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Why Can’t We

Written by Robbie Smith and Kathleen Glauser

Touch the same grass breathe the same air
Same gust o’wind caresses our hair
We do… we do have a lot in common
Shed the same tears day after day
Walk the good earth in the same kinda way
We do… we do have a lot in common

So why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?
Why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?

Neath the same moon neath the same sky
Feel the same sun that shines in our eyes
We do… we do have a lot in common
Tread the same paths walk the same miles
Share the same pleasures with the same smiles
We do… we do have a lot in common

So why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?
Why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?

Got the same love deep down inside
Feel the same ebb and flow of the tide
We do… we do have a lot in common
Feel the same joy feel the same pain
Goin in circles again and again
We do… we do have a lot in common

So why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?
Why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?

Same kind of fears same kind of doubt
We just need some help to figure it out
We do… we do have a lot in common
Feel the same ups feel the same downs
On the same planet goin around
We do… we do have a lot in common

So why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?
Why can’t we… why can’t we just get along?
(instra) why?
Can’t we just get along? Why?
We do have a lot in common can’t we just get along? Why
Yes we do – we do have a lot in common can’t we just get along?
Why? We do have a lot in common
Can’t we just get along? Why? Why can’t we?

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Somewhere Near

Written by Robbie Smith

Somewhere far are the stars beyond all measure
Further yet are the secrets of forever
In the distance are the rainbows you might follow
Somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere far are the questions that you ponder
Amid the misty dreamscapes that you wander
But then dreams aren’t fulfilling they’re just hollow
Somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere far are the mysteries of the ages
And the wisdom and the teachings of the sages
Somewhere far – the pages of tomorrow
Somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere far are the highest of the mountains
And life-renewing legendary fountains;
Mighty empires that rise and fall and crumble
Somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere far…the universal splendor
Where celestial bodies dance and then surrender
Where satellites and suns and planets tumble
Somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

As we get older we have less and less
Fewer dreams we’re living for
But I’m still holding on to one I confess…
The chance that I might love you more

Somewhere far – fresh paints upon the canvas
And the prophesies of God and Nostradamus
Yes, their lofty predictions they may touch you
But somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere far, the purpose you’ve been seeking
Ah but don’t miss this moment oh so fleeting
There is so much in living that you must do
But somewhere near I’m just here – here to love you

Somewhere near I’m just here…
Here to love you

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What New Lovers Do

Written by Robbie Smith and Kathleen Glauser

You don’t want me I don’t love you
Who’s turn is it now to… be untrue?
We’ve both been thinking what new lovers do.

Your mind it’s off in some other space
My mind has already ditched this place
How long has it been since our last embrace?

Your left foot’s itchin to step outside
I could confront you – you’d only hide
We both need someone else by our side

You don’t want me and I don’t love you
Who’s turn is it now to… be untrue?
We’re too wrapped up in what new lovers do.
Break
We had our moments we shared some fun
But we both know it’s time to cut and run
No sense in doin’ what we’ve already done

We sensed it coming we already knew
We squeezed the dream but it wouldn’t come true
Saw thru each other saw what new lovers do

I can’t you know I can’t re-train my brain
No marriage counselor could stand the strain
The future’s callin’ us like some distant train

We’ve reached a point now of no return
If we keep driving now we’ll crash and we’ll burn
Our friends can stop saying “you’ll never learn”
You’ll never learn
I think we’ve learned (pause then extra bar drum build-up)

You don’t want me and I don’t love you
Who’s turn is it now to… be untrue?
We’ve both been thinking what new lovers do.
Break
No spirits aching – no black and blue
No hearts breaking let’s just say that we’re through
Cause we’re both thinkin’ what new lovers do

Your engine’s revved now – and so is mine
Cancel the flowers, no valentines
Head anywhere where the sun really shines

Your special friend has already showed
You made your choice at the fork in the road
The gravel’s flying – time to lighten my load

You don’t want me and I don’t love you
Who’s turn is it now to… be untrue?
We’re too wrapped up in what new lovers do

You don’t want me and I don’t love you
Who’s turn is it now to… be untrue?
We’ve both been thinkin what new lovers do
Both busy thinking what new lovers do
But, say, let’s keep in touch like old lovers do…(Huh?)

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Same Old Thing

Written by Robbie Smith and Chett Buchanan

Hearing the school bell wise guys & fools, well, it’s the SAME OLD THING
Tormenting the teacher, trying to reach her – it’s the SAME OLD THING
Why do we do it? We live and lose it over and over again
Grasping the bars and reaching for the stars
Through life’s window pain.

Boy meets girl now changing the world now it’s the SAME OLD THING
Choosing a good wife, leading a good life it’s the SAME OLD THING
Why do we do it? We live and lose it over and over again
Bearing the scars from reaching for the stars through love’s
Window pain… Love’s window pain

You crack your whip now, I bite my lip now it’s the SAME OLD THING
Livin’ past glories – stretchin’ the sto-o-o-ries – it’s the SAME OLD THING
Why do we do it? We live and lose it over and over again
Bearing the scars from reaching for the stars through life’s
Window pain… Life’s window pain

Would you live it all again…
Would you live it all again… if I asked you now – now now – would you
Would you live it all again… if I asked you now right now now would you
Would you live it all again… yessssssssss

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Age Unknown

Written by Robbie Smith

Now, when the first dance starts it ignites her flame
Puttin the younger dancers to shame
Don’t ask for her heart it’s out on loan
She’s starting out from the top age unknown

Well, she twirls on her heels as she tweaks her skirt
Never too late for a wink and a flirt
Her hair is down though her kids are grown
She’s starting out from the top age unknown

Well she’s got no fixed address – no set time
No nervous alarm goin’ off at nine
No pressing need to please someone else
Sweep aside the photos on that ol’ mantle shelf

Well, she spent all her younger days in care
Sharing all that was hers to share
Now she’s time on her hands to call her own
She’s starting out from the top age unknown

(yodel break)

Gotta love her Gotta love her Gotta love her
Gotta love her Gotta love her Gotta love her – hey
Gotta love her Gotta love her Gotta love her
Gotta love her Gotta love her Gotta love her

Well, she’s slipped the reins of her menial toil
She’s found joy even love can’t spoil
No longer a slave in the comfort zone
She’s starting out from the top age unknown

Well she’s got no fixed address – no set time
Don’t have to be home and in bed by nine
No pressing need to be someone else
Sweep aside the photos on that ol’ mantle shelf

Instra verse + Gotta Love her part

Now she flashes her eyes her smile shines through
Fresh love in her blood – it all seems new
New people to meet new skills to hone
She’s starting out from the top age unknown

(yodel break) + tag + She’s starting out from the top age unknown

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Lay Down Your Weapons

Music by Robbie Smith
Words Robbie Smith and Kathleen Glauser

Lay down your weapons lay down your arms
Turn swords into ploughshares battlefields to farms
Our King has decreed no more vict’ries to claim
As soft words are spoken to honour His name…
Soft words to honour His name

Lay down your longbow and crossbow and mace
Silence the cannon in this now sacred space
No shield and no armour – no lance and no spear
Content with embracing the peace we’ve found here…
Embracing the peace we’ve found here

Who was our teacher? What was his creed?
Did he not speak of giving in the absence of greed?
Have we lost our bearings from where we began?
Were we not meant to love our fellow man?

Instrumental

Peasant and servant nobleman and king
Shall dine at one table and there shall we sing
Until we find dominion within Love’s domain
Restoring what we’ve lost in the name of gain

Lay down your weapons – no lives shall we take
No wrongs to commit for righteousness sake
Bring hope to the healers no fresh wounds to bind
The folly of warfare we now leave behind…
Leave it all far behind

Instrumental

Call back your soldiers from far off Crusades
Let them no more speak of battle, to live on unafraid
Lest we forget the value of one soldier’s life
The riches of this Earth aren’t worth the sacrifice

So lay down your weapons (lay down your weapons)
Lay down your arms (lay down your arms)
Lay down your weapons (lay down your weapons)
All your weapons and lay down, lay down, lay down your arms
So return all crusaders, cause no further harm
(Lay down your arms)
Lay down your weapons, your weapons, your arms

 

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Klondike Christmas

Words and music by Robbie Smith

The moon paved a road cross the lake
And the snow covered ground
While an old man with a dog-team and a sleigh
Made his way to the town

In the course of his travels he’d seen better days
His clothes were in tatters and his whiskers all grey
He’d been travelin’ hard now for many long days
Tired but still whistling away

I brushed off the snow from my mittens
And walked to his side
I’d been splitting firewood for the party
And dinner that night

The music of Chrismas was all that we heard
A tear caught the moonlight from the joy it had stirred
We had met and were friends without saying a word
As we welcomed him in to our home

Instrumental

The night was spent singing and telling
The stories of old
And the candles and the fire and our warm hearts
Had kept out the cold

But when morning had blossomed the old man had gone
His leaving un-noticed in the cold wintery dawn
In my dog’s little stocking some hard tack he’d hung
And in mine was a nugget of gold

 

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Angels in the Snow

Music: Robbie Smith
Words: Robbie Smith, Kath Glauser and Rosemary Wall

Snow minted branches bowed to us through frosted light
A raven welcomed us and led us through a world of white
A meadow glistened, we wonder-watched what we were shown
And, christening the fields, the only footsteps were our own

We spent a day with only laughter now we know
It’s not only children who make angels in the snow

Dry powder drifting from valleys to sun-splashed hills
New sunlight shifting its shadows in radiant spills
We found a pond that the wind had been sweeping clean
And soon our skates sent us gliding through our wintery scene

We spent a day with only nature now I see
My city fortunes mean so little now to me
We spent a day with only laughter now we know
It’s not only children who make angels in the snow

We crossed a bridge where the shoreline shed its icy shawl
Ice droplet wind chimes echoed from a waterfall
I held your warm gloved hand imagining your fingertips
We tasted snowflake kisses drifting down upon our lips

The North wind bestilled it’s mournful song
The rushes whispered by the river long…

We stoked a bonfire – wood smoke curled from melting snow
Our faces underlit like moving paintings all aglow

We spent a day with only nature now I see
My city fortunes mean so little now to me
We spent a day with only laughter now we know
It’s not only children who make angels in the snow

 

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Christmas Wish, A

Words and music by Robbie Smith

My brothers are all fishermen – they jig and tend their trawl
While I alone must stay at home the youngest of them all
But each and every Christmas they leave early from the banks
When I see their boats returning well I stop and I give thanks

Oh, how the wind blows whistling along
Isn’t it fine when the wind blows to sing a Christmas song
Oh, when the storms grow wild upon the sea
Isn’t it fine to be together gathered ‘round the Christmas tree

Well, I recall a Christmas time way back in ‘83
When my brothers said I’m sorry but we’ll have to put to sea
There’s nets to set traps to pull and cargo to be run
But what would Christmas morning be without some Christmas fun

Oh how the wind blows cold and wet and strong
Isn’t it fine when the wind blows to sing a Christmas song
Oh when the storms grow wild upon the sea
Isn’t it fine to be together all in gladsome company

Now, Christmas meant a lot to me for I was only young
There were presents to be opened and carols to be sung
And so I wished a storm to come BEFORE they left the shore
Then they’d have to stay at home as in Christmases before

Oh how the wind blows whistling along
Isn’t it fine when the wind blows to sing a Christmas song
Oh when the storms grow wild upon the sea
Isn’t it fine to be together gathered ‘round the Christmas tree

Well, all at once the wind began to rant and rave and roar
And soon my eldest brother ordered everyone ashore
And they grumbled and they quarrelled though nothing could be done
But sing a hearty Christmas song and have some Christmas fun

Oh, how the wind blew – it rose on Christmas day
Wasn’t it fine how the wind blew – it blew my tears away
Oh, how the storm grew – I knew they couldn’t leave
Wasn’t it fine how the wind blew – it blew til New Year’s Eve!

 

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Painter of Wintertime

Words and music by Robbie Smith

Snow drift, fresh powder peaceful
Ice diamond aspen tree, tasting the wind
Snowflake, cotton and crystal
Candy cane Christmas tree, ornament sky

Painter of wintertime of smooth wispy swirl
Painter of wintertime, your canvas the world

Dawning, marshmallow morning
Blue tinted ice-cream fields, silent and clean
Moon glow, silver and shadow
Star-mirrored icicles, clear distant bells

Painter of wintertime of smooth wispy swirl
Painter of wintertime, your canvas the world

 

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When the Carols Began

Music: Robbie Smith and Mike Appelboom
Words: Robbie Smith and Rose Wall

Take the words make the words fill the hearts of men
Though words are mere shadows of what happened then
When heaven’s great treasure descended to man
That time-honoured night when the carols began

Seek the words speak the words time has been long
Since the world danced to the angels’ glad song
But each year brings closer that first year anew
The older the mem’ry the more it rings true

He inspired the carols that we humble mortals
Could sing in choirs sounding like angels…
Sounding almost like angels

But in love’s bright music we honour his birth
Scarcely believing he once graced this earth

Lend the words blend the words turn them into song
Then set them to music where they best belong
Exalting in wonder that first glimpse of him
From manger a radiance the world could not dim

Take the words make the words fill the hearts of men
Though words are mere shadows of what happened then
When heaven’s great treasure descended to man
That time-honoured night when the carols began

That time-honoured night when the carols began

 

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Caroling On

Written by Robbie Smith and Kathleen Glauser

Spirit of music – Bach and Brahms
Pay homage to them in parables and psalms
Lo, tho-o they are sadly gone
They through our voices go caroling on

With humble strength we sing good cheer
Let joy replace despair and fear
Sweet minstrel sounds to draw you near…
With humble strength we sing good cheer

Spirit of music souls aflight
Vivaldi and Handel lend us light
Blessed by the muses that grace the night
Freed from the shadows, emerging so bright

Hearts unencumbered we shall sing
Clear harmonies will richly ring
Dispelling winter’s icy sting…
Hearts unencumbered we shall sing

Instrumental

Spirit of music – Bach and Brahms
Pay homage to them in parables and psalms
Lo tho-o they are sadly gone
We through their music go caroling on

And so we bid you join in song
We bid you rise and sing along
Though weak alone – together strong…
And so we bid you come join in song

With humble strength we sing good cheer
Let joy replace despair and fear
Sweet minstrel sounds to draw you near…
With humble strength we sing good cheer
With humble strength we sing good cheer
Ah-ah-ah-alleluja, Caroling, Caroling on
Ah-ah-ah-alleluja, Caroling, Caroling on

Repeat and fade