6 - Back to You.wav

Featuring Alexandra Grace


It's Never Over 'til It's Over
      (Shuman/Grace)

 
Surprised I opened so completely to you
A budding rose wet with morning dew
Not what I expected to be given so soon
When we met fast fairly out of view

For I didn't know what you and I uncovered
Beneath the masks and the costumes that we wore
Skin and scent tasted sweet and spicy
We took what we wanted more and more

We burrowed under each other's skin
I brushed and painted you with biting kisses
Baptized me in your running waters
Dried me with your whispers

It's never over til it's over
Don't say it won't return
That's why loves the greatest arson
Buried coal can always burn
Let's dance til our feet are burning
The city is in flames
Let us sing our voices ragged
Our hungers live untamed
 
Nowhere to hide our desire
No time it could be trusted not to flare
So desperate to be kindled
We were children dangerous without care

Now the electric days are over
Fate and time's river made the changes
Beware of our wilderness
We can dance on broken ankles for a minute

It's never over til it's over
Don't say it won't return
That's why loves the greatest arson
Buried coal can always burn
Let's dance til our feet are burning
The city is in flames
Let us sing our voices ragged
Our hungers live untamed



5 - It's Not Over 'til It's Over.wav

Featuring John Palmer

You wanted to fly 
(Shuman/Palmer)

You wanted to fly, so I made you wings
From bits of bone, feathers, wax and strings
You built up your strength, and took off in flight
Soared so high, I lost you from sight

Robbed me of my loneliness,
Stole my heart away
Treated me as a friend
Not one who holds you sway

Now you’re free from the chains of fear in this life
Willing to dance on the edge of a knife
You offered the chance, to live as I chose
Follow completely what passions arose

Robbed me of my loneliness,
Stole my heart away
Treated me as a friend
Not one who holds you sway

The river flows through me, the moment complete
Whenever I see you, that’s how my heart beats

Such a fine madness to set someone free
Cause it's not my choice what you want from me

Robbed me of my loneliness,
Stole my heart away
Treated me as a friend
Not one who holds you sway

The river flows through me, the moment complete
Whenever I see you, my heart skips a beat


7 - You Wanted to Fly.wav

8 - Angels.wav

Featuring Alexandra Grace

Where Have all the Angels Gone 
(ShumanGrace)

  
Sunlight played we made love 'mid rip'ning corn                                
Our baby came when you went off to war                                    
Trail's edge I heard many voices mourn                                                
Dead man's rattle as if his throat was torn 

Where and why have all the angels gone
Knocking on heaven's gate for them to rescue us
Please come to heaven's gate, Oh angels, I can hardly wait 
Oh angels, I can hardly wait 

No letters for years after our child was born   
Ones I sent returned unopened and forlorn 
I cried tears for you in a faraway grave 
I feared there was no hope left  to save 

Where and why have all the angels gone 
 Knocking on heaven's gate for them to rescue us
Please come to heaven's gate, Oh angels, I can hardly wait ‘
Oh angels, I can hardly wait 
      
A stranger's hand let me know of the child we share
You found a girl who took a coward as her dear
You were not brave enough to slay me on your own. 
Your heart is cold, like a soldier's  stone 
 
  Where and why have all the angels gone
 Knocking on heaven's gate for them to rescue us
Please come to heaven's gate, Oh angels, I can hardly wait 
Oh angels, I can hardly wait


Featuring Robin Collette-Krivit

Out of my Head
(Shuman/Collette-Krivit)
 
On your knees you cried, won't happen again
Technically it's just a matter of when
All of the warning signs, I ignored all them
Hoping it's not what it seems
  
No mail, no visits, don't call, and don't text
You are blocked, just trying so hard to forget we met
I need to get to out of my head

Wove you a silken scarf on my mother's loom
Nurtured and loved the child inside of you
Rumors were spread and I thought that they weren't true
Deceived and I feel so naive
  
No mail, no visits, don't call, don't text
You are blocked, just trying hard to forget we met
I need to get to out of my head

All of the years
The time I spent wasted
Knowing I'll never get them back
Wishing the fear was even worth facing
Trying hard not to react

No mail, no visits, don't call, don't text
You are blocked, just trying hard to forget we met
I need to get to out of my head
 get  out of my head
 get out of my head
 get out of my head


9 - Out of My Head.wav

Featuring John Palmer

An Old Sailors' Adage             
(Shuman/Palmer)

Spoken: In 1638, a Marblehead built and captained ship delivered to Nassau  a cargo of high quality,
Then returned home with wares and spices and the first slaves an American ship brought to the colonies.

Though she never again carried slaves in her hold, the wound was never healed.
At the height of its wealth, two centuries on, the fate of the town was revealed.

There's an old sailors' adage that the sins of the sea can't be buried in the sand,
Or else one day for them you'll pay, and never more see your land.

I'll sing you a town's tale of old, a story of woe it be,
Of a gale and the men of a grand fishing fleet who went down to their graves in the sea
The New England coast is a wind wracked place, none rules here but the sea, 
There's nowhere more dangerous on this earthly orb if a perfect storm there be

The ship Ben Franklin set sail for the banks, with forty other craft,
But the fishing was poor and the light grew dim, so the skipper sent all hands aft
At daylight's call the winds blew hard, and the fog had thickened worse 
We dropped our anchor to make a stand, but the waves weren't ne'er more fierce
 
The ocean gnashed with hungry teeth, the anchor line snapped in its jaw
We feared our doom when the sails were shred, then a wall of water we saw 
Come down we cried to all aloft, there was no time to spare 
Then we were struck and lifted up, even the faithless said a prayer
 
It seemed an hour, we dared not speak, the Franklin groaned like thunder.
Our mast, I believe, had touched the sea, but by Grace we didn't go under 
Sixty-five men and boys were lost, two dozen ships sunk or wrecked, 
One hundred fifty-five fatherless children, forty-three widows bereft

There's an old sailors' adage that the sins of the sea can't be buried in the sand,
Or else one day for them you'll pay, and never more see your land.


10 - An Old Sailors' Adage.wav

Featuring Alexandra Grace


Your Heart Doesn't Get Smaller 
(Shuman/Grace)

  
 Northeast winds were blowing, you were reading leaves of tea
You sang like amber honey, your eyes bluer than azure sea
Your hair wheat fields swaying, diamonds shined upon your 
head  
We mapped the road we'd travel, we wondered where we'd be
led

                          
You embroider me with love, feed me with your soul                                                
Thread my patchwork heart, give me riches more than gold 
Your heart doesn't get smaller the more that it gives
                            
I sewed you satin feathered wings, to dance across the 
sky
And stitched a rainbow parachute, if your flying got too high
Time's curved, it's often funny you look for what you need
Go back to where you started, now a world was once a seed

You embroider me with love, feed me with your soul                                                
Thread my patchwork heart, give me riches more than gold 
Your heart doesn't get smaller the more that it gives
  
The years have run like rapids, destination left unknown
No pattern's ever visible, until the carpet's fully wove
But when my moment comes, and fate's thread cut with a knife
I know the best it offered me is to have you in my life
   
You embroider me with love, feed me with your soul                                                
Thread my patchwork heart, give me riches more than gold 
Your heart doesn't get smaller the more that it gives
Your heart doesn't get smaller the more that it gives



11 - The Heart Doesn't Get Smaller.wav

Featuring Matt Farley


I am a pilgrim on my way
     (Shuman/Farley)
  
I am a pilgrim on my way, 
Grateful to awaken to each day.
I am a pilgrim on my way, 
Grateful to awaken to each day.

There are many travelers I meet, 
But few would see them on the street
I'm happy with just a bit of bread, 
And a place to rest my head
I am blessed to lend a hand 
Or to hear that great unknown great bar band 
I talk to many along the mile, 
Our only language is a smile

I am a pilgrim on my way, 
Grateful to awaken to each day

Life is so amazingly brief, 
Unnecessary cruelty brings me grief
Things aren't worth the toll they take, 
And money your thirst for life won't slake
I travel the sea on a  with my name, 
I require no power, fortune, or fame
On my journey I'll never get far, 
Compare my span to the nearest star  
I am a pilgrim on my way, 
Grateful to awaken to each day
I am a pilgrim on my way,
Grateful to awaken to each day



12 - Pilgrim.wav

9. Out of My Head

drshuman@gmail.com
Dedicated to Maddy, Ben, Caito, Jonah, and Kai
Track list

Oh My Love Shuman/Grace

Would You Dance with Me  Shuman/Farley

I'll Always Be your Friend Shuman/Palmer

It's Not Over 'til It's Over Shuman/Grace

Back to You Shuman/Collette-Krivit

Angels   Shuman/Grace

You Wanted to Fly Shuman/Palmer

I Will Fight for You Shuman/Grace

Out of My Head Shuman/Collette-Krivit

The Heart Doesn't Get Smaller  Shuman/Grace

Pilgrim  Shuman/Farley

An Old Sailors' Adage Shuman/Palmer

Music composed and performed:
Tracks 1,4,6,8,10: Alexandra Grace
Tracks 2,11: Matt Farley
Tracks 3,7,12: John Palmer
Tracks 5,9: Robin Collette-Krivit

Lyrics on all tracks: Robert Shuman
Additional lyrics on tracks 3,7,12: John Palmer

Author of 3 books addressing the psychology of chronic illness and a published poet, psychologist Robert Shuman
conceived Tides of the Heart as a way to support local musicians during the Great Covid Confinement. Great thanks go to all the musicians who gave his lyrics a musical home.

Alexandra Grace is a singer/songwriter and music educator from Gloucester, MA. Solstice is her newly recent album. 

John Palmer is a singer/songwriter from Mill Valley, CA, who has not quite retired from his day job.

Matt Farley is a songwriter from Massachusetts

Robin Collette Krivit is a singer from Chelsea, MA. She performs with several bands. 




Grand Banks Fleet