Music

First you smell it in the air
Then you see it raise its hammer and swing it back.
Ah the crushing dread under that thunderhead
The wind and fire conspiring to attack.
We saw it turn and find you,
Heard it howl, and felt it fall
When that hammer fell on you that day
Its shadow fell on us all..

Ah… circle of wonder
Circle of story, circle of laughter and hope to the end.
Take my hand, take the time to remember
Gracious and tender, circle of wonder, circle of friends

In the thrall of a savage beauty
A hail of embers like shooting stars
The mountain’s blazing surrender
Ash and feathers wild in a crimson sky
Treasures wrapped in tears and panic
A suitcase loaded down with grief
Driving blind through the dark and the terror
That summer was a killer and a thief.

But ah… circle of wonder
Circle of story, circle of laughter and hope to the end.
Take my hand, take the time to remember
Gracious and tender, circle of wonder, circle of friends

For some it was just the gates or the garden,
The sheds or the orchard by the time it was done.
For others, home and all the memories
For just a few, a husband or a son.
A village followed its heart and found them..
Felt their pain, and heard their cry
Drew a circle tight around them
Hand in hand, arm in arm, eye to eye..

Ah… circle of wonder
Circle of story, circle of laughter and hope to the end.
Take my hand, take the time to remember
Gracious and tender, circle of wonder…
Ah… circle of wonder
Circle of story, circle of laughter and hope to the end.
Take my hand, take the time to remember
Gracious and tender, circle of wonder, circle of friends
Gracious and tender, circle of wonder, circle of friends

© Peter Campbell
Moss Vale October 2021

Even before he got the key in the door,
She could barely gather the will to keep going.
He comes in, and everything gets under his skin,
Can she guess which way the wind’s blowing?
The shame, and the bruises, everyone loses
Go grab some memories before they’re all gone
She waited for a change in the wind, for rain,
For angels with miracles and song.

She waited too long

Just after the lockdown, COVID crushed their resolve,
And all their dreams disappeared with his wages.
Alone with a daughter, every lesson he taught her
A little wisdom for the world that she faces.
But there, so shattered and lost, every line that got crossed
Fed their fear and their anger, and left them alone
They waited for courage, waited for a reason to care
When they knew they couldn’t keep on.

Too long, they waited too long
The moment calls, then it moves on
Hesitate and it’s gone
How long is too long, is too long?

Just when her heart was done with its heaving,
And her nightmare rolled off her, and settled
There was a flicker of hope through the pain, in the dark,
She seized it, a fist full of nettles.
Crept to the cradle, the helpless tangle of sleep,
Took her up, love so tender and strong
She waited for silence, waited for their moment to run…
Was she right? Was she wrong?

Too long, she waited too long
The moment calls, then it moves on
Hesitate and it’s gone
How long is too long is too long?

They wouldn’t even know he was there, at the top of the stair
All his four year old fears were forbidden.
Learned not to weep, just rocked himself off to sleep
Learned what to show them and just what to keep hidden.
The eyes that see nothing see everything breaking
See the trampled, the trapped and the torn
He waited for an end to his aching, an end to the shaking
For the reason why he ever was born.

Too long, we waited too long
The moment calls, then it moves on
Hesitate and it’s gone
How long is too long is too long is too long is too long?
How long is too long is too long?

© Peter Campbell
Moss Vale 2020

Eighteen to twenty one, restless water,
twenty one to thirty filled with sons and a daughter.
And then the years of thirty something broke and taught me,
there’s something to be said for pushing forty.

Now some think life’s a boulder you’ve got to roll up hill,
Just the thought of growing older’s enough to kill ’em!
I’m going to roll this rock around like no-one thought I could,
and oh, it’s looking good, pushing forty.

I’m needing reading glasses and my elbow’s gammy.
I’ve traded in my hairbrush for a chamois!
Watching what I’m eating, nothing naughty
I’m not taking any chances pushing forty.

I’ve got the troubled years behind, my love beside me,
she’s brought a cherishing those early years denied me.
I was beaten, going crazy when she caught me
But now I’m stronger by the day pushing forty.

We’re all through with baby-sitters and safety pins.
But now we panel-beat the car and hide the gin!
And though it’s easier to count the scars that tougher times have brought,
we try to count upon a wisdom that all the good and bad have taught.

Eighteen to twenty one, restless water,
twenty one to thirty filled with sons and a daughter.
And then the years of thirty something broke and taught me,
there’s something to be said for pushing forty.

You never know if you’ll survive but when that day arrived,
it’s was good to be alive, at 45!
Might have liked a little more, but the only certainty I saw
was that nothing is for sure, at 54
We all struggle up this mountain, the higher we climb, the less we’re counting,
Maybe it’s true that youth is wasted on the young.
But we just live the lives we’re given, sometimes we walk, sometimes we’re driven
we’re happy either way, at 67

If it was all left up to me,
I’d stop the count at thirty three..
And if you’re wondering, I’m doing fine
Age adds value, it’s just a state of mind|
The older I get, the better I used to be..
So then just when you’re having fun,
and they come to tell you your song is done
Just wave and say goodbye,
and tell them hi from me.

© Peter Campbell
Sydney 1989 / Moss Vale 2020

Who is this kid, all blond and ribbons in her hair?
And these children round her knees? Too young to know or care
Is it love, or is it duty in that stare?
It took a worried conversation to re-imagine those teenage plans
But it set the woman free to turn, and grab her life with both her hands
In shock, and barely breathing as her world expands.

Another place, a different drum
What might this become?

Alone and free, for maybe half a minute
Until her moment catches her up, and she’s right there in it
Holding steady, she’s ripe and ready to begin it
But a day becomes a decade and leaves her spinning her wheels
And the circle comes around, there’s love and duty in a baby’s squeals
And she’s caught between the way she thinks and the way she feels.

Another face, a different drum,
What might she become?

Who’s this at the back door with his life in flames?
Does she hose him down and listen, or let him wait until it rains?
I was there with all my anger, my confusion and my shame
She got me sad and burned and broken, but she took me just the same.

Look at these eyes, all blue and shining through her fears
They can see the shape of a human heart, but then she calls it for what it is
Could be a gift, or it could be trouble, but that’s the drum she hears
It’s wild and warm and willful, restless and real
It beats with the hope in her heart, and the love it reveals
And it lives as it learns as it gives as it yearns as it heals.

A little grace, a different drum,
See what she’s become.
A little grace

© Peter Campbell
Moss Vale 2019

I’m jumping right back into hot water,
maybe I’ll step a little out of order,
but I don’t want it cold, don’t want it in between
Hot water keeps a body clean.

You got a greedy heart, they say that doesn’t matter,
you got a brain and you got style you got the top of the ladder.
You got the world at your feet if you’ve got the nerve
Well we may never get exactly what we desire,
but we will get exactly what we deserve!

I’m jumping right back into hot water,
maybe I’ll step a little out of order,
but I don’t want it cold, don’t want it in between
Hot water keeps a body clean.

You got a great big smile, you got a sweet disposition.
You got stickers on your bumper, you’re a man with a mission.
You’re making promises, promises but you’re worrying me
Youll trust the AMP for your security
and then youll trust a lollipop to set you free!

I’m jumping right back into hot water,
maybe I’ll step a little out of order,
but I don’t want it cold, don’t want it in between
Hot water keeps a body clean.

You got your conscience trained, you’re hanging onto your treasure.
Why put off till tomorrow what you can put off for ever?
You can invest in the rich, you can invest in the poor
You’re following your heart one way or the other,
but do you really know what your heart is searching for?

I’m jumping,
I’m jumping,
I’m jumping,
I’m jumping right back into hot water,
maybe I’ll step a little out of order,
but I don’t want it cold, don’t want it in between
Hot water keeps a body, hot water keeps a body, hot water keeps a body clean.

© Peter Campbell
Sydney 1980