The King of Dreams lyrics are also available in the companion Coloring Book/Lyric Compendium “A Book of Idle Dreams”
THE KING OF DREAMS
Do you ever wake up for no good reason
Sometime during the night?
Sleep-filled eyes, scattered mind
Dreamy pale moonlight
Do you ever wake up for no good reason
Sit up in bed and think?
Do you wonder where you go
When you start to dream?
(chorus)
I am the King of Dreams
The Emissary of Sleep
I’m the Sand Man, the Man in the Moon
I am the King of Dreams
Do you wake up for no good reason
And watch the pale moon rise?
Do you see the man, see his face
In the dreamy pale moonlight?
And do you see the bag at his belt
Filled with the sleeping sand?
Do you feel the grain, feel the power
Fall from his magical hand?
chorus X2
The King of Dreams our captain
Constellations our whales
Crescent moon our ship
And dreams will fill our sails
You will play in twilight, sleep in the purple
Truly know enchantment
You will wake up in the morrow
And wonder if it really happened
Just close your eyes, lay down your head
And go to sleep
This is the road you must walk
If you meet the King of Dreams
chorus X2
DANCING WITH THE FAE
I went a walking one summer’s day, where I found a forest where I could escape
From the city’s loud and industrious ways. That’s when I met the Fae
They danced around me with wings all a flutter, and took my hand before I could utter
They begged and they pleaded, “Please will you kind sir come with us into our world.”
(chorus)
They said: We mean you no ill, we just want to play
We’re just little innocent fairy fae
We’ll feed you Fae food and we’ll love you ’til dawn
And then we’ll send you on home
I’ve read one or two books in my time, and I had a good guess that this was a lie
That when they would take me to the realm of the Fae, there I would stay…forever!
I stood my ground and I crossed my arms, but they insisted to me that they meant me know harm
They twirled in their dresses of silver and white and danced in the wind like a kite
chorus
They promised me they’d love me and they’d take good care to return me home without a scuff or a tear
And I wanted to believe them, they were so cute, but they had a reputation to boot (and it wasn’t a good one)
I told them, “I know of your traps and your tricks,” but they wiped away their tears and continued to insist
“We’re no evil gnomes! No hairy trolls!” With grace and with laughter and magic untold
chorus
They offered me bites of delicious sweets, offered me kisses and promised me treats,
They tickled my feet and danced on my head, and I forgot what I had read (what did I read?)
Their giggles contagious like a bad cold, their smiles outrageously beautiful
Their magical music got my feet tapping, and even before I knew what had happened
I joined in their dancing, I wanted to play
With the innocent little fairy Fae
I ate their Fae food and loved them ’til dawn
And I didn’t want to go home
I enjoy in their dancing, I delight in their play
With the innocent little fairy Fae
How did I not want to go with them
To the realm of the fairies, to my new home!
SHAPESHIFTER
I have a story of old
That I have been told
He told it to me
At the dawn of my journey
Shapeshifter! A being of many forms
Shapeshifter! Feather, scale, horn
As a wolf you appeared to me
Amidst a circle of trees
Through the woods I followed you
As a bird you freely flew
Shapeshifter! A being of many forms
Shapeshifter! Feather, scale, horn
Shapeshifter! Spin me another tale
Shapeshifter! Wing, claw, tail
As a fish you showed me my past
In an ancient ocean of glass
As a hare you taught me to live
Death was a buzzard and serpent
Shapeshifter! A being of many forms
Shapeshifter! Feather, scale, horn
Shapeshifter! Spin me another tale
Shapeshifter! Wing, claw, tail
Guide me through the grove
Secrets do you know
When it’s answers that I seek
You transform me
Shapeshifter! A being of many forms
Shapeshifter! Feather, scale, horn
Shapeshifter! Spin me another tale
Shapeshifter! Wing, claw, tail
GARDEN OF THE MIND
I got grass stains on my knees, and dirt under my nails
I’ve been busy just planting those seeds, I don’t know what that entails
I recall sometime last fall round harvest time last year
I was a skittish little scarecrow when harvest time drew near
I’ve got positive tomatoes growing right off the vine
And a few negative cucumbers, but that’s just fine
Cuz even though they like to say you reap what you sow
What you don’t end up needing gets tossed in the compost
Ears of corn just barely born tasting of jealousy
Radishes with that spiteful bite, I shouldn’t have planted those seeds
Avocados of optimism growing on that ol’ tree
Enough sweet peas of inner peace to choke the weeds of misery
I’ve got positive tomatoes growing right off the vine
And a few negative cucumbers, but that’s just fine
Cuz even though they like to say you reap what you sow
What you don’t end up needing gets tossed in the compost
Spicy peppers of petty disputes, sarcastic garlic and onions so rude
Sweeeeet potatoes of love
Squash that just wants to make a fuss, carrots that daydream
Enthusiastic rhubarb, lettuce of tranquility
I’ve got positive tomatoes growing right off the vine
And a few negative cucumbers, but that’s just fine
Cuz even though they like to say you reap what you sow
What you don’t end up needing gets tossed in the compost
Spending those days out under the sun pulling up all those roots
Can cause your back quite an ache, but ain’t that just old news
Cuz nothing comes quite that easy in the Garden of the Mind
Thorns and stickers, flowers and seeds, they’re just one of a kind
I’ve got positive tomatoes growing right off the vine
And a few negative cucumbers, but that’s just fine
Cuz even though they like to say you reap what you sow
What you don’t end up needing gets tossed in the compost
IT’S EASIER TO SLEEP WHEN YOU DON’T BELIEVE IN GHOSTS
Yesterday I went to sleep, or I should say I tried
I watched a scary movie, I think I may have cried
As I lay alone in my bed, wide awake in the dark
Demons ran through my head, could I just remark
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
I wake up in a sweat, I pant and I shake
Convinced my death was eminent , even while awake
Somewhere down below, underneath my bed
Lay a greenish, grayish goblin, or perhaps some living dead
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
I tried counting sheep, but what I feared the most
Oh it’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
I got up out of bed and I turned on all the lights
And then and only then I felt sort of right
But in the flickering light of the lamp, I fsaw what I feared most
Standing right before me was a great big ghost
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
I tried counting sheep, but what I feared the most
Oh it’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
When the fear had left my mind, and also the terror
I suddenly realized I’d screamed at a mirror
Who, then, is to blame for such a foolish fright?
Too much TV and ghost stories or such a gullible mind?
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
It’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
I tried counting sheep, but what I feared the most
Oh it’s easier to sleep when you don’t believe in ghosts
MI LIO SILO’S SONG
I had this crazy dream last night, I sat underneath a tree
When this big giant rabbit girl came running towards me
We traded hellos and I asked her “Where did you come from?”
She said her kind had a funny name: The Mindosioloxon*
She said her name was Mi Lio Silo, and I had told her mine
We laughed at the absurdity and we walked to pass the time
We walked through the garden where the bumblebees buzz
Mi Lio taught me things
About how different the world really was
How real was the strange, whoa-oh, how real was the strange
We walked the roads up in the hills, looking down on the town
Where the little glowing lights in the big high rise had us looking down
How strange the friendship could really be between a human and a rabbit
We laughed when she tried to pet my head as if I was a pet
We walked through the garden where the bumblebees buzz
Mi Lio taught me things
About how different the world really was
How real was the strange, whoa-oh, how real was the strange
When I had awoke from that dream, I couldn’t help but think
There’s really no difference that I can see between the animals and me
Language is an unscalable wall except in the world of dreams
Where anything is possible, where the strange becomes reality
We walked through the garden where the bumblebees buzz
Mi Lio taught me things
About how different the world really was
How real was the strange, whoa-oh, how real was the strange
LONELY OL’ WANDERER
Lonely ol’ wanderer
Crane skin bag of bones
Carried by the westward wind
Every step he called his home
Living in the shadows
Of the old woods and the trees
He taught the wind how to fly
And he taught the birds to sing
Where have you gone?
Where did you run?
Though the world has forgotten you
I am your son
He was the brown, he was the green
The spirit of the plains
He was the bark, he was the king
He shall return again
Lonely ol’ wanderer
I remember your words well
By the light of the stars
We drank from that well
From your bag of wonders
You pulled many a thing
But the one that I’ll never forget
Was when you taught me to dream
You showed me the castles
Up in the purple sky
I saw the spirit of the trees
Through your green brown eyes
He was the brown, he was the green
Spirit of the plains
He was the bark, he was the king
He shall return again
TIME TRAVELER’S PARADOX
“Jump into my time machine,” he said
See all of time and space before you head to bed
We’ll explore the history, the past
To the well known milestones or the lost memories so vast
We can rewrite history
Be the puppet masters, write our own story
Crack open a history book and you’ll find
A blank, white canvas, c’mon, we’ve got a universe to write
Who doesn’t want to see the glimpses of the past?
Hold the keys to history
“Jump into my time machine,” he said
See all of time and space before you head to bed
We’ll explore the future, the skies
See the great advancements or humanity’s demise
We can know the future unknown
Meet the future world president, through the stars with her we’d roam
Bring back all the knowledge of time
Obtain all the wisdom, All the answers to life
Who doesn’t want to see the glimpses of the future?
Hold the keys to the mysteries
Hold on one minute I said
Stop a second, catch a breath, And just use your head
I’ll be the first to say
Jumping through time and space Sounds like a cool way to spend a day
But how can we handle such a thing?
When we all struggle with Being here, present today
We’re too busy dwelling in our past
Thinking ’bout what all we did, Wallowing in regret
And hoping for what might await
Dreaming about what lies ahead, we forget about today
How can we hope to see, the future or the past
When we ignore reality
Open our eyes to right now, notice where we stand
The present in the palm of your hand
We hold the key to the locks
The time traveler’s paradox
We don’t need no time machine
No future, no history
Just open our eyes and just breathe
The present moment for you and me
THE SLUMBERLANDS
Sleep comes easy
When the sky goes dark so soon
One minute you’ve just woken up
The next, it’s dark by noon
Sleep comes easy
When the sky goes gray
The green gives way to brown gives way to white
No light out here
In the Slumberlands
Slumberlands
See his face, the cold embrace
Old Man Winter comes again
In the Slumberlands
Slumberlands
The deep comes creeping in
The cold, it numbs your toes
Just clutch your hot cup of tea
As the steam, it warms your nose
There’s not much else to do
When it’s minus twenty two outside
Just stoke the flames and play your games
Until summer comes again
In the Slumberlands
Slumberlands
See his face, the cold embrace
Old Man Winter comes again
In the Slumberlands
Slumberlands
PILLOWS MADE OF CLOUDS
I’m gonna lay on down
On pillows made of clouds
Never gonna touch the ground
On pillows made of clouds
Gonna fly in the sky
Never gonna be so high
Feel the wind as it passes by
On pillows made of clouds
I’m gonna lay on down
On pillows made of clouds
Never gonna touch the ground
On pillows made of clouds
Gonna sleep all day
Dream the whole day away
And in the night I’ll awake
On pillows made of clouds
Gonna watch the rising moon
See its silver smile soon
Gonna dance all night with the moon
On pillows made of clouds
I’m gonna lay on down
On pillows made of clouds
Never gonna touch the ground
On pillows made of cloud
When the sun starts to rise
I’ll close my weary eyes
And drift along up in the skies
On pillows made of clouds
SHORES OF SELENE
Wake up sleepy head
Lunar shadows in your room
Rub the sleep from your eyes
And turn your gaze to the moon
Here she comes now
Gliding on the air
Robes of silver thread
Starlit raven hair
On the Shores of Selene we ride
On the Shores of Selene tonight
The King of dreams our captain
Constellations our whales
The crescent moon our ship
Dreams will fill our sails
Here we come now
Cirrus clouds the beach
Sail the Milky Way
A dream just out of reach
On the Shores of Selene we ride
On the Shores of Selene tonight
On the Shores of Selene take flight
On the Shores of Selene goodnight
MOONBEAM ROAD
Moonbeam Road outside
Just a step, but a whole new life to begin
How far does it go
No one can see, but that won’t stop me
I’ll push on if I must
I am scared, but so were all those who dared
Will you be my guide?
To the sky, to the stars above us so bright
Tonight, we will go
Down the Moonbeam road
How far does it go
Down the Moonbeam road
Moonbeam Road outside
Like a dream, a starry, moonlit street
Don’t look back now
But keep in mind all the memories you keep inside
A childhood dream wakes you up
To the chance, to the love and the light and the dance
Celestial wanderer
In the night, in the clouds, up in the starlight
Tonight, we will go
Down the Moonbeam road
How far does it go
Down the Moonbeam road
But now I find myself here
Standing before, before the opening door
DAWN OF A BRAND NEW DAY
I’ve finished reading that book
And I placed it down on my knees
Now I’m taking a good look
At sailing the seven seas
I’ve painted every portrait
I’ve dreamed every dream
I’m lookin’ for new a outlook
I’m thinking of swimming upstream
Whoa, these fins need a new current
To carry me far away
I’m looking for new waters
A dawn of a brand new day
I’ve tasted all the sweet waters
Of every river and stream
I’ve laughed every good laughter
Smelled every flower of spring
And I’ve taken every new hand
That’s pulled me out of hard luck
I’ve walked these uncharted lands
I’ve slept in every old oak
Whoa, these wings need a new wind
To carry me far away
I’m lookin’ for new skies
A dawn of a brand new day
Just when I thought I’ve seen it
I’ve seen it all and all
I stumble on a new chapter
I guess I haven’t read it all
And oh, just you wait and see
What lies beyond this hill
A brand new adventure
And more lies ahead still
These eyes see a new chapter
A thousand brand new ways
To walk this life I’m living
A dawn of a brand new day
(C) 2017 by Bran Cerddorion
Barefoot Bran 