Lyrics by Kenneth Mitchell

Alice in Ashes

Genres: Pop

The clockâ€™s still ticking
As its hands circle past
But hereâ€™s me sticking
Super-glued and stuck fast

We shared happy times
In our own fairy tale
Until midnight chimed
And you left with no trail

 Iâ€™m not Prince Charming
With a world at my feet
Instead, Iâ€™m mourning
Was it all a deceit?

I wake with no kiss
My bed is empty
Wonderlandâ€™s Alice
Has just discarded me.
You were queen of hearts
Through our summer days
But thatâ€™s now the past
Just ashen memories.

Truth is hard to take
That I understand
Thereâ€™s too much at stake
To be head in the sand.

So Iâ€™ve made my vow
To face the break of day
And find the know-how
To live in reality

Adagio

Genres: Classical

Hush â€¦.

Still your sad reveries
Cease your pained threnody breaking your heart.
Always â€¦
You will feel leaden weights dragging your emptiness down so that you feel
Nothing is left.
Till â€¦
Love floods your memories,
Transforms your melodies,
Freeing chained gravities
Bliss â€¦ bliss â€¦
Souls â€¦ fuse â€¦
Ceasing sad memories
Lifting cares heavenly
Embracing our love.
Just me and you
All else has gone
For we two are one, blessing in unity
Outside all time â€¦
Hand twined with heart â€¦
And never apart.
__________________

I've based it on the first 2 and a half minutes of Barber's Adagio For Strings
Here is the link to what I consider to be a good version of it on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAoLJ8GbA4Y

Isle of Lewis Farewell

Genres: Classical, Country

To the tune of Ashokan Farewell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZmxZThb084&list=RDuZmxZThb084&start_radio=1

Thereâ€™s an island that I love, for it calls to me ever
With stones and blackhouses built into its heart
Its woollen fleeced clouds smile down on purple heather
And the loom of its land weaves such wonderful art.

The soft hues in its skies infuse my mindâ€™s rainbow
Arcing heavenâ€™s dome to Machair -
With water so pure it glimmers in lochs so
Scattered in tapestries for nature to wear.

This land of shaggy cows that moo as they greet you
With ceud mile fÃ ilte as the welcoming cry
Of people who ask loved ones ciamar a tha thu
In the language of Eden yields ever a sigh

From my soul as it flies to heavenly places
Where light of foot dancers play.
For my longing wonâ€™t leave as remembrance traces
The journey that took me from Stornoway Bay.

Mairidh Gaol is CeÃ²l (Love and Music Will Endure)

Genres: Oldies, Pop

This is from a novel I'm writing (with acknowledgement to The Beatles).
Shen is Gaelic for Grandad, and Granaidh is Gaelic for Granny

[Shen to us all]
Now that Iâ€™m old and blessed by my kin
Gathered at my side
Iâ€™m happy that on Christmas Day, we sit at lunch
Guga, haggis, wine with a punch

And then a walk with my family
Ambling to the shore
Iâ€™m thrilled weâ€™re together, loving forever
Now Iâ€™ve reached four-score.

[Granaidh to Shen]
And though Iâ€™m older, too
Yet my love stays the same
As when I took your name.

[Shen to Granaidh]
Sometimes, I sleep with the weight of the world
And sorrows black as coal
But when the dawning breaks in my loveâ€™s eyes
I recover to greet the sunrise.
Singing with blackbirds, trilling with larks
Hear my winged voice soar.
Iâ€™m thrilled weâ€™re together, loving forever.
Now Iâ€™ve reached four-score.

[Shen and Granaidh to us all]
Every summer, we took out a taigh-croite
In the Misty Isle, at a sky-high rate
It was our holiday
With clann-nighean of SiÃ¹saidh:
Ceitidh and MÃ iri.

You lift our spirits, enjoying this meal	
Laughing at these words.
We love to see our grandsons, Iain and Gus, 
Smiling at Donna and baby Fergus.
It is our pleasure to relish your joy.
Memories evermore.
Weâ€™re thrilled weâ€™re together, loving forever.
Now weâ€™ve reached four-score.

Rainbows to Heaven

Genres: Oldies, Pop, Rock

To the tune of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X791IzOwt3Q&list=RDX791IzOwt3Q&start_radio=1

Thereâ€™s a dream stays with me
On nights of misery
And it takes me back softly to childhood
Am I wise to cut my ties
Force myself to arise
Leave the boy with spring hopes pulsing through him?
Though it hurts, yes, how it hurts, I am ditching this wraith now Iâ€™m failing.

Thereâ€™s a station that calls
For me to cross and to fall
Into a train of thoughts bearing from it
I have no one but me
For this final journey
Only memories scored deep by betrayal.

Ooh, I feel so naked
Ooh, so starkly fated

Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder

To carry lifeâ€™s weight
Encounter my fate
As this line leaves our world for the other
I twist coiled like a snake
Slough my skin in its wake
And look back on hopes shed and their shadows 

Ooh, I feel so naked
Ooh, I see that I am fated
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it really makes me wonder

To meet trained singing beats of rails neath my feet
Till I see a spanned bridge arching skywards
Leaving memories of Earth
Back from dying to birth
And all I have left is emotion

But thereâ€™s St Peter at his portal
Proclaiming denial 
He says take his love from the above
Appreciate what you are given
And you will live it
Knowing thereâ€™s a heaven for you one day
So know, you are fated

To be a light to fellow travellers
Who have been cast
Into moulds no sleeper thinks to wake from
You can signal their salvation
So that they know
Sinners are loved, not just purified saints

So now I have a second chance
To know the value of my worth
And give it all to those on Earth
So they may know that all is gold
When they sense heaven in their soul
Skyâ€™s coast is clear for me to see
Iâ€™ll leave no one drowned at sea
Doubt will be forever cast behind
Left down on Earth that made us blind

To see Rainbows of Love up to Heaven

Salut d' Amour

Genres: Classical

To this tune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMeIOJIRrAg&list=RDTMeIOJIRrAg&start_radio=1

This is my melody of love for you 
Fresh as the droplets in the morning dew 
Glistening yet in the thawing cold air's breath 
Giving life to the sleeping earth. 

Here is my portrait showing love for you 
Rocked in a hammock between trees we grew 
Which flower with fair kisses sent from us each day 
And thatâ€™s how I see them stay. 

Backward we go in our memoriesâ€™ flow 
To a time where we clasped our love sure it would last 
But all that was dear in those wonderful years 
Have diffused in the mists of our past. 

We thought time was our friend and ahead had no end 
But how could we know where its winds were to blow... 
But now that lifeâ€™s trials have so tested us 
We temper a picture so victorious 

Gardening our roses to blossom each year 
We bask as our blooms unfold  
In sunbeams ringed in gold 
And no more will we look backward, 
Our present Is uncoloured 
By brush strokes that lacquered 
Over hardened vexed matters 
That kept us fast inside their shell 
Fearing for â€¦. 

Today we sing this euphony in praise of love 
To tell you how joyous has become the life 
We now live, in inmost ha-rm-on-y.

Golden Wedding

Genres: Pop

Lyrics to the tune of I Don't Know How to Love Him in Jesus Christ Superstar

I know how much I love you 
Itâ€™s a price beyond value 
For our bond, our rocklike bond	 
Has mined rings of gold 
Seamed in depths profound 
And fused them to one mould.

And, when I say I love you,
You will know these words truly	 
Leave my heart, straight to your heart 
And Iâ€™ll say them to you evermore 
For surely, theyâ€™re a part 
Of my inmost core. 

I will shout it out. 
My feelings wonâ€™t allow 
Any trace of doubt	 
As they must avow 
How expertly you harmonise 
My off-key chords. 

Every day I find it wondrous 
To know Iâ€™m with you for always. 
Fifty years, weâ€™ve walked our path  
With sure-set steps 
Paved by your adept				 
Hands l hold and clutch 
To feel your touch. 

And now I have this simple faith -	 
Love fulfils our lives.	 
For, when you say you love me 
I find myself so securely		 
Bound to attest that I am blessed 
And gazing at your loving eyes 
Itâ€™s blissful to record 
Why I am proud  
We said aloud 
Our wedding vows

Anniversary

Genres: Oldies, Pop

(written to my wife. It fits the tune of Bridge Over Troubled Water)

Anniversary
Is the day
When we look back on life
Bonded by our love
Precious memories
None can take away
From our cherished store.

We are rich beyond any measure
Our trust outshines gems
No gold vault holds a greater treasure
Than our sacred vows.
Iâ€™ve had troubled times

Iâ€™ve been knocked back hard
Sickness has scared my hold
On life here with you
But youâ€™ve been there
In my darkest hour
You lit your lamp for me

A nurse beyond any measure
An angel and a gem
No gold vault holds a greater treasure
Than our sacred vows.