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Lyr Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment

17 Jun 03 - 09:15 PM (#968087)
Subject: Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment
From: Charley Noble

Usually the tunes do not come first for me but this one did. And then the verses came out and they have little to do with my usual nautical songs. I'm clearly losing control of the creative process. But then again, I'm getting older and so much of my life is now so much like some dream. Still it irritates the hell out of me when some twenty-year old writes a better retrospective song (copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12 to line up the chords):

PASTURES OF MEMORIES

(Words and music by Charlie Ipcar and Judy Barrows © 2003)

  Key:  D (2/C)
 Pastures of Memories
 
 
 C--------F-C-----F-C
 Pastures of mem-o-ries, 
 ----G---C--------F-----C—G--C
 Sift-ing through life's my-ste-ries,
 G-------------C---G
 Golden cows and butterflies,
 ----F----------------C
 All on a summer's day.
 
 Once I was so young and free,
 Climbing an old apple tree;
 Thinking it so very high
 That I could touch the sky.
 
 C—F-------------G-F--------C
 But now that sky is growing dim,
 -----F-----------------G-C----------G
 The shadows stretch to clo-se me in;
 C--------------F-C---F-C
 Night time on a rock-y shore,
 ---------G-C----F--C----G------C
 We sing a-bove the wild waves roar,
 G--------------C-G
 Trees so black a-gainst the sky,
 ---------F----------------------C
 We can hear the night birds cry.
 
 Another place in a land so fair,
 With sacred groves in mountain air;
 I ride my horse down a village green,
 Round houses line each side.
 
 Where the thunder god still reigned supreme,
 The people danced upon the green;
 They'd offer gifts to the temple priest,
 And drink their honey wine.
 
 But now, where have the old gods gone?
 Do the sacred groves ring with chants and song?
 Perhaps, I'll journey once again,
 And listen in the evening wind,
 And pour a horn of honey wine
 At the foot of some old tree.
  
 Waves of time drift slowly by,
 Now we're sailing with the tide,
 Through misty islands in the morn,
 We keep a sharp lookout.
 
 But that pirate ship of yesterday,
 Now she lies beneath the waves,
 Her timbers buried in the mud,
 Where has her captain gone?
 
 Now our time is drawing near,
 The farthest sho-re is coming clear;
 So trim the sail, make fast the sheet,
 We've old friends we'd like to meet;
 They'll welcome us upon the shore,
 And join us in this song.
 
 Pastures of memories, 
 Sifting through life's mysteries,
 Golden cows and butterflies,
 All on a summer's day.



  Charley Noble
19 Jun 03 - 08:24 AM (#968966)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment
From: Charley Noble

Thanks, Joe, for splicing my song back together.

This song is all quite new and I'd expect the verses to move around some as more time passes, as do the scenes in a dream. There's another set of verses that seem to have something to do with a march for world peace. One never knows with a song like this if particular dreams have much interest to others. I'll be posting a MP3 sample of the first verses and chorus on my personal website soon if there's any interest.

Charley Noble

28 Jun 03 - 08:41 PM (#974067)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment
From: Charley Noble

There's been a few minor changes since I last posted this song. The revisions can be found on my personal website along with an MP3 sample of the tune, first set of verses:Charley Noble Website

Not a clue where the tune comes from but it reminds me a little of Si Kahn's "Aragon Mill."

Enjoy,
Charley Noble

02 Jul 04 - 01:37 PM (#1218491)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment
From: Charley Noble

I've done some more revising of the verses of this song, and believe I've improved its organization. To line up the chords copy and paste into WORD/TIMES/12.

PASTURES OF MEMORIES

(Wrds & music by Charlie Ipcar and Judy Barrows © 2003

C--------F-C-----F-C
Pastures of mem-o-ries,
----G---C--------F-----C?G--C
Sift-ing through life?s my-ste-ries,
G-------------C---G
Golden cows and butterflies,
----F----------------C
All on a summer?s day.

Once I was so young and free,
Climbing an old apple tree;
Thinking it so very high
That I could touch the sky.

C?F-------------G-F--------C
But now that sky is growing dim,
-----F-----------------G-C----------G
The shadows stretch to clo-se me in;
C------------F-C---F-C
So here?s to darkness and despair,
-G-----C-F-C---G----C
I know of a field somewhere,
G----------------C/G
And on my back there I?ll lie
-----F-------------------G---C
And watch the clouds drift by.


Midnight on a rock-y shore,
We sang a-bove the wild waves roar,
Trees so black a-gainst the sky,
We could hear the night birds cry.

Love was young and songs were old,
A time for shy ones to be bold,
To gaze into another eyes
And only see the dawn.

Though now that sun is sinking low,
The love that?s left still reflects its glow,
It?s better to have loved and lost,
Then never to have risked the cost,
But better yet to try anew,
And fall in love again.

Another time in a land so fair,
With sacred groves in mountain air,
I?d ride my horse down a village green,
Round houses lined each side.

Where the Thunder God still reigned supreme,
And people danced upon the green;
They offered gifts to the temple priest,
And drank their honey wine.

But now, where have the Old Gods gone?
Do the sacred groves still ring with chants and song?
Perhaps, I?ll journey once again,
Listen in the evening wind,
And pour a horn of honey wine
At the foot of some old tree.


Waves of time drift slowly by,
Now I?m sailing with the tide,
Through misty islands in the morn,
I keep a sharp lookout.

But that pirate ship of yesterday,
Now she lies beneath the waves,
Her timbers buried in the mud,
Where can her captain be?

Now, our time is drawing near,
The farthest sho-re is becoming clear;
So trim the sail, make fast the sheet,
We?ve old friends we?d like to meet;
They?ll welcome us upon the shore,
And join us in this song.

Pastures of memories,
Sifting through life?s mysteries,
Golden cows and butterflies,
All on a summer?s day.

I was thinking of this song the other day when I was out mowing the fields on the old family farm, something which I hadn't done since 1965. Well, my mother did hire someone to do it during my neglect so I didn't have to confront 30 foot pine trees. The old Farmall Cub tractor was still working and with the help of my brother-in-law Dave we managed to get the mowing gear attached, oiled and greased, and I was off and running. Amazing, the same rocks are out there in the fields, as are, I swear, the same woodchuck holes.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

13 Sep 04 - 09:59 AM (#1271119)
Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Pastures of Memories-A Senior Moment
From: GUEST,Charley Noble

I've put a new MP3 sample of the revised song up on my personal website:Click here!

Enjoy!
Charley Noble