SPIRIT DANCE

Produced by
Dave Carmichael and Jamie Robinson

Recorded at
Common Ground Studios
by Andrew Watt and Jamie Robinson

Mixed at
Common Ground Studios
by Jamie Robinson and Andrew Watt
Mastered by
Don Chapman at DC Productions

Dave Carmichael: vocals, acoustic guitars
Jamie Robinson: electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
mandolin, keyboards, percussion
Tom Easley: upright bass
Geoff Arsenault: drums and percussion
Kim Dunn: piano and keyboards
Dave Christensen: clarinet
Melissa Trottier: vocals
Jill Barber: vocals (Smile, Beautifully Simple)
Cathy Porter: vocals (Home Boys)
Rose Vaughan: vocals (Home Boys)
Andrew Watt: (Home Boys)
Chris Mitchell: (Home Boys)

LYRICS:

SMILE
Words & Music by Dave Carmichael

I can’t believe I can see
That look on your face
Can’t make it go away
Can’t make it so you want to stay
Here with me and honestly
There’s so many places that we would rather be
But wouldn’t it be good if we

Tried again to understand
What makes us so different
Maybe then, once again
It could be like it was when we were friends

Unavailable to discuss
So you must go on
I wish you well
My apologies I will leave
With this last detail
My only wish is this:
To look you in the eyes as you look back

And smile. Smile. Smile.

I can make a dream where I can see
That look on your face
When we were very young
The brightest when your light is on
It’s clear to me that a memory is better than nothing
When nothing’s all that’s there
I wonder if you even care

To try again
To understand

Unavailable to discuss
So you must go on
I wish you well
My apologies I will leave
With this last detail
My only wish is this:
To look you in the eyes as you look back

And smile. Smile. Smile.

SAME TRAIN
Words & Music by Dave Carmichael

She’s a gypsy she talks to my soul
And we’re heading the same direction
We got lost trying to follow the crowd
Till we made a connection
Now you may walk, take a boat or plane
We’re all riding on the same train

Sometimes it feels like there’s a driver
And he ain’t no engineer
Got off track behind the bushes
But it’s not what it appears
They might be righteous – or insane
We’re all riding on the same train

In time the whistle will blow
Don’t you worry you’re gonna hear it
All aboard and on we go
There’s nobody there to blame
We’re all on the same train

You don’t understand your brother
Will the fighting ever end?
You can walk on high or the valley below
Be cool or seek revenge
You might be Abel, might be Cain
We’re all riding on the same train

Bridge – Chorus

She’s a gypsy – bless her soul
We’re heading the same direction
We got lost for crying out loud
Till we made a connection
Now you might be winner or lose the game
We’re all riding on the same train

FOREVER
Words & Music by Dave Carmichael

I don’t know how I know what I know
But I know we’ve met before
I know, I know it
I heard a bird sing it in my window

It’s an ageless tune and I’m looking out
As if my heart can paint your sky
It’s for you: the moon, the tune
It’s my love reaching out forever...

Chorus:
Refrain:
Can you hear it?
Whisper your name
Little bird singing for you

Baby, hear me on the wind
As I come whispering
In your ear...
Feel me, I feel you
Don’t be sad
I’m always with you
Forever

As I look ahead I surely know
That bird is gonna fly
I know, I told him to go
To you, sing to you sweetly

It’s an ageless tune and if you’re looking out
It’s my heart painting your sky
It’s for you: the moon, the tune
It’s my love reaching out forever...

Chorus:
Refrain:
Can you hear it?
Whisper your name
Little bird singing for you

Baby, hear me on the wind
As I come whispering
In your ear... (Refrain)
Feel me, I feel you
Don’t be sad
I’m always with you
Forever

Outro:
And I know just what you’re going through
Far away (can you hear it?)
I feel you baby, baby, baby, baby (can you hear it?)
I know you now and I know you then (can you hear it?)
And I know you in the end
can you hear it? Whisper your name. Can you hear it?
can you hear it?

BEAUTIFULLY SIMPLE
Dave Carmichael/Rylee Madison

A rainy autumn night
A snowy afternoon
A summer morning drive
A flower in full bloom

I’m a sentimental fool
These moments I would steal
From the rushing of each day
Through each season I will say
How you make me feel

Chorus:
You are my world and more
Slowin’ things down for this clown
You help me explore
The beautifully simple
Simply feels better
When you’re with me

Dandelion wine
The smell of your pea soup
Strolling through the pines
Sleeping in till noon

I caught a glimpse of truth
And I feel it in my bones
The farther that I stray
The more you’ll hear me say
I’d rather be at home

Chorus:
You are my world and more
Slowin’ things down for this clown
You help me explore
The beautifully simple
Simply feels better
When you’re with me

Break:
I’m a sentimental fool
These moments I would steal
From the rushing of each day
Through each season I will say
How you make me feel
The farther that I stray
The more I tend to say…

Chorus x 2

Tag - You’re everything

WHY ME?
Music Carmichael Words Carmichael/McConnell

1. If you’re looking for affection,
I can give you some
If you ask me for direction,
I’ll tell you to run
‘Cause I’m not your salvation, no,
I’m not the one
Now you’re looking at me
as if you’ve got it all figured
Like I’m some dream come true –
hand delivered

2. I’m not your winning number,
this ain’t no lottery
Our lives remain asunder,
sweet child can’t you see
You’ve been living out a blunder,
in a walking state of reverie
But you’ve been lost in your head
since the word ‘go’
You say you really need me
but I don’t think so

Chorus 1:
You don’t need me it’s just an obsession
I can’t believe you’re thinking like that
Don’t subscribe to the idea,
I don’t like the supposition
That you can’t live without me
How much do you want to bet?

If you can’t live without me
Why aren’t you dead yet?

3. I present to you this picture -
can you see how well it fits?
It illustrates a mixture
of our different politics
My love’s become a fixture
something you just can’t resist
You say you know me,
I just don’t know what I want
If I would open up, listen to you,
we could live as one…

Chorus 2:
You don’t know me it’s a fabrication
And I’m not gonna follow your script
You say it’s something about Love
No – it’s self-flagellation
Don’t go jumping baby
I’m no safety net

If you can’t live without me
Why aren’t you dead yet?

Bridge:
Broken windows make it hard to see through
You gotta look inside your heart
And do what’s right for you
You know I’m only human –
I’ve got problems of my own
I can’t be your rock – I’m a rolling stone

Chorus 1 + Chorus 2

Bury Me Beneath The Willow
Words & Music traditional

My heart is sad and I am lonely
For the only one I love
When shall I see her oh no never
'Til we meet in heaven above

So bury me beneath the willow
Under the weeping willow tree
So she will know where I am sleeping
And perhaps she'll weep for me

She told me that she dearly loved me
How could I believe it untrue?
Until the angels softly whispered
She will prove untrue to you

Chorus

Tomorrow was to be our wedding day
Oh God where can she be
She's out a courting with another
And no longer cares for me

Chorus x 2

Home Boys
Carmichael/Campbell/Putnam

We all volunteered
Had nothing to fear
They said we must go down the road
I remember the song
She sang all day long
When we left home

In the streets of this city
Things aren’t so pretty
Everyone’s dragging a load
As the world heads to war
Always searching for more
The cross that we bear
Will it take us somewhere?

Chorus:

Home boys, Home boys
When will we ever get home?
Home boys, Home boys
Why do we feel so alone?
(Lead us to where we belong)

We live by our choices
But still hear the voices
Telling us where we should go
The freedom we seek
Does not come for free
I near lost my mind
When I heard that she died

Chorus

Bridge:

The dream that took us away
Same dream that haunts us today

Chorus x 2

Home boys, Home boys
When will we ever get home?
Home boys, Home boys
Pray that we all get back home
(They say that we’ll all get back home)

Home boys, Home boys
Pray that we all get back home

NEVER THE SAME
Words & Music by Dave Carmichael

It’s good to see her again
And her new boyfriend
I hope she’s happy with him
Cause I remember a time
When she was mine
So I’ll go out on a limb

And say she’s still part of me
Although the life we had is left behind
And as she walks away
She cannot hear a word I say
We’ll never be the same again

And here I am in the fog
With my monologue
I’m talking to myself
I never say it enough
It’s me I gotta love
Before I love someone else

Yes me and my family tree
There’s generations flowing through my blood
And as I walk along
I will sing this lonesome song
I’ll never be the same again

You know I’ve done what I could
To come through the wood
I found my true love here
I can’t imagine a place
Without her sweet grace
Nothing can compare

Cause she touches all of me
A love so strong time just won’t erase
And so we made a choice
Hand in hand we’ll face the void
We’ll never be the same again

A Dream Within A Dream (based on Edgar Allan Poe poem)
Music Carmichael additional words Carmichael/Robinson

Take this kiss upon the brow
And parting from you now,
Before you go I thought you should know
You are not wrong, I’d agree
That my days have been a dream

Yet if hope has flown away
In a night or in a day,
In a vision or in none,
I can hold you there forever
But you’re not any less gone…

All that we see or what we seem
Is a dream within a dream

SPIRIT DANCE
Words & music by Dave Carmichael

I do not care where I’m going
Don’t care where I’ve been
These are the times when you’re with me
The everlasting present
Wide awake plain to see
The constant reminders
I remove my blinders
I feel alive when you look at me

No one knows why we’re here
Where we go none know whither
We can live forever in a day
On a quest of knowledge
Leaving judgement by the way
Gone are all the glowers
And the odious powers
We can let love lead the way

Bridge:
I look at you & a pulse runs through me
It’s like I’m flying with the hummingbirds
No more self-doubt, let it all hang out
And join together in a Spirit Dance
I feel it in my soul

The constant reminders
I remove my blinders
I feel alive when you look at me
Gone are all the glowers
And the odious powers
We can let love lead the way

Shine a light…
And let love lead the way

A Song For You
Words & Music by Leon Russell

I've been so many places in my life and time
I've sung a lot of songs and I've made some bad rhymes
I've acted out my love in stages
With ten thousand people watching
But we're alone now and I'm singing this song for you

I know your image of me is what I hope to be
I treated you unkindly but darling can't you see
There's no one more important to me
Darling can't you please see through me
'Cause we're alone now and I'm singing my song for you

Bridge:

You taught me precious secrets
Of the truth withholding nothing
You came out in front when I was hiding
But now I'm so much better
And if my words don't come together
Listen to the melody 'cause my love is in there hiding

I love you in a place where there's no space or time
I love you for my life; you are a friend of mine
And when my life is over remember when we were together
We were alone and I was singing my song for you