John & Mary and the Valkyries - discography

John & Mary - The Weedkiller's Daughter *(Rykodisc, 1993)*
	1. Two Worlds Parted (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:04 Mary Ramsey - vocals, violin John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Rob Buck - electric lead guitar Stan Barton - mandolin Andrew Case - drums Joanne Ramsey - backing vocals 2. Angels Of Stone (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 4:38 Mary Ramsey - vocals, Hammond organ John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass, backing vocals Rob Buck - electric guitar Jerry Augustyniak - drums Scott Miller - guitar solo 3. Your Return (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:09 Mary Ramsey - vocals, viola John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Rob Buck - electric guitar Jerry Augustyniak - drums Bob Wiseman - accordian Stan Barton - mandolin 4. Clare's Scarf (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:44 Mary Ramsey - lead vocals, viola John Lombardo - acoustic guitar, bass Mary Margaret O'Hara - all other vocals Alex Chilton - electric lead guitar Andrew Case - drums 5. Cemetery Ridge (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:09 Mary Ramsey - vocals, viola John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Martin Simpson - acoustic lead guitar Stan Barton - mandolin Joe Rozler - Hammond organ Jerry Augustyniak - drums Joanne Ramsey - backing vocals 6. A Nightfall (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:44 Mary Ramsey - vocals John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Rob Buck - electric guitar Stan Barton - mandolin Bob Wiseman - piano Jerry Augustyniak - drums 7. I Wanted You (Hudson/Ford) - 2:30 Mary Ramsey - vocals John Lombardo - acoustic guitar, bass Alex Chilton - electric lead guitar, vocals Rob Buck - electric rhythm guitar Jerry Augustyniak - drums David Kane - piano with Natalie Soil cello trio: Bryan Eckenrode Alfred B. Frenning (string arrangement) Robbie Hausmann 8. One Step Backward (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 3:49 Mary Ramsey - vocals John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Rob Buck - electric guitar Scott Miller - electric guitar and solo Bob Wiseman - Hammond organ Jerry Augustyniak - drums 9. Fly Me To The North (Segal) - 4:24 Mary Ramsey - vocals, viola, violin intro John Lombardo - acoustic guitar, bass, vocals Martin Simpson - acoustic lead guitar Jerry Augustyniak - drums Brian Eckenrode - cello intro 10. Clouds Of Reason (Lombardo/Ramsey) - 4:24 Mary Ramsey - vocals, violin John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass, backing vocals Martin Simpson - acoustic lead guitar Bob Wiseman - accordian Andrew Case - drums 11. Maid Of The Mist (Ramsey) - 1:50 Mary Ramsey - viola Joe Rozler - piano 12. The Poor Murdered Woman (traditional) - 3:43 Mary Ramsey - vocals, viola John Lombardo - 12-string guitar, bass Martin Simpson - acoustic lead guitar David Kane - Hammond Organ Andrew Case - drums 1993 CD Rykodisc RCD-10259 1993 CS Rykodisc RACS-10259
TWO WORLDS PARTED (Lombardo/Ramsey) dancing around the public square red stars shooting everywhere no clouds to grey the morning sky our tears will find a way to dry once locked, now open over there two worlds once parted: there, now sewn together with the past behind us red guards pray will disappear all our long journeys ended here starlings can swarm back to the nest now all our minds can be at rest once locked, now open over there two worlds once parted: there, now sewn together with the past behind us woke up the day to something new hung in the sky Chautauqua moon box trees bloom from lifeless stone families that left are coming home once locked, now open over there two worlds once parted: there, now sewn together with the past behind us
	ANGELS OF STONE (Lombardo/Ramsey) the silence underneath the snow footprints where the grass won’t grow revealed. promised I won’t be too late through the dark the iron ate was sealed someone came to lock our path “boost me up, I’ll lift the latch,” we kneeled. when night met day, day met night there we stood beneath the sudden light and did you listen? it’s like I’ve heard this still sound before sunlight prism wide awake birds rest on the frozen lake, I saw them. when day met night, night met day, tough my hand, I think I know the way. there in the park where we used to play angels of stone, they would always pray. a yellow room by candleglow picnic snapshots long ago, just happy. and father’s boat, his raging tales the magic wind that filled its sails could last me. one chance, and it has passed me. when day met night, night met day all this time, I thought that I could stay there in the park where we used to play angles of stone, they would always pray silence underneath the snow footprints where the grass won’t grow.
YOUR RETURN (Lombardo/Ramsey) I’d wondered if you’d mind me sitting here along the step, I’d wondered if you’d mind me looking for your silhouette I counted tiny lights through cracks in the wall for a little while a solitary day passed by. I sat on the corner a double rainbow in the sky, I sat on the corner where yesterday we said goodbye. my drawings on the sidewalk now disappear for a little while a solitary day passed by. you asked me the time and I said to you: “look at the clock over there....” but then you went away, I had nothing to say but I waited for your return. a voice whispers softly the written word the hope you gave a voice whispers softly from penny poems always saved. behind the church a heart of snow melts to tears for a little while a solitary day passed by. you asked me the day and I said to you, “look at the wall over there....” but then you went away, I had nothing to say but I waited for your return for your return.
	CLARE’S SCARF (Lombardo/Ramsey) now she is living in the garret from fear she never leaves her home her neighbors sunning on their porches the world enchanting down below she knows them like they were a family but it is she they never see. ooh Clare wraps the scarf around her head the one she loves, rubious red peers through the looking glass her heart sinks slowly. Clare spends time with books of fancy riddled rhymes and she tries hard at learning new words she’s making lists of every vow she’ll never keep Clare wraps the scarf around her head the one she loves, rubious red peers through the looking glass her heart sinks slowly. when sorting through her mind she finds it hard to find a memory that is all her own. ooh you took all I ever wanted as though your own Clare wakes up, morning starts with a parade the flags were snapping in the sun she saw old soldiers on display bowed and greyed but not afraid Clare wraps the scarf around her head the one she loves, rubious red peers through the looking glass she walks on slowly. when sorting through her mind ooh you took all I ever wanted as though your own
CEMETERY RIDGE (Lombardo/Ramsey) late in the afternoon most every summer Sunday most every holiday with nothing much at all to do as three o’clock came round we knew where she’d be found sitting in the back seat with her wrinkled yellow photographs. into the car we’d pile, off to the edge of town it was a cemetery Sunday drive turned upside-down. but times were different then and she’d remember when and tell us stories that we’d both heard many times before in unmarked graves they say the children silent lay the church a haven for the families come from far away. into the car we’d pile, off to the edge of town it was a cemetery Sunday drive turned upside down if only to remember on the day the line of tiny crosses that were washed away the seasons change their colors you might wake up accepting things are really gone. it’s not so strange not to abandon hope of finding markings for her first three daughters and a son into the car we’d pile, off to the edge of town it was a cemetery Sunday drive turned upside-down think of the children.
	A NIGHTFALL (Lombardo/Ramsey) late in the nighttime, met in a dream I was only five in it and you were probably nineteen you were playing in the capitol of Washington D.C. I walked through corridors pale marble green and then there you were playing “The Streets of Baltimore” again the fringe upon your coat sleeves shook like leaves upon a tree. maybe it was all because I played your records just before maybe it was something in your voice that called to me again. just like a sweater that wraps around so close to me you stayed with me there. must have been summer porcelain clean the room spread out a dome above me line of figurines you said it was a song for me, your lamb a wild goose scene. maybe it was all because I played your records just before maybe it was something in your voice that called to me again. just like a sweater that wraps around so close to me you stayed with me there. I dreamed green darkness, sound filled the room you walked away from me strumming a guitar I fell with you maybe it was all because I played your records just before maybe it was something in your voice that called to me again. just like a sweater that wraps around so close to me you stayed with me then, a nightfall.
I WANTED YOU (Richard Hudson and John Ford) my mind was like a roller coaster shall I take a look or turn the other way? you stood there like a day-glo poster hoping to catch my eye, then maybe I’d get excited. oh I can only say, you made me in a funny way you saved me, and later in the day was the time I knew I wanted you. I’m sure I found my way to heaven when looking up at you in that early morning light. did it point the way to us forever? ’cause I needed you then, but I want you even more now. oh I can only say, you made me in a funny way you saved me, and later in the day was the time I knew I wanted you. you say your love could feed a nation that you’re saving for me if this is the thing you kept me waiting for I’ll stand the segregation of the waiting for you that’s turned into a lifetime oh I can only say, you made me in a funny way you saved me, and later in the day was the time I knew I wanted you.
	ONE STEP BACKWARD (Lombardo/Ramsey) stars shining through buildings, I never could see when I saw you there talk to the world I was thinking it was me. a foggy grey runway, pushing into the crowd shutters bang in the night, in the wind swollen eyes in the dark open wide till they see flowers red hang with love from the railings, maybe fate all along. flowers grey pressed in glass painted cases one step backward, I never felt so wrong summer nights we would travel, neon cities aglow when you’d tell me the music’s too loud, I would smile, “yes I know....” kids would show off their cities, be they ever so proud just as a precaution at night hold your house keys like penknives and see through the dark flowers red hang with love from the railings maybe fate all along. flowers grey pressed in glass painted cases one step backward, I never felt so wrong. drawing faces of landscapes driving home from afar after calendar pages turned over to find out where you are. there are times I still see you alone on the stairs had I known for the asking when gods choose to punished it’s likely surprise how they answer our prayers.
FLY ME TO THE NORTH (Marian Segal) fly me to the north to where the gentle lilacs never bloom to where their fragrance never once again will enter my room. to where the whiteness is the only thing that I can see I just don’t want to have to feel your sadness all around me. fly me to where the branches of the tall oak tree can’t shield me to where the butterfly will never again fly past me. to where the moonbeams cannot hide the sadness of your face to where the cold will numb my heart so that you cannot hurt me. but on the way I will stop by the bluest of all seas I will find me a sea-smooth shell and I will listen to the softness as I put it to my ear. to my ear.
	CLOUDS OF REASON (Lombardo/Ramsey) the bells of the village ring only three times they sing for the boy who decided just where he’d go hearing a Galveston radio show the clouds of reason at times they rain mistakenly on the young ones that never should die alone. and he’d been through the Maritimes and he’d been through the summertime and he’d been through the wintertime and the time told him just where to go from the Gulf to the Northern sea twenty years just a memory he had given the time of his life but his time was so limited. after searching all year nonstop up in Natchez he got a job where they never asked him papers to show where all you been they don’t wanna know as the captain was sizing him up held out a big hand to wish him good luck: “the smaller the sailor the bigger the catch will bring.” at 6 a.m. it is still dark a lantern makes its way down to the sea he things of nighttime when he’ll be again with her twin beds pushed together hear the ocean breeze. the boat rocked in a troubled sea waking dreams are not meant to be the boy lost his balance and into the foam never again to return to his home the hardest thing for the captain to do was meeting Ann when the long day was through when she saw the boat empty she knew without hearing the words. in the old days he never let trouble like this get to him hiring a boy and then learning he never could swim. the harbor lights dim in the morning that circles the bay and the bells of the village ring three times to welcome the day.
THE POOR MURDERED WOMAN (Traditional, arranged by Shirley Collins) it was Yankee the squire as I’ve heard the men say who rode out a hunting on one Saturday they hunted all day but nothing they found but a poor murdered woman laid on the cold ground. about eight o’clock boys the dogs they throwed off on Leatherhead Common and that was the spot. they tried all the bushes but nothing they found but a poor murdered woman laid on the cold ground. they mounted their horses and they rode off the ground the rode to the village and alarmed it all around. it is late in the evening I’m sorry to say she cannot be removed until the next day. the next Sunday morning about eight o’clock some hundreds of people to the spot they did flock for to see the poor creature you hearts would have bled some cold-hearted violence came into their heads. she was took off the common and down to some inn and the man that has kept it, his name is John Simms. the coroner was sent for, the jury they pined, and soon they concluded and settled their mind. her coffin was brought, in it she was laid and took to the churchyard this cold winter day. no father, no mother, no long friend untold came to see the poor creature laid under the cold. so now I’ll conclude and I’ll finish my song and those that have damage shall find themselves wrong the last day of judgment the trumpet shall sound and their souls not in heaven I’m afraid won’t be found.