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Rooms of Light : Lyrics (listen | Purchase)
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(1)
Babel On

Written By David McLean
Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera
Acoustic guitars: David McLean
Keyboard: Maria Irrera
Drums: Michael Lovely


Their eyes can’t see And their ears won’t hear
They speak of narrow streets my children fear
Messages ride on waves day and night
False prophets read their scripts From under a spot light

Chorus:
Why do I listen and not turn away
I sit in faithful silence and hear them bray
With a flick of a switch it could all be gone
Icons hiding in glass would cease to babel on

Saturday morning starts with a glow
Psyco-fantasy heroes somehow save the show
We look to the stars searching for some kind of truth
A twisted make-believe world clouds our youth

Chorus

Its a world we see but we cannot touch
We long to be like those who don’t know much
As I walk through the forest and the hills
I can feel the force of life banish celluloid chills

Why do I listen And not turn away...

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(2)
Love Is Near

Written By David McLean
Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera
Acoustic guitars: David McLean
Vocal arrangements: Maria Irrera
Dobro: Sam Clement
Mandolin: Phil Clement

Strands of light reaching into the night
That touch on shadows out of sight
Never knowing what lies ahead
We choose these paths down which we tread
Reaching out as though I’m blind
To touch on spirits of like kind
Love is hard when you don’t know how
Love is always there if you try somehow

Chorus
Thunder booms and lightning strikes around me
My lightning rods are grounded in eternity
I want to look through eyes the way my children see
Standing there I saw your shadow in the hallway
Calling you I lost the words I meant to say
I ask that I might find them every day I pray

I hear your voice there is no word

It’s a fearful song from a flightless bird
You once had wings you were high and strong
You fought the winds of time too long
Past events hang in review
And no one knows what it is to be you
Uttered words from the past still hurt
Only loving hands can wash away the dirt

Chorus

I’ve lost track of where we’ve been
I ask forgiveness for my sin
Where there’s love there is no fear
And loving words I long to hear
This night will pass there will be light
And some good things are worth the fight
Find yourself some solid ground
Then stand tall on what you’ve found

Chorus

Love is near
I can feel it stretch my face from ear to ear
Come to me here
I’ve been feeling it grow inside from year to year
The sun’s been shining down upon my face
It’s been shining light upon the human race
Sometime this world can seem so full of hate
And I catch myself just thinking it’s too late
Love is near
Come to me here
Love is near, love is near

Love is Near, love is near...

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(3)
Rooms Of Light

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitars: David McLean

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

Bass: David McLean

Drums: Michael Lovely

Doumbek: David McLean

My heart is pounding in my chest
With all I cannot say
A silent drum beats with no rest
To the rhythm of the day

Thinking of my home at dawn
While driving down the line
Back to my loved ones I am bound
With bread and a bottle of wine

Chorus:
I see your eyes
and how you look at me
deep in the night
A vision of your mystery

Is there within my sight

Two figures on the edge of darkness

Yearning for the light


A room of neon light

A place I’m destined for the day

It’s an assault of senses, sound, and sight

A bi-weekly world of pay


Telephones ringing, business calls

The councilors at war

To defend a world where lightning falls

On those at heavens door


Chorus


A digital world downloads before me

Glowing in the night

Information in a sea

Streaming in its might


Reaching out I strike the keys

Every time I search

Yet so many people on their knees

Still longing for a church


Chorus


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(4)
The Circle Is Broken
Written by David McLean
Guitar & vocals: David McLean
Vocal harmony: Maria Irrera

What do I do I don’t know what to say?
The world is changing ‘round me every day
I’m strugglng with a sense that something’s wrong
All that I hold dear could soon be gone

We have eyes but still choose not to see
The desperate lives of those who cannot flee
They live on land not fit for you and I
In these places they will live and die

Chorus:
Where is my voice? I swear I’ll find it
The circle is broken, now we must bind it
Joining as one to end this violence
All our voices will end this silence

The Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, and the Jew
Are struggling to prove their faith is true
We all want to feed our family and friends
But do our actions justify the ends?

No prophet ever said to hate and kill
Or terrorize the innocent at will
Or take away from all of those who toil
Or make more right the few who take the oil

Chorus:
Where is my voice? I swear I’ll find it
The circle is broken, now we must bind it
Joining as one to end this violence
All our voices will end this silence

You must resolve the conflict in your heart
If you are to find a place to start
You cannot be afraid of who you are
If there is doubt you will not get far

Final chorus:
Where is our voice? I swear we’ll find it
The circle is broken, now we must bind it
Joining as one to end this violence
All our voices will end this silence

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(5)
The Headless Horseman

Written By David McLean
Scream: Jamie Flynn
Didgeridoo: David McLean

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

Acoustic guitar: David McLean

Electric guitar: Sam Clement

Drums: Michael Lovely

Conga: David McLean

I wake from dreams of frightening scenes
Of a headless horseman riding
Its an ancient tale of a man and his son
Who fell to feud and fighting

These were people that I come from
I am of there flesh and blood
It’s an ancient place where legends came
For more than a thousand years

chorus:
We’ll make these halls
Ring of their feats and their falls
Be strong and brave let’s not be afraid
To hear their songs

Legend says that it was the son
Who took to fire and sword
To war against his father
On his horse he rode

The headless horseman was Ewen
Of the Little head
His father Ian The Toothless One
Took poor Ewen’s head

chorus

When a prince of Ghille Ian is to die
On the night before
The headless horseman will ride again
For death is at his door

This tragic tale of father and son
who fell to greed and hate
Threw their love to the wayside
And duly sealed their fate

chorus

I wake from dreams of frightening scenes
Of a headless horseman riding
It’s an ancient tale of a man and his son

Who fell to feud and fighting...


*Note:
This song was inspired by a real event that occurred in the 16th century
between the Maclaine’s of Loch Buie and MacLean’s of Duart in Scotland.


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(6)
This Little Coastal Town

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitars: David McLean & Jamie Flynn

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

There are so many things
That can turn your life around

Like being here with you

In this little coastal town


It’s the little things in life

I’ve come to know and understand

Those often over rated big things

Can leave so fast dreams follow like a child needing love

Chorus:
I smell your hair and feel your breath

I drink the waters from your well

There’s nothing complicated about my life

Except this path that led me here to you


The many places that I’ve been
I thought I could have stayed

But it was here that I met life

It held me tight just like a lover


There’s a power and a strength that’s here

In these mountains by the sea

It grows inside and drinks from me

Like the roots of a tree

Chorus

There are so many things
That can turn your life around

Like being here with you

In this little coastal town


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(7)
Fire And Ice

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitar: David McLean

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

Bass: David McLean

Drums: Michael Lovely

Doumbek: David McLean

There is a mist in the mountains
And forest tonight
There’s warmth in our cabin

Our fire is burning bright


Sometimes life can be hell

But this is paradise

So let’s drink down our drinks

Deal the cards and roll the dice

Chorus:
Let’s be glad we have this place to go

To enjoy all this fine drink and smoke

We live life and we all pay the price

So drink up my friends, embrace the fire and the ice


I need nothing more in life
Than family and friends

Our love as companions

Is what matters in the end


I have many friends I’ve found

And some that I’ve lost

In the drama of our lives

Many rivers we will cross

Chorus

There is a mist in the mountains
And forest tonight...

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(8)
To Be

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitar: David McLean

Bass: David McLean

One can see it in the eyes
It speaks louder than the cries when you realize

That you thought you could see what would set you free

Yet you’re struggling ‘to be’


The spirit in your heart is what sets you apart

When you make your start

To loving everything life, even loneliness and strife

When it pierces like a knife

Chorus:
There can be words that are said that make it hard to see

beyond the narrow path we tread where we are struggling ‘to be’


Deep in your soul where you think there’s a hole
In a place you need to know

I know a place like a tree, where there’s shade and you can see

and it’s safe just ‘to be’


If you listen you will hear a quiet voice you will not fear

Then you’ll know that love is near

If you grasp it you will see, there’s the possibility

Of living ‘to be’

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(9)
The Ocean And The Land

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitars: David McLean

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

Morning comes, then sunrise
There’s an inward look that’s in your eyes
I know we have our differences
But it’s time to tear down these fences

Chorus:
I just have to say I love you
More and more each day
Because you have something special
Let’s not let it slip away

On a little island in the sea
The storms we watch can be like you and me
Like a wind tossed boat we search for light
Over fearsome waves on a raging sea

Chorus

I’ve been looking for your love and finally found it
Let’s heal our spirits on the warm beach sands
I want to touch your soul and hold you by the hand
And as lovers come together like the ocean and the land

Morning comes then sunrise
there’s an inward look that’s in your eyes...

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(10)
A New Day

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitars: David McLean & Jamie Flynn

Vocal: David McLean

A new day arises
And clears the mist from our bay

A new life is in you

My love for you is more than I can say


And as the moon rises

The warm light of love is in your eyes

We seize the moment for it can soon be gone

Our lives can change just like the skies


You know a new life is coming to you

It spreads in ways we’ll never fully know
You know a new life is coming to us
We’ll open up and let it grow

Now I think about the day
When my life might start to fade away
And I feel this need to reflect

On all the things that I’ll leave behind


I think about my children

And the love I’ve always given them

There is nothing that I’ll ever do

That will ever have more meaning


Chorus

I can fell this presence from deep inside of me
A voice keeps calling me, calling...

From in my heart, to follow my heart

You know I’ll follow my heart


A new day arises

And clears the mist from our bay

My love for you is more than I can say

And I follow my heart...


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(11)
The Dark Stream

Vocal: David McLean

To be a man might be the hardest thing
That You might ever do in your life
To say and do what you have to do

You will put yourself out on a limb

So if you slip into the dark stream

You will need to swim


What does a man say to his son

When he does not know what’s in his heart

Everyone can slip and fall

The turbulence of life can drown your calls

And if you slip into the dark stream

You will need to swim


It used to be a man could shake the hand

Of another man and give his word
Why do people turn their backs

On others when they truly are in need?

So if you slip into the dark stream

You will need to swim


Some men think the world is but a heap

The rooster stands on top to crow

Listen past those raucous cries

And listen to the voice inside your heart

And if you slip into the dark stream

You will need to swim


To be a man might be the hardest thing

That you might ever do in your life

When you swim, in the dark stream, where I dwell...

In the dark stream

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(12)
The Oak

Written By David McLean
Acoustic guitar: David McLean

Vocals: David McLean & Maria Irrera

Bass: David McLean

Drums: Michael Lovely

Doumbekc: David McLean

I know I wouldn’t be who I am
If it was not for you
You fed the dreams of a child
Who looked up to you

I still know the days
When we walked through the mountains together
I pass these things to my children
It’s ancient, forever...

Chorus:
I know a grove of oaks
Where there is a spring
Farther down there’s a pool that I swim in
Where it is a stream... of it’s beauty I sing

How can somebody tell you what its like
When you change from a boy to a man
Your strength and your wisdom
Guided my passions through that span

Your roots are so deep
Now I see that we are all connected

And when you are gone

Through me you will be resurrected


Chorus


I know I wouldn’t be who I am
If it was not for you...


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