The Light That Leads Me There
(The Ugly Duckling)



I have slept in cold and lonely places
With no comfort but the ground
I 've walked for years seeking gentle faces
Just a smile, a friendly sound

But I've felt the bruise of fist and stone
Where cold laughter rang out high
And I've stumbled on, wounded to the bone
Holding tears back from my eye

	Still I shall find my way 
	And I will know my people 
 	They'll embrace me with deep care
	You see my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there

I'm told my face is an ugly sight   
That I'm quite the fearsome fool           
Little children turn and run in fright
Their parents just are cruel

But I'll tell you now, that inside me here
Is a soul so sweet and soft
If for one brief second you came that near 
You never would run off

	See I shall find my way
	And I will know my people 
 	They'll embrace me with deep care
	You see my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there

I've seen many things on this brutal earth,
The horrific and the sweet
From the way that violence tumbles forth
To the flowers at my feet

And I’ve pondered as I’ve wandered
On the mystery of man
Why does such a privileged creature squander
All the gifts that he commands?

	
Still I shall find my way
	And I will know my people 
 	They'll embrace me with deep care
	You see my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there


	And I will find my way
	And I will know my people 
 	They'll embrace me with deep care
	You see my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there

	My aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there

The Light That Leads Me There

A Handmade Life     
(The Red Shoes)             

A beggar child walked the roads
Fed herself on bugs and toads
And things she found in garbage cans
A homeless life makes harsh demands

But she enjoyed each morning’s light
To pass the time, she made up bright
Small stories laced with jokes and songs
And called them out the whole day long

Well, a half blind wealthy crone drove by,
In carriage, gold, asked her why
She sang so sweet while dressed so poor
To answer her the child sang more...

I dress in rags, I suck on stones
Sometimes hunger shakes my bones
But deep inside, below the strife
I have a precious Handmade Life

You see my shoes are far from fine
But they are red as new made wine
From scraps I worked them, with my knife
They dance me through my Handmade Life


The crone was touched, she took the girl and
Brought her to her wealthy world
She burned her clothes, she burned those shoes
Then bought up all the child could choose

At first the girl had not a care
Toys and candy everywhere
But soon the clothes, the trips to town
Echoed with an empty sound  

And late at night, a hollow ache 
Began to keep the child awake
She’d tiptoe to the windowsill
Sing the song within her still...

I dress in rags, I suck on stones
Sometimes hunger shakes my bones
But deep inside, below the strife
I have a precious Handmade Life

You see my shoes are not the best
But they are red as robin’s breast
From scraps I worked them, with my knife
They dance me through my Handmade Life

The story goes the young girl died
When new red slippers, she had tied
Upon her feet forced her to dance
Through briar and thicket, in a trance

A passing woodsman, then she begged
“Take pity, sir, cut off my legs
And end this empty dance I do
I’d rather bleed to death, it’s true”

A crimson ax, a crimson stone
And half a girl there, all alone
Now sleeping soft in nature’s bed
And cradled in the color red

I dress in rags, I suck on stones
Sometimes hunger shakes my bones
But deep inside, below the strife
I have my precious Handmade Life
You see my shoes are far from fine
But they are red as new made wine
From scraps I worked them, with my knife
They dance me through my Handmade Life
They dance me through my Handmade Life

A Handmade Life

A Little Bit of Red
(Little Red Riding Hood)

I am skipping 
In the dappled light of dawn
Through the forest
To my gramma’s all alone

Got up early
Washed my face and combed my hair
Mama helped me
Then she showed me what to wear

	New black shoes
	New white stockings
	And upon my gold head
	A little bit of Red
	A little bit of Red


I love sitting
In my gramma’s front porch swing
We shuck peas there
And I listen to her sing

Oh her songs, they
Make me shiver as I laugh
Songs of young girls 
Who are stolen on the path
	
	Songs of beasts
        That devour them
	Leaving nothing where they’ve tread
	But a little bit of Red
	A little bit of Red


As I’m walking
Voices call me on the breeze
"Come and find us, 
We are hiding in the trees…"

Dare I follow?
Now they’re singing out my name…
Something’s changing,
I may never be the same…

          It's so dark here, 
          That it's luscious 
          And in each flower bed
          A little bit of Red…
          A little bit of Red


		In the blinking of an eye
		Something evil could fortake me
		Drag me somewhere dark and dim
                Bend me to its every whim…

I am skipping
In the dappled light of dawn
Through the forest 
To my gramma’s all alone…

A Little Bit Of Red

The Nightingale

Yesterday
Your birthday brought
a shining gift
a mechanical bird
encrusted with gems
it sang perfect songs
again and again
we played them
till we knew them
by heart

Outside our gate
the nightingale soars
on wing and song
over trees
here then gone
sees lovers twined
in shaded parks
old men in boats
bent to watch fish
shimmer like
dreams
children running
falling in streams
calling "Mother!"

The nightingale skims
the everchanging 
play of clouds
cool, then warm
wet with rain
light, then dark again

We like boxes… 
Shining presents
that never age
mechanical birds that
stay in their cage

But the nightingale's voice
pierced my heart…
and beauty and death
are flooding in
like morning sun,
like passion's blood-

Please
forgive me love
for I must break
This beautiful
mechanical bird
before you wake

The Nightingale

Walking on Glass
(Cinderella)

How did you do it, how did you manage
To walk right through it without any damage?
Must have been fear in your lovely heart
But you didn't seem to notice
Step family gone, cottage aglow
Your fairy god mom putting on her show
Transforming everything left and right,
Then whisking you off to the palace

	On your way to the party did you think back through
	The horrible things they'd made you do?
	Year by year, did it give you the fight,
	To toe the line that fateful night, you went

Walking on Glass what a big brave girl
Rags all gone and hair all curled
Those glistening shards on your tiny feet
Coulda cut you to ribbons on the cobblestone street
Coulda sliced a heel or lost a toe
But you did the Reel, even Do-Si-Do'd
Walking on Glass... Walking on Glass...

Scuttle 'n scrape, peel 'n scrub
"Do my hair, then wash the tub!
Sit in your corner with your friends the mice,
Here's bits of last night's supper."
They'd given you shelter and a way to be
A who you were in the world you see
A nasty, ashen little point of view
Sealed with a good, stiff clobber

	Still, you faced the light when it walked right in 
	Like a saint, or a demon, or an alien
	You didn't run screamin' for the backyard shed
	You met the magic head to head, and went

Walking on Glass what a big brave girl
Rags all gone and hair all curled
Those glistening shards on your tiny feet
Coulda cut you to ribbons on the cobblestone street
Coulda sliced a heel or lost a toe
But you did the Reel, even Do-Si-Do'd
Walking on Glass... Walking on Glass...


	Sip your wine, talk to the Royals
	Imagine your stepsister's backside boils
	Cut your ties to that unhappy life
	Take a breath, feel the tremble
	Let it all go - it's good to be humble
	Honest grace becomes a prince's wife 

Walking on Glass what a big brave girl
Rags all gone and hair all curled
Those glistening shards on your tiny feet
Coulda cut you to ribbons on the cobblestone street
Coulda sliced a heel or lost a toe
But you did the Reel, even Do-Si-Do'd
Walking on Glass... Walking on Glass...

Walking On Glass

Completely Unaware
(Wizard Of Oz – Scarecrow)

He sits upon a diamond throne
Loved, revered, and all alone
Bright as sunlight, sad as stone
Wishing the pain would lessen

If Dorothy knew she’d surely weep
The Tin Man’s rust would run neck deep
And Lion’s roar would ring the keep
But he makes no confession

	He longs for open, slow-houred days
	For endless fields of evening haze
	For laughing crows he cannot scare
	Their insults now he’d truly bear
	To be Completely Unaware

Where once his empty brain was clear
It now was strained with stabbing fear
And jabbing, poking thoughts - a tear
Rolls down his blank expression

The Wizard placed pins in his head
“Now, this will make you sharp!” he’d said
And so began what finally lead
To Scarecrow’s great depression

	He longs for open, slow-houred days
	For endless fields of evening haze
	For laughing crows he cannot scare
	Their insults now he’d truly bear
	To be Completely Unaware


	To be a hollow-headed fool
	Not knowing emeralds from a mule
	To wave and flap in breezy air
	A burlap sack without a care
	To be Completely Unaware

The smartest guy in all of Oz
Is taking off the day because
He has no time to make the laws
He’s dealing with his blessing…

Completely Unaware

Sweetheart My Dream Is Not Over 
(The Robber Bridegroom)

Love, I dreamed that you lived in a lonely place-
And we were to marry that spring...
Well, I walked through your house finding nar’ a trace
Of friendliness there, not a thing
Then a bird sang out from an empty room
"Pretty girl, turn and run, do not stay
The man who lives here will cut you in two
And laugh as your blood drains away"

Ashes on daffodils
Ashes on leaves
Ashes on innocent clover
"Your nightmare's done dear, go to sleep..."
But sweetheart my dream is not over

I met an old woman beneath the stair
She swore faith that you'd do me ill
She bid me to hide in her black pot there
And warned that I'd better keep still
Oh, you came in then, with a maiden, fair
And you killed her with barely a snap-
Then chopped her in pieces, they flew everywhere
Her ring finger fell in my lap

Ashes on daffodils
Ashes on leaves
Ashes on innocent clover
"Your nightmare's done dear, go to sleep..."
But sweetheart my dream is not over
						
Now I know dreams are fleeting, just melting light
Even now I forget what I've said
You are weary from working late every night
You can barely lift up your tired head
But I woke in screams, in need of your arms
How can you just wave that away?
And what of this ring squeezed tight in my palm
Found under our bed yesterday?

Ashes on daffodils
Ashes on leaves
Ashes on innocent clover
"Your nightmare's done dear, go to sleep..."
But sweetheart my dream is not over

Sweetheart, My Dream Is Not Over

The Inside Room
(The Fisher King)

All is quiet
Evening shudders
Drop my line in 
Secret waters
No one sees me 
No one hears
All alone
With dreams and tears

Barefoot, cold rock
Drops of water
Midnight’s maiden
Heartache’s daughter
Hook, no barb
On a bamboo pole
In the deepening silence
I fish for my soul

	Do you come here too?
	With an ancient need?
	Do you ache with a hunger
	Only this will feed?
	Do you then wander home
	Over valleys of moon?
	Bringing your catch
	To the inside room…

Bits of shadow
Bits of light
Lonely friends
This starry night
Not a murmur
Not a sound
Quiet now
As arms wrapped ‘round

	CHORUS

The Inside Room

Letters from Murdertown

Dark gray, beaten down
Tires and rust, drunken clowns
Winding streets of lost and found

Dope fiends, dancing bears
Crooks who'll take you unawares
Crying kids with silent stares

I miss my home of origin
That dusty cornered land of sin
Where good and evil all mix in
Cotton candy, bathtub gin

	So if you see me smiling
	All wistful and beguiling
	You'll know my heart is filing
	Letters from Murdertown.
	Letters from Murdertown
	Letters from Murdertown
	Letters from Murdertown

Whispers, behind barn doors
Shadows off to midnite chores
Babies curled on unwashed floors

War torn, tender hearts
Broken souls in bits and parts
Pinned like jewels on necks of tarts

I'm going home where I belong
Where revelers dance in murderous throng
In dim lamplight I'll raise my song
To feelings deep, to passions strong

	So if you see me smiling
	All wistful and beguiling
	You'll know my heart is filing
	Letters from Murdertown
	Letters from Murdertown
	Letters from Murdertown
	Letters from Murdertown

Letters From Murdertown

The Light That Leads Me There
(The Ugly Duckling)



I have slept in cold and lonely places
With no comfort but the ground
I 've walked for years seeking gentle faces
Just a smile, a friendly sound

But I've felt the bruise of fist and stone
Where cold laughter rang out high
And I've stumbled on, wounded to the bone
Holding tears back from my eye

	Still I shall find my way 
	And I will know my people 
 	They'll embrace me with deep care
	You see my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there
	See my aching search for loving kindness
	Is the light that leads me there

The Light That Leads Me There (Prelude)

Hey Mr. Kringle, I'm needing a friend
Would that be you or maybe someone you'd send
I don't care which, just hurry up please
My lonely heart is starting to freeze

Hey Mr. Kringle, I'm making my plea
A sweet young fellow who is ready and free)
Or someone older in a bright red suit
I've heard the word that you're pretty cute

See, my stocking's been empty
For such a long time
What a waste of a girl
Still in her prime
A present of laughter
And warm candlelight
Some hugs - some kisses
It only seems right

Hey Mr. Kringle, do what you do best
But would you mind if I made one small request
Somebody somewhere between A to Z
All wrapped up and waiting for me

See, my stocking's been empty
For such a long time
What a waste of a girl
Still in her prime
A present of laughter
And warm candlelight
Some hugs - some kisses
It only seems right

Hey Mr. Kringle lend me your ear
I'm still alone and I've been so good all year
If you'd come over and squeeze me tight
We'll have a Merry Christmas tonight, yeah
We'll have a Merry Christmas tonight, mmm
We'll have a Merry Christmas tonight
We'll have a Merry Christmas tonight!
Hey Mr. Kringle

Hey Mr. Kringle

Sweet and humorous song about downplaying a break up.

Songs About Sex and Depression

Everything Makes Me Cry

The dark world of fairy tales may strike some as an odd subject for an entire album of songs. There was a time when I might have agreed. But a few years ago, I happened upon several books that explored the Jungian psychology buried within such tales, and I was suddenly entranced—passionately—by the interpretations. Fairy tales—they are like dreams, filled with deep symbolism about the human psyche. They carry the voice of our unconscious, the part of us that silently, continuously sings the song of our humanity, our being-ness. I found I wanted to dive into those dreamy stories, swim deep, and see what I came back with. And so I did. This CD is the expression of what I found there.

Jill Freeman Music

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