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I Know This Road

All songs Gayla Drake Paul 2000-2005, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP) except "Don't Ask Me To Wait," Gayla Drake Paul and Guy Wendler 2000, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP) and North Amana Workshop.
Release date May 24, 2005

I Know This Road
Feel This Tomorrow
This Too Will Pass
Peshtigo
Don't Ask Me To Wait
The Land Between
Make Me Wait
She Walks the Darkside
Fly Outa Here
Fly Through the Lowlands
You're Not The One
Far Away


Notes and Lyrics


I Know This Road

Gayla Drake Paul 2005, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD, Capo V

I know this road like the back of my hand
Like the beat of my heart
Like your breath on my skin
On a warm summer night with a storm rollin' in
Got to fly over ground
Got to see you again

Oh the road called to me, reaching deep in my soul
Unmistakable sound
Irresistible pull
Like the pull I feel when you whisper my name
In the dark of the night
Your breath on my skin

REFRAIN
It's a long and a rough and a winding way
Through this wild and restless world
It's a sharp and a slow and a bittersweet pain
To be caught between these two loves again

Now the wind kicks up and the rain starts to fall
Like the tears that I shed
The last time we talked 
And the only thing I know to be true
Got to be who I am
Got to be with you
REFRAIN

Well the road goes on and I cannot explain
The powerful pull
To be out here again
On a warm summer night with a storm rollin' in
Like your voice in the dark
Like your breath on my skin

Feel This Tomorrow

Gayla Drake Paul 2000, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD

You can keep it up all night with the left - right
Jab, cross, it just goes on and on and on
Come on over here, show me what you got
I can see it in your eyes that you want to take me on

Don't pull your punches, don't hold back
We're gonna do this right or not at all
Don't just let me win, don't take it slow
Cause I want to feel all of this tomorrow

So now it's one-on-one, I waited so long
Just to get this close makes my head start spinning
You throw 'em hard, baby, right on target every time
Another round is gone and I don't want it to end

Don't pull your punches, don't hold back
If this is all I get of you I want to get it all
Don't just let me win, don't take it slow
Cause I want to feel all of this tomorrow

BRIDGE
Now we circle 'round, check each other out
Are you tired yet? I'm just getting started
Now you're closing in, I try not to forget
To keep my hands up and guard my head and my heart

And so it goes all night with the left - right
I let you land one just for the touch, darlin'
My smile disarms you, leaves you wide open
I go in to take you down and find myself fallin'

Don't pull your punches, don't hold back
You're not gonna hurt me, I'm too far gone for that
Don't just let me win, don't take it slow
Cause I want to feel all of this tomorrow

This Too Will Pass

Gayla Drake Paul 2000, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
EADGBE

Staring out the office window at the big blue sky
Wishing you were on the front porch with a gittar and a glass of wine
There are days and there are days
And somehow they all go by

And this too will pass, my friend
Though your restless heart may never mend
This too will pass, my friend
This too will pass

She steps out of the forest with leaves in her long dark hair
Your disheveled goddess, you like to remember her there
And time seems to have no meaning
As her memory stirs the air

And you fall in love again
Oh, though your restless heart may never be content
You fall in love again
You fall in love

BRIDGE
Well it hurts down deep inside, this need for changes
And you're always on the search for something more
No, you never did deny your lust for danger
And you never could resist an open door

Wondering how did you get here, this isn't the life you thought you'd make
Something ancient in your heart is calling you to take another way
Oh, this modern world is causing 
Too many hearts to break

But this too will pass, my friend
Though our broken hearts may never mend
This too will pass, my friend
This too will pass

Peshtigo

Gayla Drake Paul 2005, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD

Little fires burning bright
Gleaming through the wood that night
Looking west I see the clouds
Red reflection, roaring sound

Wind rising, fitful gusts
Tree trunks blazing with one touch
As if wind was breathing fire
Dark explosion, rising higher

Air no longer fit to breathe
River offers cool reprieve
A moment safe in water's embrace
Then all around us air in flames

Just as quickly shifting wind
Fire retreating, holocaust's end
I see a world I barely know
Nothing left of Peshtigo

Everyday actions, things we do
Taken for granted, not thought through
You'll never know what will ignite
Little fires, burning bright

Don't Ask Me To Wait

Gayla Drake Paul and Guy Wendler 2000, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP) and North Amana Workshop
DADGAE

Threshold waiting there and the decision is all yours
This door opens both ways and you have walked them both before
Don't think you should explain, this pattern starts deep in our past
But if you walk out that door this time don't you dare look back
Longing

REFRAIN
Don't ask me to wait
Don't think I'm going to stay here
And waste my time
While you make up your mind
Again
Don't ask me to wait
Don't think I don't have places
Where I can go
And start over alone
Again

So your choice is clear as your feet hit the ground
Door closing at your back as you start to turn around
I know you don't believe me when I say that this is done
Smile and shake your head, you think that I'm going to let you come
Back running

REFRAIN

The Land Between

Gayla Drake Paul 2002, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD

REFRAIN
I'm goin' home to the place where the Cedar River flows
Where the prairie grasses glisten in the dew
From the mighty Mississippi to the wide Missouri shores
I'm goin' home to the land between the two

My ancestors settled with the natives
They lived in peaceful love and harmony
And as the years went on many children were born
Our roots in this fertile land went deep
Many brothers and sisters have left us
Too often I've been tempted to roam
But the whisper of the wind through the tall prairie grass
Follows and forever calls me home

REFRAIN

Tall cities have sprung up from the prairies
And concrete rivers mar the ancient plain
Where wild horses once grazed now traffic jams rage
And the never ending rumble of the trains
Ah, but still I can see her gentle rolling
And faint beneath the city noise I hear
The whisper of the wind through the tall prairie grass
And the heartbeat of the home I love so dear

REFRAIN

Make Me Wait

Gayla Drake Paul 2000, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
EADGBE

I woke up this morning thinking about you
Fell asleep last night the same
Gotta wonder how long it will be before something happens
And I open my heart to the risk again
As the days go by I feel it even stronger
As we circle each other round
We seek each other out in the moments when everything's quiet
Drifting further away from neutral ground

REFRAIN
Got just enough of you to convince me to keep waiting
Oh it's so good just to be with you, baby
Now that I'm ready to have you here beside me
How long are you gonna make me wait?

Yesterday we sat in comfortable silence
And you ventured to take my hand
For a moment in your eyes flashing I saw a bright fire
A reflection of my inner dance
But this morning finds me wondering, worrying
Trying to keep doubt at bay
With the echo of past broken hearts ringing hollow inside me
I get ready to give my heart away
REFRAIN

All a-tremble now I wait for your footsteps
And I hear the porch door swing
As my heart takes a leap I feel all doubt rushing from me
And I'm ready to risk everything
REFRAIN

She Walks the Darkside

Gayla Drake Paul 2002, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD

Her footsteps sure where many have been lost
No second guesses, no wondering who to trust
She slips through storm and shadow, a phantom on the run
Never faltering, guarded, through this world alone

REFRAIN
Child of shadow in the darkening night
Eyes always focused on the faltering light
She's ever searching for the way it could be
She walks the darkside so easily

Emotions suspended, she gathers her mind
Her approach is cautious, never knowing what she'll find
Contact uncertain, she reaches and withdraws
Closing what was open, like a whisper she's gone
REFRAIN

She keeps to the shadows, always on the move
Can't take anymore lies but afraid to face the truth
Her strategy is perfect, you can't lose if you don't play
So she sinks in her darkness and fades away
REFRAIN

Fly Outa Here

Gayla Drake Paul 2004, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
CGDGBD

I'm ready to make a start
All these years have left a tarnish on my heart
I know I never should have stayed so long
Now I clearly see what's been going on

Frozen out and all alone
Sometimes there's safety with the devil that you know
Too long I've missed the fire once burning bright
I grabbed the chance I saw and held on tight

REFRAIN
Oh, I'm ready to fly outa here
Now there's nothing but clear skies ahead
Oh, I'm ready to fly outa here
No more waiting, nothing more to fear

Finally free to move at last
Finding strength to do more than I ever have
Picking up pieces I thought abandoned
Getting back the things I love that remind me who I am
REFRAIN

BRIDGE
Freedom tastes so sweet, but this kind of change is never easy
Facing myself after what I've been through
Forcing myself not to feel like a fool
Freedom has it's price, but given the choice I didn't think twice
Gotta be better than where I've been
Promised myself I won't go there again
REFRAIN

Fly Through the Lowlands

Gayla Drake Paul 2001, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
EAGDBE

He felt her heartbeat as they flew over lowland roads
Two ribbons of mist in the fading twilight
He felt a tremor as her arms encircled
With a sudden certainty, he realized
That this is the one, this is the only one
His heart speaks a language only she understands
And they fly like mist through the lowlands

REFRAIN
In the name of love, in the name of life
Will you be my husband
Oh, will you be my wife
Oh, yes I will
Oh, you know I will

One night she said his soul revealed itself
So beautiful it almost made her cry
His deepest secrets like an open flame
Like the stars against the night
Yes, this is the one, this is he only one
Her mind spins a rhythm only he can dance 
And they fly like fire through the lowlands
REFRAIN

And now the journey moves through magical realms
She holds him tighter, he loves her more
They form a circle made of dark and light
Of mystery and truth, of love and desire
This is the one, this is the only one
Their hearts beat together in each other's hands 
And they fly on wings through the lowlands
REFRAIN

You're Not The One

Gayla Drake Paul 2005, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD

I've been thinking lately, maybe this thing isn't really working out
And it hurts me but I know what I have to do
Cause it's clear, we have different expectations and we've both been backing off
It was great, but we have to admit we're through

REFRAIN
Time to leave
Before it gets ugly and damage is done
Time to leave
Don't matter how much I thought I loved you
You're not the one

Well, I know myself, I know I have a weakness for somebody like you
And I tend to let a lot of things slide on by
So I'm leaving before I fall so hard I can't get up and walk on outa here
I can't trust myself to give it anymore time
REFRAIN

BRIDGE
I know I was hiding from the trouble, a lot more than I should
Cause when you put your hands on me it was so damn good
Nothing's gonna change it - we are who we are
I'm sorry I didn't see it before it got this far

So we'll let it go while we can still look each other in the eye
And maybe someday we'll even end up as friends
Now let's hold each other close and linger here this one last time
One more kiss before we call it the end
REFRAIN

Far Away

Gayla Drake Paul 2004, Ivanhoe Road Music (ASCAP)
DADGAD, Capo V

Settling in, life is good
Got it better than I thought I ever would
But even now my restless spirit struggles against the grind 
Having to be somewhere every day
Sacrificing freedom for steady pay
Swallowing that trade-off burns deep in my heart and mind

REFRAIN
And it's so far away
Yes it's so far away
It's so far away from here

Got a little older, all grown up
Thought I'd kicked this dream, I thought I'd had enough
Figured that the world had shown me once and for all the truth
But percolating deep inside my thoughts
Was a rhythm that I couldn't quite shake off
And a feeling that I'd lost the road my life was pointing to
REFRAIN

So what do we do when it all blows up
When we're caught between the real world and the world we want
Do we make a stand or do we make another compromise
Sorry if I hesitate to begin
It's not easy to throw caution to the wind
And trust that everything's gonna be alright
REFRAIN


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