Home to Ithaca

The Hollow Gift

[Verse 1] They rolled us through the sleeping gate Beneath a moon of bone A hollow thing of timber With a kingdom in its throat

No trumpet marked our coming No banner touched the air Only wheels on ancient stone And the smell of cedar prayer

[Pre-Chorus] Hold your breath Hold your blade Let the dark remember none There are fires not yet burning There are wars not yet won

[Chorus] In the hollow gift We waited without names In the wooden dark With our hands around the flame While the city dreamed above us And the gods looked down unseen We carried night inside the walls Where morning should have been

[Verse 2] I heard a child in distant rooms I heard the wine cups fall I heard the soft unguarded life Of a city past the wall

A man can call it strategy A king can call it fate But every breath inside that horse Was ash before the gate

[Pre-Chorus] Hold your tongue Hold your fear Let the silence do its part There are doors that open outward There are knives that open hearts

[Chorus] In the hollow gift We waited without names In the wooden dark With our hands around the flame While the city dreamed above us And the gods looked down unseen We carried night inside the walls Where morning should have been

[Bridge] No one sang of glory there No one spoke of home Only knees against the timber Only bronze against the bone

And if the gods were listening They listened like the dead As the latch gave way below us And the dark began to spread

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] From the hollow gift We stepped into the flame From the wooden dark Each man returned by name And the city woke around us Not to morning, but to screams We carried night inside the walls And burned the shape of dreams

[Outro] Before the sea Before the storm Before the long road home There was only wood And waiting And the fire still unborn

Ten Years from Troy

[Verse 1] The fires sank behind us In the silence after dawn Black smoke above the water Like a prayer already gone

We stood among the ruins With the salt wind in our eyes Ten years to break the city One morning to ask why

[Pre-Chorus] No crown can make this lighter No song can make it clean I have seen the face of victory And it did not look at me

[Chorus] Ten years from Troy And I still wake to the fire Ten years from Troy With the smoke behind my eyes I turn toward home But the sea keeps reaching higher Ten years from Troy And the war has not died

[Verse 2] The black ships leave the harbor With ghosts beneath the oars Every man looks eastward But no one names the shore

I left a son in sunlight I left a wife in spring Now every mile between us Feels measured by a king

[Pre-Chorus] Do not speak of glory Do not bless my name There are hands that opened heaven There are hands that carry flame

[Chorus] Ten years from Troy And I still wake to the fire Ten years from Troy With the smoke behind my eyes I turn toward home But the sea keeps reaching higher Ten years from Troy And the war has not died

[Bridge] Was it fate that drove the spear? Was it gods or hungry men? Did we burn the world for honor Just to dream of home again?

I have worn the face of wisdom I have spoken like a king But the ash upon my fingers Does not wash away at sea

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Ten years from Troy And I still wake to the fire Ten years from Troy With the smoke behind my eyes I turn toward home But the sea keeps reaching higher Ten years from Troy And the war has not died

[Outro] Ithaca, wait for me Past the dark and broken foam Ithaca, remember me If no man comes home

The Wine-Dark Sea

[Verse 1] The land became a shadow Low behind the oars Smoke dissolved in starlight And was ours no more

Black hulls moved in silence Through the breathing deep Every rope and timber Learning how to sleep

[Wordless Vocal] Ahh — over the water Mmm — under the stars Ohh — carry the silence Far from the scars

[Verse 2] No road beneath the body No gate against the rain Only dark water turning Over names and pain

The moon made broken silver On the wine-dark sea And the night leaned close around us Like a thing that would not speak

[Instrumental Passage]

[Wordless Vocal] Ahh — where the black waves wander Mmm — where the old winds rise Ohh — every sail remembers What the shore denies

[Verse 3] Some men dreamed of harbors Some men dreamed of fire Some men held the darkness Like a last desire

I watched the stars above us Tremble, fade, return And somewhere under silence The first cold current turned

[Bridge] Not lost Not home Only the pull of the foam

Not free Not bound Only the sea without sound

[Final Wordless Vocal] Ahh — over the water Mmm — under the stars Ohh — carry us onward Far from the scars

[Outro] The oars kept time with nothing The sails held night like breath And far beyond the lanterns The sea forgot the land

The Lotus Eaters

[Verse 1] The river moved like breathing Through the heat below the trees The air was thick with flowers And the slow dust of the bees

No spear rose from the shoreline No warning touched the foam Only hands with open petals Only mouths that whispered home

[Low Voices] Lie still Let the oars go under Lie still Let the black ships fade

[Verse 2] One man took the blossom One man closed his eyes One man said his mother’s name Then laughed until he cried

The sun leaned down upon us Like a weight behind the skin And every thought grew heavy Where the sweetness entered in

[Lotus Voices] No more salt No more flame No far shore No old name

[Refrain] Lie still Let the longing go The blood is warm The tide is slow

Lie still Let the dark ships fade The flower knows What the heart has paid

[Verse 3] I saw the men grow quiet With the petals on their tongues Their hands forgot the rigging Their scars forgot the sun

Someone spoke of Ithaca But the word fell out of sound Like a stone dropped into water That never reached the ground

[Low Voices] No road No grief No wife No sea

[Refrain] Lie still Let the longing go The blood is warm The tide is slow

Lie still Let the dark ships fade The flower knows What the heart has paid

[Bridge] There was a door once There was a flame There was a child once There was a name

But the grass held the body And the air held the bone And the world beyond the island Was a wound no longer known

Do not wake them Do not call Let the soft earth Take them all

[Instrumental Passage]

[Verse 4] I dragged them through the flowers With their curses in my hands Their voices broke like water On the bright and sleeping sand

One begged me for the island One bit through his tongue One reached back toward the petals Like a man toward the sun

[Final Refrain] Lie still Let the longing go The blood is warm The tide is slow

Lie still But I will not remain The flower takes the sorrow Then the flower takes the name

[Outro] No more salt No more flame No far shore No old name

Row low Row blind Leave the dream Leave the mind

The island sings behind us Under root and under foam And the men I dragged from mercy Hated me toward home

Home to Ithaca

[Verse 1] The smoke of Troy is fading But it follows on the wind Behind us lie the ashes Ahead, the waves begin

The oars move like a heartbeat Beneath a tired sky And every star above me Looks like a watching eye

[Pre-Chorus] I have carried war in silence I have worn a borrowed name But somewhere past the water One small light remains

[Chorus] Home to Ithaca Across the wine-dark sea Home to Ithaca Where my son still dreams of me Through the storm and through the shadow Through the gods that bar the way Home to Ithaca If the sea will let me stay

[Verse 2] I remember olive branches And the stone beneath the sun The doorway where she waited The boy who learned to run

But memory is a lantern That the black waves try to drown And the farther I sail toward it The more it pulls me down

[Pre-Chorus] I have spoken words of wisdom I have lied to stay alive But no man knows the distance Until he has to survive

[Chorus] Home to Ithaca Across the wine-dark sea Home to Ithaca Where my son still dreams of me Through the storm and through the shadow Through the gods that bar the way Home to Ithaca If the sea will let me stay

[Bridge] Not for gold Not for glory Not for songs of what we won Only earth beneath my fingers Only morning with my son

Not a crown Not surrender Not the praise of lesser men Only her voice in the doorway Calling me home again

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Home to Ithaca Across the wine-dark sea Home to Ithaca Where the years still wait for me Through the storm and through the shadow Through the names I lose along the way Home to Ithaca If the sea will let me stay

[Outro] Keep the lamp low Keep the door against the rain If I come home as no man Would you know my face again?

No Man

[Verse 1] Evening sealed the hillside With a mouth of cold black stone We entered under silence Where no wind had ever flown

There were embers in the hollow There was milk upon the clay And the shadows moved like shoulders At the dying of the day

[Pre-Chorus] I folded up my given name And hid it from the flame For a blade is not the only thing A desperate hand can raise

[Chorus] No man In the dark where the red fire leans No man Where the old stone closes its teeth Let the night take what it can Let the blood dry where it ran I will leave no name behind me I am no man

[Verse 2] One by one the voices Were taken from the air The cave grew full of breathing And the gods were nowhere there

I poured the dark into his cup I watched the mountain sleep Then gave the olive back its fire And drove it inward deep

[Pre-Chorus] Mercy has a narrow door When death has barred the way And sometimes all a soul can keep Is the lie it learns to say

[Chorus] No man In the dark where the red fire leans No man Where the old stone closes its teeth Let the night take what it can Let the blood dry where it ran I will leave no name behind me I am no man

[Bridge] Morning found us under wool With our faces turned to earth The light came thin and silver-pale Like a second, borrowed birth

I should have left the water To swallow every sound I should have let the hollow keep The name I had laid down

But the sea was bright behind me And the oars began to rise And something old and kingly Opened one unguarded eye

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] No man But the blue deep heard the cry No man But the wave remembered why What the darkness could not hold I cast in anger toward the foam I left the cave behind me But not alone

[Outro] Stone behind Sea before A name thrown hard At a closing door

Far below Where no stars shone The water stirred Around a throne

The Curse of Poseidon

[Verse 1] I gave my name to the water Like a stone thrown from the shore It vanished for a moment Then returned as something more

The gulls went still above us The sail forgot the wind And far beneath the blue-black glass A silence opened in

[Pre-Chorus] No blade came down from heaven No voice split the sky Only the deep remembering What pride had let fly

[Chorus] The sea has heard me The sea knows my name Every wave is a witness Every star is a flame I turned from the darkness But the darkness turned too Now the road home is water And the water is you

[Verse 2] The men spoke low at evening With salt upon their hands They watched the moon break open On the oars and on the sand

No harbor held its promise No current kept its word And every dream of Ithaca Was farther than before

[Pre-Chorus] A king may leave a prison A liar may survive But no man calls the thunder And keeps the sea outside

[Chorus] The sea has heard me The sea knows my name Every wave is a witness Every star is a flame I turned from the darkness But the darkness turned too Now the road home is water And the water is you

[Bridge] Not anger like a sword Not fire from the skies But endless miles of hunger With salt behind its eyes

Not death in one clear moment Not mercy in the foam Only the god beneath the waters Teaching distance how to grow

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] The sea has heard me The sea knows my name Every wave is a witness Every star is a flame I called myself a victor I called myself true Now the road home is water And the water is you

[Outro] O Ithaca, burn softly Past the reach of storm and foam I have woken up the ocean And it will not let me home

Circe

[Verse 1] We came to shore at evening Where the cypress shadows leaned And the smoke rose from the hillside Like a hand we had not seen

There was bread upon the table There was wine as dark as rain And a voice behind the doorway Spoke softly through our names

[Pre-Chorus] After storm and salt and hunger Even danger can look kind And a man who dreams of sleeping May leave his shape behind

[Chorus] Circe What have you poured into the fire? Circe What have you hidden in the wine? We were men beneath the morning We were wolves before the night Circe You make the cage feel like a light

[Verse 2] My brothers entered laughing With the sea still on their skin But the hall grew warm around them And the door closed from within

I heard the bowls fall silent I heard the low beasts cry And something almost human Looked out through another eye

[Pre-Chorus] There are spells that do not thunder There are chains that do not ring There are hands that touch so gently They can make a beggar king

[Chorus] Circe What have you poured into the fire? Circe What have you hidden in the wine? We were men beneath the morning We were wolves before the night Circe You make the cage feel like a light

[Bridge] Do not call it mercy If it teaches me to stay Do not call it healing If it takes the wound away

For the wound is where I keep her For the ache is where I know There is still a door in Ithaca There is still a road to go

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Circe What have you poured into the fire? Circe What have you hidden in the wine? I have walked through smoke and hunger I have worn a borrowed life Circe Do not make the dark feel kind

[Outro] Let the cup remain unbroken Let the lamps burn low and gold But I was not made for sleeping In a house that has no road

The House of the Dead

[Verse 1] At the rim of the sunless water Where the last gull turns away We poured the red into the silence And watched the color drain from day

No wind moved over the oars No fire answered the sky Only reeds like broken fingers Counting every ship gone by

[Pre-Chorus] There are doors below all distance There are names beneath the foam And the dead do not come calling Unless the living lead them home

[Chorus] Down, down Where the black rivers run Down, down Past the reach of the sun I came for a word from the darkness I came for a road through the deep But the shadows rose around me With the faces I could not keep

[Verse 2] They gathered without footfall They gathered without breath Pale as ash on the altar Cold as the mercy of death

One wore the bronze of morning One wore the salt of the wave One had the hands that held me Before the war learned my name

[Pre-Chorus] I had crossed the world for wisdom I had bartered blood for sight But truth below the earth Has no pity for the light

[Chorus] Down, down Where the black rivers run Down, down Past the reach of the sun I came for a word from the darkness I came for a road through the deep But the shadows rose around me With the faces I could not keep

[Bridge] Mother of dust Mother of silence Did you know me through the veil? I have carried kings and corpses I have watched the brave men fail

I have asked the gods for passage I have asked the stars for signs But every answer under heaven Comes wearing another man’s eyes

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Down, down Where the black rivers run Down, down Past the reach of the sun I came for a word from the darkness I came for a road through the deep But I rose with the dead behind me And their voices sewn into my sleep

[Outro] No crown below No harp, no flame Only the shore That spoke my name

I went down To learn the way And came back older Than the day

Siren Song

[Verse 1] Mist rose white from the water Like breath from a sleeping mouth The wind fell back behind us And the current turned us south

No island showed its branches No fire marked the stone Only voices over distance Calling each man alone

[Pre-Chorus] They did not sing of pleasure They did not sing of gold They sang the shape of every wound A man had never told

[Chorus] Sing to me From the rocks beyond the foam Sing to me Of the names I left at home I am bound, but I am listening I am lost, but I belong Let the sea rise up around me I will know the siren song

[Verse 2] They knew the smoke of Troy They knew the blood beneath my nails They knew the boy in Ithaca Who watched the empty sails

They knew the wife at evening With a lamp against the rain They knew the man I used to be Before I learned my name

[Pre-Chorus] Every truth became a silver hook Every note became a door And the more I begged for silence The more I wanted more

[Chorus] Sing to me From the rocks beyond the foam Sing to me Of the names I left at home I am bound, but I am listening I am lost, but I belong Let the sea rise up around me I will know the siren song

[Bridge] Tie me harder to the timber Let the rope remember bone There are songs that do not kill you Until they make you feel alone

I have crossed the house of shadow I have heard the bloodless speak But no ghost below the black earth Ever sounded half so sweet

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Sing to me From the rocks beyond the foam Sing to me Of the shore I cannot own I am bound, but I am breaking I am lost, but I belong Let the dawn come torn and bleeding I have heard the siren song

[Outro] When the voices fell behind us The sea returned to grey But a silence shaped like music Followed all the way

Scylla

[Verse 1] The channel narrowed slowly Till the sky became a blade Black water struck the oarlocks And no prayer crossed the strait

The cliffs leaned close above us With salt upon their teeth And every man fell silent At the breathing underneath

[Pre-Chorus] Do not look up Do not ask why Keep the oars in time Keep the bow alive

[Chorus] Row through the shadow Row through the stone Some names are taken So others reach home

Hold to the timber Hold to the cry There are deaths a king remembers That no god will justify

[Verse 2] I knew the cost before them But I kept it in my mouth For fear can break a vessel Before the storm comes down

So I spoke of wind and passage I spoke of keeping pace While the dark above the water Opened like a face

[Pre-Chorus] Do not look back Do not count the lost There are roads through living water That only open at a cost

[Chorus] Row through the shadow Row through the stone Some names are taken So others reach home

Hold to the timber Hold to the cry There are deaths a king remembers That no god will justify

[Bridge] Then the air came apart And the oars lost their beat Hands rose from the benches Voices broke under teeth

I heard one call his brother I heard one call for me But command is a silence When mercy cannot be

[Instrumental Break]

[Final Chorus] Row through the shadow Row through the stone Some names were taken So others reached home

Hold to the timber Hold to the cry There are deaths I still remember That no god can justify

[Outro] The strait fell back behind us The water closed its seam And six empty places Kept rowing in my dreams

Cattle of the Sun

[Verse 1] We came ashore in hunger Where the white grass burned with day And the cattle of the sun Moved slowly through the flame

Their horns were pale as moonbone Their eyes were calm and wide And every living shadow Bent beneath the watching sky

[Pre-Chorus] Do not touch what the god has counted Do not take what the light has named But hunger has a human voice And mercy wears a blade

[Chant] The god who saw The god who sees White horns under burning trees

The god who saw The god who knows Every hand the hunger chose

[Verse 2] I warned them by the shoreline I warned them by the foam No meat beneath this holy sun Will ever lead us home

But sleep came down like iron And grief lay in my bones While the men I could not carry Faced the silence on their own

[Pre-Chorus] No thunder marked the first cut No darkness crossed the sky Only the sound of breathing As something sacred died

[Chant] The god who saw The god who sees White horns under burning trees

The god who saw The god who knows Every hand the hunger chose

[Verse 3] They built the fire at evening They turned the spits with care And the fat hissed like a whisper Of a god already there

No one sang for victory No one blessed the feast They ate like men abandoned At the altar of a beast

[Bridge] Then the hides began to tremble And the dead flesh gave a cry The smoke rose up in silence Like a black wound in the sky

The oars would not remember The ropes would not obey And the sun stood still above us Like an eye that would not turn away

[Heavy Instrumental Break]

[Judgment] Not for gold Not for glory Not for hatred Not for pride

Only hunger Only weakness Only men too worn To be denied

But the gods do not forgive What they have forbidden And the sea does not forget What the sky has seen

[Final Chant] The god who saw The god who sees White horns under burning trees

The god who saw The god who knows Every name the black wave chose

The god who saw The god who sees No king bargains with the sea

The god who saw The god who knew Left one man for the storm to use

[Outro] The mast broke like a promise The sky came down in flame And all the mouths that cursed me Were swallowed without name

No sail No shore No brother at the oar

Only thunder Only foam And the long dark road To Calypso’s door

Calypso’s Island

[Verse 1] Morning came in gold Over water without scars No smoke upon the distance No blood beneath the stars

The trees leaned down in silence The shore forgot the storm And every wave that found me Returned me to the warm

[Pre-Chorus] There are prisons made of iron There are cages made of stone And there are hands so gentle They almost feel like home

[Chorus] On Calypso’s island The days do not grow old The sea lies still around me Like a mirror made of gold

She offers me forever With no winter in the flame But I would trade the endless sun To hear her speak my name

[Verse 2] She walks among the cedars Where the evening gathers blue And speaks of rest as mercy For a man the world dragged through

No oars, no cries, no thunder No gods across the foam Only fruit upon the table And the ache of going home

[Pre-Chorus] I have slept beneath her kindness I have woken into light But a bed can become an ocean If it holds you every night

[Chorus] On Calypso’s island The days do not grow old The sea lies still around me Like a mirror made of gold

She offers me forever With no winter in the flame But I would trade the endless sun To hear her speak my name

[Bridge] Do not give me deathless mornings If the years have lost their road Do not crown me with the sunlight If I must wear it alone

For the wound is where I keep her For the ache is how I know That somewhere past the quiet sea There is still a door, still home

[Instrumental Passage]

[Final Chorus] On Calypso’s island The days do not grow old The sea lies still around me Like a mirror made of gold

She offers me forever With no shadow and no shame But I would leave immortal shores To hear her speak my name

[Outro] The waves move softly But they never bring me near And every perfect morning Is another stolen year

The Beggar King

[Verse 1] I came in rags at evening With the dust upon my skin The doors I crossed as master Would not let the master in The stones remembered footfall The old dog knew my breath But men who wore my table Had made a feast of death

[Pre-Chorus] Do not speak the name too early Do not wake the sleeping blade There are years inside the silence There are debts that must be paid

[Chorus] I am the beggar king At the threshold of my own I am the nameless man Returned through salt and stone I have crossed the wine-dark water I have worn the storm and flame Now I stand before the doorway Waiting for my name

[Verse 2] They drank beneath my rafters They laughed where shadows grew They touched the cups and silver Of a life they never knew But she moved through them like winter With a lamp behind her eyes Still weaving in the darkness Still guarding the disguise

[Pre-Chorus] I have lied to gods and monsters I have hidden in the foam But no disguise is heavier Than returning to your home

[Chorus] I am the beggar king At the threshold of my own I am the nameless man Returned through salt and stone I have crossed the wine-dark water I have worn the storm and flame Now I stand before the doorway Waiting for my name

[Bridge] Bring the bow from the silence Bring the years from the wall Let the string remember The hands that held it all No crown upon my forehead No trumpet at the gate Only wood beneath my fingers Only breath before the weight

[Instrumental Passage]

[Verse 3] The hall grew still around me As the old curve bent and sang And every face before me Saw the ghost become a man Not glory in the rafters Not mercy on the floor Only justice moving quietly Like darkness toward the door

[Final Chorus] I am the nameless man Who came back through the flame I have crossed the wine-dark water I have buried what I was Now I stand before the woman Who remembers me because

[Outro]