LYRICS
CD "...and truth is spectacular"

Here
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2003

Do you ever wonder why you’re here?
Or are you the kind of person who doesn’t bother to ask those kinds of questions?
Do you ever wonder why time goes by so slow sometimes?
Have you ever wondered what is in the sunlight, and what is in your eyes?
Have you seen the lights dance across the water and then to your surprise…You find yourself here.

Have you ever wondered why it appears to our eyes
that the sun and the moon seem to be the same size?
They fit so exactly you know it’s kinda weird
That in all of the galaxy you find yourself here.

Its been the mystery throughout history
We’ve learned to stick to the facts
We measure and test to prove to the rest that our story is still intact
But the fact is we’re here...the fact is we’re here
Whatever the reason...the fact is we’re here.

And maybe we’re wrong
And maybe we’re right
But in the dawn at the edge of the night
We look into the sky and we hear ourselves cheer
With no reason why except the fact that we’re here…

84000 Ways
Words and Music by Danny Bakan April 2004

Little Becky Donne took herself a lover
Down in the Mexican sun
She came home only to discover the baby that would come
So she moved in with her pal Cindy
And they’ve been together for a while
There’s eighty four thousand ways to raise a child
Bill’s first wife, she lost her life, he had to raise their boy alone
Heather’s heart had been broken apart, her little girl had a broken home
They met with grief and healing, and now the kids are happy running wild
There’s eighty four thousand ways to raise a child
Chorus:
Who’s to say what’s right? Who’s  o say what is good?
There’s lots of so called normal folk who don’t give all they could
The force of love will rise above any choice in life or style
There’s eighty four thousand ways to raise a child
Joey met Bob one rainy day outside Washington Square
They hit it off right away and been together now for five years
Yesterday they heard the news
there’s a orphan baby saved from abuse
to a happy home in New York City (you can close that file)
There’s eighty four thousand ways to raise a child
Chorus:
I got a call from my nephew Micah, he had something to say
Four years old and smart as a whip and a handful on his good days
Now I never had kids of my own
But talking to Micah on the telephone
I know we’re connected for a while
There’s eighty four thousand ways to raise a child
Chorus:

How The Mighty Can Fall
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2003

How the mighty can fall
How they hit the solid wall
They crumble and crash
Split with a dash
And lose it all
How they swim in the black
And drown in the red
How the mighty can fall
How the mighty can fall
How the mighty can fall
Go to nothing from all
Get hit in the head,
Caught in the wrong bed
Or with their taxes overhauled
How the boardrooms freeze,
When the prosecutors call
How the mighty can fall
How the mighty can fall
How the mighty can fall
Though they sing like the birds
How the mighty can fall
Though they dance in the halls
How the mighty can fall
Though they know all they words
How the mighty can fall
How the mighty can fall
When they’re on the run
How the mighty can fall
Though they hold the gun
One slip and that’s all
And the mighty will fall
I know that all and through it all
The mighty will fall

North
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2003

Starlight flows cold as stone,
The dipper shining, white as bone.
Great bear awakens and slowly rises and points the way towards home
With Polaris burning brightly so if we veer off course
We’re bound to find our way back home if we can locate north
The earth is round and slowly turning …she circles around a star
Ever spinning, it’s no wonder - I wonder where you are.
And when you lose direction, there’s no need for remorse…
You’re bound to find your way back home if you can locate north
Chorus: Way up north a little closer to the pole
Way up north where few would dare to go
Under the borealis light I view… the thousand reasons I’m in love with you
I’ve got a magnet in a compass and it always shows me the way
It feels the forces I don’t notice and it calms me on bad days
And when I find I’m aimless, and can’t feel the inner source
I’m bound to find my way back home if I can locate north

Watcha gonna do when the rain falls down?
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2002

Whatcha gonna do when the rain falls down?
Whatcha gonna do when the rain falls down?
Whatcha gonna do when the rain falls down?
Will you sit and watch them drown… as they go down… in the sinking town
Whatcha gonna do when you hear the call?
Whatcha gonna do when it comes next fall?
What you gonna do when the beauty of it all seems so far away…
will you want to stay?
And I know that things heal and mend
And I fancy this is all pretend
So lets pretend that in the end
All the hidden light
Can be frozen into sight.
Chorus:
Watcha gonna do when the well runs dry
Watcha gonna do when the sea starts to rise
Watcha gonna do when it takes us by surprise… will we fall? Is that all?
Chorus:

Twin Towers of Babel
Words and Music by Danny Bakan October 2001

Way back yonder in the bible days there stood a tower high
In Babel land did this tower stand, it reached up to the sky
And the story goes that our foolish pride brought trouble to the land
And each of us spoke a language that the other couldn’t understand
We looked at each other dumbfounded, we tried to stay out of the way
When the walls of the tower came a-tumbling down no one knew what to say
The story goes that on that day everything had changed
The world exploded in a flash of flame that no one could explain
And the world became a sadder place, war was in the land
So many tongues were spoken that no one could understand
We looked at each other dumbfounded, we tried to stay out of the way
When the walls of the tower came a-tumbling down no one knew what to say
And so I cross that river Jordan
to try and find some common ground
We are one people of many cultures
And a common tongue can still be found
The day the towers tumbled I was in Jet fuel café
Doing the crosswords hanging out
I was drinking café au lait
And we gathered round the TV screen, we cancelled all our plans
We looked at each other dumbfounded and no one could understand
We looked at each other dumbfounded, we tried to stay out of the way
When the walls of the tower came a-tumbling down
no one knew what to say
And so I cross that river jordon to try and find some common ground
We are one people of many cultures
And a common tongue can still be found
I wish this simple story contained a simple truth
I wish I had an answer or a way to cut right through
To the glory of almighty gold did the mighty towers stand
But who wouldn’t trade a dollar to bring peace back to the land?
To the glory of almighty gold did the mighty towers stand
And wouldn’t you trade a dollar to bring peace back to the land?
And so we cross that river jordon
To try to find some common ground
We are one people, of many cultures,
And a common tongue can still be found

Buffalo Gals
Traditional lyric, new musical arrangement by Danny Bakan

As I was walking down the street, down the street, down the street
A pretty little gal I chanced to meet
And we danced by the light of the moon
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight?
Won’t you come out tonight?
Won’t you come out tonight?
Buffalo gals won’t you come out tonight?
And we’ll dance by the light of the moon.
Danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
And her knees kept a knocking with a hole in her stockin’
I danced with a gal with a hole in her stocking
And we danced by the light of the moon


Prayer (For You)
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2002

This is my song for you
It might be the finest thing I ever write
And so I will give it to you
If you will hold my hand through the night
Which can be cold and lonesome without you
So cold and lonesome without you
This is my song for you
And so it turns a page in my life
I stand before you open ready to receive
The loving inspiration of your light
Which can be cold and lonesome without you
So cold and lonesome without you
I cast myself before you and call out to the stars
And I see the city sparkle in the night
And so I cast away all my attachments to form
And I see the city sparkle in your light
Which can be cold and lonesome without you
So cold and lonesome without you.

Wonderdrug
Words and Music by Danny Bakan January 2002

There’s a pill that you can take
To make it so your heart won’t break
And I hear its safe, they tell me that its safe
There’s a doctor in the south of France
He’s found the gene that cures romance.
They say its safe to fall, they say its safe to fall
And the scientists have tried for years
to stop this madness, dry the tears
They say its safe to fall in love
It’s safe to fall in love
It’s safe to fall in love again.
Nobody’s ever gonna hurt their lover
Nobody’s gonna get no work done
when love goes wrong we’ll soon recover
everybody’s gonna have too much fun
Grab yourself a partner, roll up the rug
take a dose of this wonderdrug
Everything’s gonna be OK
Just sail away ladies sail away.
I hear they’ve got a new vaccine to boost the heart’ s immunity
And I hear its safe, they tell me that its safe
They found a way to fix the gene, and now it seems statistically
Its safe to fall, on the average, its safe to fall
No more hardship no more pain
No suffering we can’t explain
its safe to fall in love
its safe to fall in love
its safe to fall in love again

Withrow Park
Words and Music by Danny Bakan March 10, 2004

I went down to withrow park, Before it hit the news
Jack the dog wanted walking, I put on my walking shoes.
And I went down to withrow park on a deep midwinter night
The stars were playing hide and seek in the misty reflected light
And the neighbourhood was sleeping, and everything was calm
I said my prayers for those at rest, and those who carry on.
And a choir of angels was singing in the dark
As a strange kind of lull seemed to settle over withrow park
And I went down to withrow park it seemed a place of peace
No hostility was raging for the people or the beasts
And I went down to withrow park and then I heard the news
And I stumbled in my footsteps, I tripped up my walking shoes
For a soul possessed with madness, cast a net of grieving sadness
And harvested a darkness that reaped a fence of chain
And lovers all stopped walking, And the young girls all stopped talking
And the young men all stopped gawking and the children ceased to play
And Jack the dog, he looks at me with wordless eager eyes,
He hasn’t been to withrow park for a real long time
and I think that if he could he’d wonder why
The tensions fray the strongest rope
But springtime thaw brings new found hope
The poison winter melts away, and slowly fade the fears
like a hard return on a paragraph
The chapter’s done – the news rehashed
The dogs and kids come back to play and darkness disappears
They say there’s opportunity in crisis in community
And every step towards peace is a blow against the dark…
And I think this peace can radiate and touch the world community
And with the spring the summers light will shine on withrow park
They say that every crisis contains an opportunity
And every step towards peace is a blow against the dark
And I think this peace can radiate and touch the world community
And with the spring the summers light will shine from withrow park
And I think this peace can radiate and touch the world community
And with the spring the summers light will shine on withrow park

Way of the Heart (The True Direction)
Words and Music by Danny Bakan 2003

Last night you
With fire and ambition
Turned me to remission and you sang me simple songs
That night we played
With the power of connection
Adjusting the direction
That we both travel on
Chorus: This one moment only lasts forever
Though the places are many where we meet and part
But the greatest challenge
Is to live true to the moment
The only true direction in the way of the heart
Some folks say
You’re better safe than sorry
And they lead a long and fruitful life in the shadow of regret
Some take the risk and they pay up the ante
And gamble on a moment and drink in what life begets
Chorus
And I’ve got a list
And I’m sure that you have several
And we measure up pretty close to the mark
But today is forever
And tomorrow’s just a shadow
The only true direction is the way of the heart
Chorus