I have heard of Oliver Cromwell, but am quite ignorant of that period of time in English history. I must admit it does sound like a fascinating time period, so I'm pulling out my Will and Ariel Durant books to find out more information. Who says websites can't be educational?

I have another song by Enya that I like very much. Book of Days One day, one night, one moment, My dreams could be, tomorrow. One step, one fall, one falter, East or west, over earth or by ocean. One way to be my journey, This way could be my book of days. Ó lá go lá, mo thuras, (From day to day, my journey,) An bealach fada romham. (The long pilgrimage before me.) Ó oíche go hoíche, mo thuras, (From night to night, my journey,) Na scéalta nach mbeidh a choích. (The stories that will never be again.) No day, no night, no moment, Can hold me back from trying. I'll fly, I'll fall, I'll falter, I'll find my day may be, Far and away, Far and away. One day, one night, one moment, With a dream to believe in. One step, one fall, one falter, Found a new earth across a wide ocean. This way became my journey, This day ends together, Far and away. This day ends together, Far and away. Far and away.

Frances this is one beautiful song I especially love this part No day, no night, no moment, Can hold me back from trying. Enya's songs are full of instrumental kind of Irish ambient and very nice. Both my sister and I are fans of Richard Marx and love his songs. Even my mum likes his voice although she doesn't understand a word he's singing. One of songs that I like is Hazard Hazard "My mother came to Hazard when I was just seven Even then the folks in town said with prejudiced eyes That boy's not right ... Three years ago when I came to know Mary First time that someone looked beyond the rumours and the lies And saw the man inside ... We used to walk down by the river She loved to watch the sun go down We used to walk along the river And dream our way out of this town ... No one understood what I felt for Mary No one cared until the night she went out walking alone And never came home ... Man with a badge came knocking next morning Here was I surrounded by a thousand fingers suddenly Pointed right at me ... I swear I left her by the river I swear I left her safe and sound I need to make it to the river And leave this old Nebraska town I think about my life gone by And how it's done me wrong There's no escape for me this time All of my rescues are gone, long gone I swear I left her by the river I swear I left her safe and sound I need to make it to the river And leave this old Nebraska town ..."

This is a song that helped me get through some tough times a few years back. I was making a huge decision about leaving my career and personal life of the previous fifteen years behind and making a change that I thought would benefit myself. I was in a very responsible positon with people dependent upon me who didn't want me to leave. But I knew I was being weighed down. For awhile, every time I started to worry about life's choices, I's pull this song out. Yesterday, I heard it on the radio again, so I thought I'd share it here. Newsboys - Million Pieces They all fall Like a million raindrops Falling from a blue sky Kissing your cares goodbye They all fall Like a million pieces A tickertape parade high And now you're free to fly Carryin' a millstone malaise It's been pulling down your gaze You pound the pavement It don't give or care This weight ain't yours to bear Why you holdin' grudges in old jars? Why you wanna show off all your scars? What's it gonna take to lay a few burdens down? It's a beautiful sound When they all fall Like a million raindrops Falling from a blue sky Kissing your cares goodbye They all fall Like a million pieces A ticker tape parade high And now you're free to fly When that muffled sigh Says you're barely getting by Cut your burdens loose and just simplify Simplify This is not your floor You're going higher than before Drop the weight now Wait for the lookout guide Look outside As they all fall Like a million raindrops Falling from a blue sky Kissing your cares goodbye They all fall Like a million pieces A ticker tape parade high Now you're free to fly You've gotta lay that burden down You're gonna lay that burden down It's time to leave your burdens in a pyre Set a bonfire 'Cause when you lay your burdens down When you lay your burdens down When you drop them burdens What a free-fall What a thrill Bury them all In a landfill

Here's a song that has been haunting me today. Noir Desir - Le Vent Nous Portera Je n'ai pas peur de la route Faudrait voir, faut qu'on y goûte Des méandres au creux des reins Et tout ira bien là Le vent nous portera Ton message à la Grande Ourse Et la trajectoire de la course Un instantané de velours Même s'il ne sert à rien va Le vent l'emportera Tout disparaîtra mais Le vent nous portera La caresse et la mitraille Et cette plaie qui nous tiraille Le palais des autres jours D'hier et demain Le vent les portera Génetique en bandouillère Des chromosomes dans l'atmosphère Des taxis pour les galaxies Et mon tapis volant dis ? Le vent l'emportera Tout disparaîtra mais Le vent nous portera Ce parfum de nos années mortes Ce qui peut frapper à ta porte Infinité de destins On en pose un et qu'est-ce qu'on en retient? Le vent l'emportera Pendant que la marée monte Et que chacun refait ses comptes J'emmène au creux de mon ombre Des poussières de toi Le vent les portera Tout disparaîtra mais Le vent nous portera. (I'm not afraid of the journey We'll have to see, wel'l have to taste The meandres in the hollows of thighs And there everything will go well The wind will carry it off Your message to the Big Dipper And the trajectory of the path An instant of velour Even if it's for nothing The wind will carry it off All will disappear but The wind will carry us The caress and the gunshot The wound that pains us The palace of other days Yesterday and tomorrow The wind will carry them Genetics carried on the back Chromosomes in the athmosphere Taxis for the galaxies And my flying carpet The wind will carry it off All will disappear but The wind will carry us This perfume of our dead years Those who can knock at your door Infinity or destiny, You put down one and what do you have left? The wind will carry it off While the tide comes in And each one does over his accounts I bring to the hollow of my shadow A few bits of your dust The wind will carry them All will disappear but The wind will carry us)

I really like that,too,Frances. The fleeting of Time,the fragility of Life,the swiftness of it all.

This song by Suzanne Vega always makes me think of KA.......sorry it's so long, but it tells a story. I wish you could hear the lovely guitar accompaniment, too. The Queen and the Soldier The soldier came knocking upon the Queen's door. He said "I am not fighting for you any more." the Queen thought she'd seen his face somewhere before And slowly she let him inside. He said "I've watched your palace up here on the hill And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill, But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will Only first I am asking you why." Down the long narrow hall he was led, Into her room with her tapestries red And she never once took the crown from her head. She asked him there to sit down. He said "I see you now and you are so very young, But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won And I've got this intuition, says it's all for your fun And now will you tell me why? The young Queen she fixed him with an arrogant eye. She said "You won't understand and you may as well not try." But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry, But she closed herself up like a fan. And she said "I've swallowed a secret burning thread. It cuts me inside and often I've bled." He laid his hand then on top of her head And he bowed her down to the ground. "Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel, As you are living here alone and you are never revealed, But I won't march again on your battlefield." And he took her to the window to see. And the sun it was gold, though the sky it was gray And she wanted more than she ever could say, But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away. And would not look at his face again. And he said "I want to live as an honest man To get all I deserve and to get all I can And to love a young woman who i don't understand. Your Highness, your ways are very strange." but the crown it had fallen and she thought she would break And she stood there ashamed of the way her heart ached. She took him to the doorway and she asked him to wait, She would only be a moment inside. Out in the distance her order was heard And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word And while the Queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred, The battle continued on.

That is incredibly sad, touching and reveatory of how estranged from reality those in leadership can be.

I love that,Stevie. Right up my street,as you would say! Thanks for posting it for us. :hug

Stevie that song is so full of depth. Sometimes I feel like this. Some of lyrics from this song so reminds me of me. I am currently listening to it and I wanted to share the lyrics with you. Everlast's "This Kind of Lonely" from "White Trash Beautiful" album. Sittin' alone and I hear rain fallin' on my windowsill Just wanna do what's right but I don't know if I ever will There's so many reasons, too many excuses And all these prescriptions, got too many uses And I'm so lonely It's kind of scary And this kind of lonely is making me weary I'm so lonesome I could die Sittin' alone and I am waitin' for the sun to shine Sometimes I kneel and pray hoping someday you'll be mine She's so many miles away So many things to say And all of the games we'd play don't matter anyway Cause I'm so lonely The sex is empty But this kind of lonely makes it easy to tempt me I'm so lonesome I could die I'm so lonesome I could die Sittin' alone and I am waitin' for somebody to call Think if I up and died wouldn't nobody notice at all Cause I'm so insecure and I feel so unsure Can't take it anymore, no It's never been like this before And I'm so lonely, feel like cryin' And this kinda lonely is worse than dyin' I'm so lonesome I could die I'm so lonesome I could die I'm so lonesome I could die

Oh Selma! I just want to send you a big :hug . I hope that your future holds brighter moments. Your situation is on my mind frequently and I send you good thoughts, wishes and prayers often.

Breathe by Midge Ure With every waking breath I breathe I see what life has dealt to me With every sadness I deny I feel a chance inside me die Give me a taste of something new To touch to hold to pull me through Send me a guiding light that shines Across this darkened life of mine Breathe some soul in me Breathe your gift of love to me Breathe life to lay 'fore me Breathe to make me breathe For every man who built a home A paper promise for his own He fights against an open flow Of lies and failures, we all know To those who have and who have not How can you live with what you've got? Give me a touch of something sure I could be happy evermore Breathe some soul in me Breathe your gift of love to me Breathe life to lay 'fore me To see to make me breathe Breathe your honesty Breathe your innocence to me Breathe your word and set me free Breathe to make me breathe This life prepares the strangest things The dreams we dream of what life brings The highest highs can turn around To sow love¹s seeds on stony ground Breathe Breathe Breathe some soul in me Breathe your gift of love to me Breathe life to lay 'fore me To see to make me breathe Breathe your honesty Breathe your innocence to me Breathe your word and set me free Breathe to make me breathe

When She Cries by Restless Heart The road I have traveled on Is paved with good intentions It's littered with broken dreams That never quite came true When all of my hopes were dying Her love kept me trying She does her best to hide The pain that she's been through (Chorus) When she cries at night And she doesn't think that I can hear her She tries to hide all the fears she feels inside So I pray this time I can be the man that she deserves 'Cause I die a little each time When she cries She's always been there for me Whenever I've fallen When nobody else believes She'll be there by my side I don't know how she takes it Just once I like to make it Then there'll be tears of joy That fill her loving eyes (Repeat chorus) So I pray this time I can be the man that she deserves 'Cause I die a little each time When she cries

With all that your family has been through, Selma, I can see what that song would touch your heart. Thanks for sharing it.

I was reminded recently of this wonderful poem by Maya Angelou. Although it comes from a perspective that is far removed from my own life, I have always felt it holds a universal message, and reading it aloud lifts my spirits every time! Still I Rise You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise. Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? 'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room. Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise. Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like tear drops. Weakened by my soulful cries. Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard 'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin' in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I'll rise. Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs? Out of the huts of history's shame I rise Up from a past that's rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide. Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.