The Key

All Avenues

Explored

And

Effort Exhausted

Success

As It Should

Shall Be

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/0ltgfmosbeDrAxdbLvy8sg?si=zAK9JDgySR6POA-KQ1QOeQ

Boy Blue

Before the sun she made her run

I woke and she was gone

Poppa's stare said Guinevere

Had flown to Avalon

At least a month her eyes had died

The reasons no one knew

Dad could never bring her back

His world turned silent blue

Spirits send her home tonight
Silence still the eve

Come and touch A blue boy heart
Love that never leaves

I know it's not an act of love

That left him in the rain

If love is what she thought she'd left

It lives here with his pain

Give him back a little time 

Before your leaving nears

Momma hold a moment more

And stay to wipe his tears

Spirits send her home tonight
Silence still the eves
Come and touch A blue boy heart
Love that never leaves

-Hermit King- 

https://open.spotify.com/track/4nSzEBQyYWAGX7MtBtS7VC?si=XOYw1q1ISI6u0AnlyXy2Tw

Carry On

Bred to bend but never broke

Made to make a master stroke

Were the answer not a joke
Fate has called as I awoke

Found another torch to tote

Picked a shore and burned the boat

Gonna win that's all she wrote
Glories gain without a vote

Lifted hand to help another

Shining beacon for my brother
Shared the joy among each other

Fires lit no one can smother

Paving ways to understand

Giving all to give a hand

Leaving marks to heal the land
Playing hard to beat the band

Made the world my work of art

Reason clear from end to start

Love it all with all my heart
Fate and I not far apart

Lend yourself to one who tries

See what comes as no surprise
look with clear and wiser eyes

Others soon begin to rise

Born to carry on

- Hermit King--

https://open.spotify.com/track/4DMKwE2E2iYDKY01C335Uw?si=S0xn8yWkRyyWsAvcUm5VRw

Uncle Sam's Lament

Oh my country tis of thee

Why hast thou forsaken me

Working days become the night

A dying dollars final fight

Amber blowing wave of grain

Harvest met to others gain

Days of debt infect the masses

Bondage bankers gifted passes

Ceilings fail on our default

No more credit in the vault

Land of milk and honey gone

Nowhere clear for movin' on

Battle lost without a gun

Not too sure who really won

Economic heart disease

The IRS is now chinese

Bring it back oh president

At least attempt to make a dent

Next one up to take a swing

Time to earn the freedom ring

Spend no more by happenstance

Add some magic to the dance

Make a move both bold and brave

It's just my gold n soul you save

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/4i7mbnAXwZDFCWLcPwiq6F?si=7rNdEpa0Q2ySRUVc0RBExQ

Oliver

Who would say of Ollie's day 

My eye's have seen enough

Of silly times and pantomimes

And giggles off the cuff

Eyes too light for shadow

As he wonders at the flies

Toothless grinning minnow

Like a god in all but size

Quick to sound and fury

When the winds won't blow his way

Model for an angel

When the sandman ends the day

Bounce and he is broken

Sing and he'll delight

Born a lovers token

Good night my boy good night

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/2Ts6CXoCmnFilpPKdaZz4i?si=5soLAI9pTSuzmfqgY229vg

The Warrior Blues

Give me a gun and a barrel of bullets

Blades and grenades to inspire the muse

I'll play you a way to the valley of shadows 

And sing you a warriors blues

Fields of the fallen still echo in chorus

 lullaby sorrows lost to the years

Many have sung and none left to listen
Bands play hell no human hears

Peasants and privates play the drum slowly

Generals and chaplains step to the fore

Writing on bars in the heights of Valhalla

Lines for a note to the widows of war

Piccolo's speak of a morning marauder

Trumpets arouse in the clashing midday

Strings softly play in a falling finale

On cymbals of rock where forever we lay 

Give me a gun and a barrel of bullets

Blades and grenades to inspire the muse

I'll play you away to the valley of shadows 

And sing you a warriors blues

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/2TNPagu8Z4zvDOpmnktF00?si=JeKpqFEtTz2Mvc1Udfu_vg

Devastation Valentine

Sirens sang and mountains roared

Krakens rose in one accord 

Fate awakened on the run

Devil kissed the rising sun

Heroes stand on burning walls

Ghosts at war in flaming halls

Titan saviors facing sin

Kamikazi lose or win

Shaken, stirred, but doin' fine 

Head above the waterline

Toxic whipping wind divine

Devastation Valentine

Blind to where they're goin' now 

Bow to bones that fed the plow 

Fear has fled from men resigned

Father time cannot rewind

One more day to do or die

Calm the way of samurai

Power greater than the pain

Of child's play in acid rain

Shaken, stirred, but doin' fine 

Head above the waterline

Toxic whipping wind divine

Devastation Valentine

Overtime to cool a tomb

Pray the cherry blossoms bloom

Lives in trade 'til evils past

Bravery's greatest living cast

Ne'er a one a run away

Honor is the only play

Raise a pillar to the deed

Final gift to those in need

Shaken, stirred, but doin' fine 

Heads above the waterline

Toxic whipping wind divine

Devastation Valentine

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/7D7Kihjxnf66PnlZ2VpeZa?si=_UUqHBpFTv6aywHI5SG_pw


  

Hollywood Roulette

Faded sun and rainbow lies

Halos turn to haunted eyes

Shadow days inside me rise 

Bullet in the gun

Empty soulless state of grace

All alone is everyplace

Silence raging into space

Bullet in the gun

Monster bound but bearing bite

Blinding stare devoid of light

Numb to fear of wrong or right

Bullet in the gun

Reach for me and hold me brother

Rip me from the darkness mother

Is there one who'd help another

Bullet in the gun

No one knows quite what I've seen

Haven't found a place to lean

 Mirrors face has lost it's sheen

Bullet in the gun

Hope no more my little man

Races ran without a plan

Leapt to fire from the pan

Bullet in the gun

Less One?

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/0GrHWVTDsaWcD4nrCGr7VE?si=VzSiOioWTJ6Rai0XakGqpA

We're Away

Finally got some money

For a fare from here to there

Gonna grab my milk and honey

Take our time to anywhere

Pack a bag for El Dorado

Catch a flight through Shangri La

Change a plane in Amarillo

Hop a train to Babylon

No one saw us coming

Raise a glass we're on our way

Life's a risk worth running

Come tomorrow we're away

We can walk the Mayan highland

Dance the night in roman rain

Trek the Easter island

Or a land without a name

The seas will part before us

Time will bend and tear

Only stars to guide us

On our trip to everywhere

No one saw us coming

Raise a glass were on our way

Life's a risk worth running

Come tomorrow we're away

We will wash in mighty rivers

We will race the desert dunes

We'll take what fate delivers

Making love to ancient tunes

Throw away that dusty compass

Light the fires with our maps

 Signs can never stop us

As we slip between the gaps

No one saw us coming

Raise a glass were on our way

Life's a risk worth running

Come tomorrow we're away

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/4rJtUMlnhJzlzlnxyoc3tb?si=A0z64dP2RF2dM3HDxVcSUg

The Laughing Loner

Crooked grin 

Son of cain

Killing love

Raining pain

Madman lost 

Twisted fool

Kissing hell

Devils tool

Lifetime built

Minute made

Bullet born

Flowers laid

Thrown away

Left to roast

Future damned

Glaring ghost

Empty deck

Chaos toy

Maelstrom child

Once a boy

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/3LMXAUFA6PWe0iHyHfMKRL?si=4d661MY9QTqZJyHqnDXG6A

Gypsy City

Shots like bells awake the bride

Comes a horseman run and hide

Call the diggers heres another

Crack has killed a baby's mother

Love is lost we cry alone

Gypsy city turned to stone

Smoke and powder prophets prey

Teenage dreams are burned away

Beauty fades the midnight tolls 

On shattered streets of broken souls

Love is lost we cry alone

Gypsy city turned to stone

Every alley ragged rules

Kings to only rats and fools

Sunshine fails and hides away

Night lit demons laugh and play

Love is lost we cry alone

Gypsy city turned to stone

Love is lost I cry alone

My gypsy city's turned to stone

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/3K5H23JVilrZqLKmjDoacc?si=1uwDu2DjSKuoOOW1qniQUQ

Mast of the Pirate Queen

-

Her captain's wheel

I am not

-

I am no deck, nor tiller

-

I stand a mast

-

A mast that bares her sail

and

The treasures of her sea

-

Wind our gain

We're full

and

Crewed

-

With sheets set trim

All lines made fast

We harness gusts to fly

-

One eye for rock

-

Another sky

- 

Tack aside and rigid straight

Tensions taught

and

Actions quick

-

I am no compass

-

In her 'tis bourne

-

Map no coarse

-

El Dorado draws her soul

-

I stand a mast

-

And

 Oceans mark 

Her passing

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/1RfPA6mxhOvc5dVK9MHReF?si=mrkFtvU_R0CAnrzbpWnVLg

Ladders

There are two ladders

_________________

One is shiny, smooth, and new

  ________________

It's quick climb takes your breath

_________________

And sways on waves of burning sand

_________________

Two is rugged, rough, and worn

_________________

It's reach an endless mystery

________________ 

And rooted well in arms of stone

________________

One is lust

_______________

The other 

______________

Seems much more

-Hermit King-

   https://open.spotify.com/track/7laZGvFuF3gnDfxtulhLRc?si=rEtPay-CSWaF3PQ3CBUUNg

All Hands

Doubt can be a bitter gust

In wars to save the sails 

No act of man can calm a storm 

Tis fate decides who fails

I only know that if we rest

The rolling sea has won

So carry on in faith my lads

That we shall see the sun

Let not our fears divide us

Set your nets amid the pain

Pray and work the harvest

Shooting smiles at the rain

The ship we've built is worthy

Though these waves will take a toll

Pull against Poseidon

As the prize may be your soul

If in fact we loose the fight

Let no hand fail the test

These oceans cruel take many

Tis the heavens hold the best

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/5V83Qk7NeZzsA5FNhup6d1?si=qdFdaqoST6izihIrEZrBTQ

Orlean Dream

Crisp the cajun breezes

Raise the bayou's hidden choir

Pealing off the cold

Dark in the rearview

Driven off on delta tides

Ebb the rain of night

Jazz on the sunrise

Lifting sound from old time blues

New songs of morning 

Jambalaya calls

A promise to her children

Orleans shall not fall

Seas of man called home

In saintly celebration 

All arise as one 

Toss away your beads

Bourbon flows a fresh new wine

None are forgotten

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/6REXN2cbzrYGifT3cAARjR?si=ms1-A2gaSxKyLS5JnT_xGw

An Everlasting Rose

A mountain stood before me

Challenge to my soul

No one bade me climb here

It's crest my only goal

Each step would push another

The fee I paid was time

And though the way seemed brutal

The journey was sublime

As day wore on to sunset

Quickly came the night

Feet were bruised and broken

I had vowed to win the fight

Dawn would serve her glory

On a pilgrimage of pain

Cuts now long forgotten

Thoughts adrift and barely sane

The summit seemed illusion

As my knees embraced the ground

Though victory felt certain

This valiant quest was down

The breath in me was stolen

And my eyes began to close

I spied mid devastation

The beauty of a rose

Alit in shining silence

Atop a granite spire

Rooted in the bedrock

It's shade a raging fire 

Reaching slowly over

I caressed the alpine gem

Had the mountain grown this beauty

Or just hung upon it's stem

Never could I end there

Where this seed had clung so high

Broken through earths mantle

And in brilliance touched the sky

Pushing ever upward

Renewed of life and power

Stride and I would conquer

The ordeal met on this tower

Oft times inspiration

Is less random with it's grace

Yet there above the tree line

Revelation found a place

Risen as she rose
Frozen in the hour
Time had led me where
A world adorned a flower

 Thanks and admiration

Where the wind forever blows

To the soul of perseverance

In the beauty of a rose 

-Hermit King-

Dedicated to

Sophie Rose Barton 

04/09/93- 06/28/10

On a mountain risen 

Inspired by 

A Fierce American Mother 

Alice Frankie Pierce

For B-day 04/10/91

https://open.spotify.com/track/6ozbTNN1t48EBELMuyEuiu?si=4QLBOQIgQPCxBz7ds3oTRg

Trophy of Our World- The Cup

Trophy of our world takes place

Where mediocre holds no grace

Eye to foot or head the ball

Vuvuzelas sound the call

Trumpets shaking land and space

Men a field of every race

Earth's elite have set the pace

Sporting stars stand proud and tall

Trophy of our world

Nations war to our disgrace

Millions die without a trace

Greed and rage fulfill the fall

Trumpets speak to one and all

Taste a kiss and last embrace

Trophy of our world

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/6ozbTNN1t48EBELMuyEuiu?si=4QLBOQIgQPCxBz7ds3oTRg

Extraho Spiritus

Do Not Step Timid or Weak Into Time.

 Do Not in Misery Weep This Journey 

As Demise. 

Leap Fierce and Confident into the Unfolding of Your Seasons.

 Celebrate Each Day Renewed. 

Realize Youth look to the 

Wisdom of Your Council. 

 Ancient Heros Have Graced You with Command.

 Know Truly Your Time is Not Fading. 

Your Time Has Come!

 Lead Bravely 

Into The Future of Your Own Creation. 

A Masterpiece has Just Begun. 

The Masters Brush is Yours.

-Hermit King--

https://open.spotify.com/track/3THxVS2V2dVtCOKPZeDwD5?si=rakQzMP5R7aZKh9fFpX6qQ

The Harvest of Cancer

Captains fiercely call

Crying gulls and pylon waves

Chill the reaching night

             

Walls of ice lay split

Winters dawning run to sea  

Whirlwinds pitch and roll

Those schooled by the swell 

The ancient ways of water     

Taught each lesson once

Milking Tritons ore

Men of honor pitch the cage  

Marking ocean loot

Natures deadly gifts

Northmen earn upon the rail

Net rewards and test

Kinsman lead the green

Knowing cold oblivion    

Keeps mistakes at sea  

_Hermit King_

dedicated to Phil Harris

(December 19, 1956 – February 9, 2010

https://open.spotify.com/track/7pmTcbKLl4a361h4G78nak?si=wSJxyX4GS3G8P8OYcuUJWQ

Mother

Witness to our birth 

Pure love our first perception 

In her arms a home

Quiet in her grace

A prayer her one direction

Words of peace and joy

Teacher of respect

Purveying strong tradition

Aim both high and grand

Eyes of soft reproof

Firm hand of inspiration

Solace in her wing

Simple soul of peace

Wisdom given with a smile

Hero without war

Holy on the throne

A goddess in probation

Equal to my king

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/6YiekBeyhTQ7V8xAzuvA6v?si=wrVtAyPQQSaUPWswg2cbPw

6 Word Story

Raised Sail Long Ago Sailed Away

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/779d9J67lU0cqZCBQ1MF1j?si=SibkcITfQVKhZGzn9lSsdw

Choices of Voices

Hip hop's for gangsta's

Full of teens hanging down jeans

Half up butt more off

Country is hurtin'

Either by or who ya luv

Then ropin' some meat

Folk bares the poets 

 Minstrals ancient overflow

Histories in song

Blues create icons 

Both with voice and vision bold

Immortally sad 

Classical is free

Gods gift to all the masses

Mastered by so few 

I choose Rock and Roll

It seems to tag my bases

Three Fenders and drums

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/0125g6DvDuB1lnDOiHopgQ?si=HPT8yauCRFCmksJMOw7qLw

Haitian Holocost

The earth shook once more

A darker man was taken

Those he loved as well

Anchors set the stage

All the injured hold in place

The reporters cry

Haitians are dying

The news "So Many are Gone"

I did not know them

A child sits starving

My dinner would save her life

I ate half my soup

Blood and death abound

Misery a tv show

Playing every night

I end the horror

With the click of a button

No more CNN

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/3Wa68S71mRBFe8nUEN12ik?si=i4Qbydx9QmuJVibiMUzoNA

Depression Recession

No more dead eyed sadness, no more

howling tunes of emptiness.

no more disheartening discussion, no more

windswept lonely plains,

no more crying at what won't change, no more

death mask tributes,

no more energy sapping tales of misery, no more

sharing fouled souls,

no more bitter walks in relived hells, NO MORE!

Find Hope

Find Friends

Find Laughter

Find Joy

Find Peace

FORGIVE

-Hermit King-

https://open.spotify.com/track/6qgiSeYw2abTYHrk98mn5h?si=paNwQUN7T26YeLIJ4FcaRA