboSage
Copyright 2022 by Mark Rabuck ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Anything And Everything

Over the docks and the rocks and the crashing waves,
You threw out our love without warning;
An assortment of feathers so carelessly worn, oh the
Songs that the birds must have sung on that morn
On seeing your form taking flight.
 
How could you see me, then leave me without a sound,
And let our love fall from the sky and drown?
Why not veer from that terrible ball?
What wasn’t clear in your father’s last call,
That the rushing warm winds would know your name
And woo you higher in the sky?
 
Now I’m not sure why, but it might be a lie
And somehow my guardian sea,
Has set my love  free from the Isle.
 
Liberty hardly waits ‘till the glass is dry
and dances at the edge of a storm when the winds are strong,
And sings without a care and doesn’t fear that the notes are wrong,
And opens up our hearts just to close them like you shut a closet door.
 
Over the docks and the rocks and the crashing waves,
I threw out our love in the morning;
Without aid from wings as beautiful as those,
But just to feel what you felt for a moment I froze,
until the wind and the waves and the tide,
let me finally see you and say good-bye.

All tracks.. and, of course
Copyright 2014 by Mark Rabuck

It Might Be A Lie

Thanks to Larry for letting me cover his awesome song.

Do you dream of utopias?
Middle Earth and Narnia?
Do you think that deep down folks are good?
Do you tend to fantasize?
Fly away when you close your eyes?
If a magic door materialized
Would you walk through if you could?

Then come into my Shangri-La
The basement flat where we withdraw
Cuz paradise is where I am with you
This world is no utopia
But you and I got so much love
We can live in a utopia for two

Do you believe in utopias?
And wonder where Atlantis was?
Do you think that deep down folks are kind?
Do you wonder why there’s war?
What we hurt each other for?
Why there’s rich and why there’s poor?
Would you leave this mess behind?

Then welcome to my wonderland
The park bench where you hold my hand
Cuz paradise is where I am with you
This world is no utopia
But you and I got so much love
We'll be living in a utopia for two

Bass: Jim Bryan
Drums: Joao Cabrita

Utopia 4 2 (by Larry Levin)

Every time I think of you I think of all the friends you’ve made
Always moving to the next destination - when you could have stayed
Most of your lives all around the world you've roamed
Now a simple cottage - a few flowers and you’re at home

Nothing lasts forever
Not the deepest longest river
Eventually the well runs dry - the last drops rising high and
Dancing with the wind
The last leaf on the oak tree
Breaks away just to fall free
Riding on the breeze then floating down
Without a sound it dances with the wind

In my dreams you’re both dancing in a room without a floor
There’s no one there to play it but you hear the music playing
just like it was before
But nothing last forever

The childhood heroes you remember, they’re all gone
But that’s what happens when you live a life that’s long
The songs you sang together have their secret harmonies
In perfect time, your feet still glide so majestically

Nothing lasts forever
Not the deepest longest river
Etching out the thinnest line in a touch of time
And dancing with the wind
No matter where you’ve been
It could happen all again
I’m not talking about karma or some universal law
No one’s capable of fathoming the truth or the beauty
of it all

We're all dancing with the wind

Bass: Jim Bryan
Copyright by Mark Rabuck 2023

Dancing With The Wind

￼Hello little one, I’m doing just fine
‘Been tugging at you for a while yeah, and all of your kind.
93 Million miles I’ve been beamin’ my rays
Over four and a half billion years I’ve been makin’ your days.

I’m so far away but I know that something has changed
Hey, I’m talking you little planet, you’re the one that’s so strange, with your..
Islands and continents floating in oceans of blue,
Moving blankets of clouds are exposing things constantly new;
Not long ago I saw something that I’ve never seen,
I knew right away  it’s the rarest of colors, Green!

As I look down upon you I sure hope that things are alright,
Because from up here you are such a phenomenal sight.
I’ve watched you revolving around me for so many years
But now you’re evolving I’m so proud I’d be shedding my tears
..but it’s much too hot in here.

Up until now you’ve been lookin’ good and playing it cool
Do your children know who I am, and what it is that I do?
Can it be on the side you call night, that’s the part I can’t see,
They are finding the will and the way to keep living with me?
Oh, I want to believe, so.. 
Hello everyone
Hello everyone ..I am your Sun.

Copyright 2015 by Mark Rabuck

Hello Everyone

Work in Progress..

Balloons and paper airplanes
They can’t fly just anywhere they choose
Today I set another free and it dissolved
Right out of view

So I wonder if you’re out there
On the other side trying to fly them too
Together there’s so much we can offer
Alone, so much to lose

Shadows shift and secrets play
Another flock of code words flies in the way
No matter which side you’re on
Anthems sung by restless throngs
Sometimes sweet but other times oh so wrong

I don’t have much to offer
Just my hopeful thoughts and serpentine dreams
They’re silent forms with my best wishes
From the other side
of an ever widening stream

Balloons and paper airplanes
I’ll send them as long as they can fly
I doubt that any ever make it
But I have to try

Bass(es): Jim Bryan
Drums: Tony SanFilippo
Copyright 2023 by Mark Rabuck

Balloons And Paper Airplanes

Collaborative challenge using 12 tone row for melody and same in retrograde for bridge.  Lyric by Jeff9

Primal night
Silver wedding ring
Precious little thing
In moonlight
Moonlight 
 
Diamond bright
Fusing ice and fire
Kinsmen of desire
In moonlight
Moonlight
 
Your dark curse of lycanthropy
May soon devour your love for me
I stare the full moon down once again
We huddle close like wolf pups in their den
 
Tender bite
Passion on repeat
Now I watch you sleep
In moonlight
Moonlight

Moonlight (Jeff9 lyric)

On Halloween you become Sylvia Plath
The branches are swaying and shadows fly past—
Like her blue and mystical clouds
You ask how I’d feel about life without you
I’m always surprised about how you break through 
The barricades language allows

Look up at the sky from gravity’s ground
At the Pleiades cluster it's wheeling around
We reach and we climb to get close to the stars
But being with you is my heaven 
I live to be where you are

This night is too full of poetry and death
Your hair in the moonlight is taking my breath—
And our sanity waxes and wanes
I hear myself say I would never expect
You’d live beyond twenty without some effect
Of the Romany blood in your veins

Look up at the sky from gravity’s ground
As the Pleiades cluster is wheeling around
We reach and we climb to get close to the stars
But being with you is my heaven 
I live to be where you are

It came to me later what I could’ve said
Maybe what you had wished I would say
Light can still blaze when a star has gone dead
Esprit de l’escalier

Look up at the sky from gravity’s ground
As the Pleiades cluster is wheeling around
We reach and we climb to get close to the stars
But being with you is my heaven 
I live to be where you are

Drums: Tony SanFilippo

Lyrics by Jeff Walker
Some say the modern-day festival of Halloween originates from an old Druid rite that coincided with the midnight culmination of the Pleiades cluster. It was believed that the veil dividing the living from the dead is at its thinnest when the Pleaides culminates – reaches its highest point in the sky – at midnight.

Pleiades

What an uncommon universe 
The many distinctive designs 
A trove of unearthed treasures 
Meant only for lovers to find 

Down in the field where goldenrod grew 
We would drown in the scent of the morning dew 
Everywhere, it was summer 
We were young and oh so wild 
I was Pan’s own blue-eyed boy 
And you were Nature’s child 

What a fantastic alchemy 
Transpires in a singular space 
Under the splendid sundowns 
When desire meets face to face 

Now long past the age of play 
I have a favourite place
Where mostly I just look around
or dream the day away 
And sometimes a memory 
Will whisper of a time 
When I was all the world to you 
And oh … you were mine

Goldenrod (Nature's Child)

Hope, don't give up the moon
When you give your dreams a chance and let the future dance
Then they will find us soon
So don't give up the moon

Hope, give your love away
Simply give it up so freely you forget yourself
And leave it there to stay

Oh, I think you know
Where you leave it, it will grow
And just a little will come back
So don't lose hope

Hope, let your works unfold
No one else has all the gifts you have
and no good life is measured up by things that you can hold

In a world of rage with people fighting for the stage
Sometimes the loudest are hateful
But don't lose hope

Hope, don't give up the moon
When you give your dreams a chance and let the future dance
Then they will find us soon
So don't give up the moon..


Vocals, Ukulele and U-Bass: Me
Helping out with background vocals: Fran Rabuck
Copyright 2016 by Mark Rabuck

Dont Give Up The Moon

Dad was on vacation - took the family for a ride
We got caught up in the songs we sang and the exits passed us by
Pretty soon the darkness fell and we looked up and saw a clear and moonless sky.

It couldn’t be more beautiful; the stars, they were on fire.
With the tank approaching emptiness, well it came down to the wire
We made our destination and I remember these, the best of times

There’s nothing wrong when you can laugh things off and try another way.
So we sang along on the journey back to Monterey

We are the stuff of battles lost just as much the ones we've won
The constellations of where we’ve been and of all the songs we’ve sung
So when rambling roads and songs don’t take me anywhere, well then I’ll know

There’s something wrong when I can’t find me another way
It would sure feel good if I could make it back to Monterey 

Last night I and Amelia got lost between the strings
Her vapor trails came floating down and wrapped around my wings
In disbelief I went outside and looked up and saw a clear and moonless sky.

And all the stars, they fell around me in disarray
That's why I’m going back to Monterey

I don’t belong here anymore 'cause these aren’t my days or times.
Don’t give me so many choices ‘cause I’ve made up my mind.
Yeah, you’ve all got friendly voices, but I can read the signs
These are the memories I'll save, and hold on to my wings tonight

Let’s sing about adventure with the windows open wide
We’ll sing right through the fog and chill  and let the exits pass us by.


Craig Bunch: drums/percussion
Anton Evans: bass
Nancy Dimock: English horn
Joel Zavala: additional strings
Fran Rabuck: additional vocals
Me: vocals, guitar, piano, MIDI stuff, and some bass
Copyright by Mark Rabuck 2016

Back To Monterey

A river of oaks glides
Down the hills that follow the contours into a fog line
And as the clouds fill in the sky
Edie asks me to take her to Ashville 

Then high winds, they blow us apart
And lightning strikes and we begin to doubt
Then 'all the things that can' conspire to turn the car around
So we’ll never see the end of the skyline 

If dragons could give us reminders they’d tell us
You’re barely fleeting and you need to be much kinder
And take your place between the weeds and stars and Gods you can’t understand

Then high winds, they blow us apart
Lightning strikes when the words don't count
And 'all the things that can' conspire to turn us all around

Then high winds, they blow us adrift
And  lightning strikes where words don't exist 
And 'all the things that can' conspire to turn us into clowns
So we’ll never see the end of the skyline

all tracks by me

          Copyright 2017 by Mark Rabuck

The End Of The Skyline

A bright red adirondack
And a softly setting sun
A sea of green laying in between
And nothin’s getting done
Caught up in confusion
And distracted by the threat of the rain
Guess I'll stick around few more hours
And let the weather change

Because sometimes the questions sound more and more like a riddle
And maybe the answers lie somewhere in the middle
You gotta find your happy dance and let it settle in the groove
Everybody's got their favorite moves
Smallest of dams can decide which way a river runs
And young dreams can grow up and turn into different ones
Well you can change your mind but you'll never find a road that's meant for you
Not if you can't enjoy the view

Today I watched the sunrise
To search for something new
And as it fought to melt the fog away
I strained to see things through
After rising 'bout an hour
It just plain stopped to move
But that moment gave me just enough time to recognize my cue

With help from my internet friends..
Craig Bunch: Drums
Ward P: Electric Guitars
Me: Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Vocals
Copyright ℗ 2018 by Mark Rabuck. All Rights Reserved

Enjoy The View

One of my first memories; I was just a little boy
With a handful of quarters Poppop sent me to the store
He said, "Buy me some Camels, and with the rest buy a soda
and maybe some penny candy for yourself."

All his life he toiled deep in the mines; yeah, he was poor
Served his country in the war to end all war
It was a hard life with simple needs and simple means
But you know that nothing is ever what it seems

We’re all like drops of rain
We all come down the same
It’s hard to tell from where we came
But we all share this river
We all need, so be a giver
This slice of life is no more than a sliver
If the clouds above aren’t filled with love

The next thing I remember is the head of his motorcade
Open the door for mom and try not to look afraid
There was no one there who could help me understand
The gravity of the life of just one man

Bass: Jim Bryan
Steel Guitar: Mark Murtha
Additional Vocals: Jordan Holsapple

Copyright 2019 by Mark Rabuck ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Drops Of Rain

Burning through a billion years of life forever to be lost
Painting it in black and staining rivers without thinking ‘bout the cost
Feeling we’re invincible whenever we see clear blue skies
But a hurricane’s invisible when you’re sitting in its eye

We're all in this together
We’re fooling ourselves if we think that we know any better.
The world’s on fire, can't you feel the sting
Or hear the cries of those who’ll inherit everything

They set the rules like they're only playing cards - but this isn’t a game
For allegiances to different gods and nations all protected by their sacred names
And conquered every mountain and stripped life from the seas.
Forests that once grew proud are never found ..except on bended knee 

Bass: Jim Bryan
Drums/Percussion: Tony SanFilippo

Copyright 2019 by Mark Rabuck

We're All In This Together

A simple meal, A silent night
A good book to read under a favorite light
I tell myself as long as pages turn I’ll be fine

And take it as a sign.
Let the stars hold their places in the sky 
They make the night the night
And I pretend it never ends
So I can take it as a sign

Is there any redemption?  Well I just can’t say
There's no right direction in a world gone astray
I tell myself as long as I am breathing I’ll be fine

And take it as a sign.
Let the tides dance with the moon and the sun
They’re always moving right on time
So I’ll pretend it never ends
And I can take it as a sign

Copyright 2020 by Mark Rabuck

Take It As A Sign

How many times have you opened a window and felt a different breeze
And told yourself everything is fine, after all it’s just a few degrees
Did you hear disciples ringing bells
See ice cathedrals melting
And then collapsing into a rising sea
And it's happening right now
in the time of you and me

Stuck behind a window in a house painted over by the news
Sleeping in a bed that lies where truth is just a dreamt up point of view
Who do you go to when you ask ..when the answers all wear masks
And just agree to disagree
Hand the Fates their way
There’s no good place to breathe 
In the time of you and me

Goldilocks is going to run away
The house she’s in is not the kind of home where she can stay
There are bears on the door step; I hear the turning key
In this time of you and me

Goldilocks..
The house she's in..
What once felt right is now just wrong, and every child can see
Now's the time for you and me

Drums: Sam Rubin
Bass: Jim Bryan
Guitars: Martin Landolf Lobemeier

Copyright 2020 by Mark Rabuck ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Goldilocks (In The Time Of You And Me)

Just a start. The fake drums are just a place-keeper for now.

You and I we’ve got everything we need and more
Just our bungalow with that funny squeaky porch
and the promises we made on this well-worn floor
They say a lot of rainy days will pass
But theirs is just a half empty glass
Imagine if our dreams all came together
Take it room by room and then
Bring this castle back from ruins to life again
Don’t listen to the wind, don’t give in..
it’s just matter of when

Let’s not make it to live. Let’s just live to make it.
With so much to give - we’ll follow through with no regrets
and build it true so it’s all but impossible for us to fake it.
Play it where it lies
...improvise - Remember that these stormy skies
Won’t follow our timeline by the letter.
Just take it room by room and then
Let this castle rise from ruins to live again
Don’t listen to the wind, don’t give in..
It’s just a matter of when

Copyright 2020 by Mark Rabuck All Rights Reserved

It's Just A Matter Of When

They were blinded by the sunrise
Temptation found his skin
and recklessly it bit him
She felt alive when he held her hand
And counted all the words
and moments forbidden

Those morning rays were warm
But the heat guaranteed a storm
It followed them back home each day
And more and more things just got in the way

The more that they pretended
The more they couldn’t keep their mounting lies well-defended
Still they did their best each day
To hide the secrets they shared
And keep that world suspended

Until the darkening clouds 
Sown with seeds of guilt and doubt
Rained down on them a truth
They couldn’t bring themselves to say out loud

Didn’t matter how they justified
As far as they could see
There were nothing but cloudy skies

Both of them knew it couldn’t be
And so they vowed under lock and key
to break up     ..surreptitiously

No longer blinded by the sun
And with all the things that bound them finally undone
They cut the last of ties
And said their last goodbyes 
They went their separate ways
Now they count the days and curse the sunrise
every day they curse the sunrise
Feet of clay they curse the sunrise
Hope for a better day but curse the sunrise

Bass: Jim Bryan
Drums: Joao Cabrita

Copyright 2021 by Mark Rabuck (All Rights Reserved)

Curse The Sunrise

A DIY multi-instrumentalist singer/songwriter/composer, Mark is hand-crafting a small but ever-so-slowly growing catalog of songs at home. When he gets in over his head, he looks for help from some fabulous musicians he's found ..mostly on-line. Mark produces this stuff mostly to keep himself happy, but if you've stumbled on something you like here ..that makes him extra happy.

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