Lyrics to Songster Encore


1. Shine
From a solo project in 2002 called “Unity Cycle”. Recorded at the Rainbow Ranch, near French Corral, Northern California.

Hey now, read the sign, now’s the time we can sing together
Hey now, you got yours, I got mine, that we can bring together
OK – today’s the day, just like everyday because we are together
It’s time, yours and mine, now’s the time, this time
I stay open wide
My my, we can rectify, we can sanctify, make a new tomorrow
Hey hey, let it fade away, it’s another day, we can release the sorrow
Let’s start with an open heart, we can play our part, leave the rest to follow
It’s time, yours and mine, now’s the time, it’s time
I stay open wide – sometimes I feel like running
I stay open wide – sometimes I just want to hide
You won’t pass me by – I keep checking the lamp oil
I stay open wide – it’s time to let it
Shine, let it shine, you can shine on me
Shine in me, shine through me, shine me
Alright, it’s in our sight, let’s hold the light, we can shine together
Tonight, let’s unite in pure delight, we can dance together
No fight, it will be alright, let’s keep it light, so we can live together
It’s time, yours and mine, now’s the time, this time

2. The Moment
Originally this song appeared on the 1979 solo work called “Songs of Change.” Here, it is performed by Taxi Dancer, recorded in 1983 at our studio in the “Hells Kitchen” district (near Times Square) in New York City. DKR: lead voice, guitar; Charlie Gregory: bass guitar, backing vocal; Walkiria (Lori): keyboards, backing vocals; Ric Wheeler: drums, backing vocals.

It was night, and silence was all around me
So alone, the devil could not have found me
And as I wallowed in my dark despair, something in the air
A voice, but was it really there… and it said
“Break it – the habits of your perception
Shake it – the pain of your new direction
Make it – the moment is yours to command
There she was, her smile appeared before me
She asked me why I cling to the transitory, so I said
“I’m not afraid to stand on my own feet,
But the ground gives way, so how can I stay together?” She said:
“Break it – the habits of your perception
Shake it – the pain of your new direction
Make it – the power is with you, the moment is yours to command”
Now awaken from your dream, let go and float downstream
For nothing’s what it seems
I was awakened by the light of dawn, and though she was gone
I could hear her song inside me

3. Painting
Originally this song was part of the 1981 solo project called “Songs of Love and Loneliness.” This recording is a remake appearing on the 1996 album called “Holy Ghost Dancing,” recorded at Ananda Village in Northern California.

Summer’ on, it’s early dawn,
It’s a working day, and I’m on my way
Got some time to unleash my mind
Walking through Central Park, as darkness turns to gray
And it looks like rain… oh it feels so right
What a lovely sight for this day
This exhibit’s free, and this painting’s part of me
With a painter’s flare, I embrace the air
With a vision clear, see it all appear
All the world we see is a gallery
Full of changing scenes, it’s an endless stream of mind
And if it looks like rain, got to let it go, let the mind-stream flow
We can find everlasting joy for the canvas of our lives
Like a landscape in its stillness, like a twinkle in your eye
Catch a glimpse of the eternal, take a moment out of time
With a singer’s voice, we will rejoice
With a dancer’s heart, celebrate our part
All the world we see is a symphony of infinite melody
It’s an endless song of joy
If you’re feeling low, got to let it go, let the mind-stream flow
We can find everlasting joy for the canvas of our lives
As a picture holds forever, as a pool beholds the sky
Catch a glimpse of the eternal, take a moment out of time
Summer’s gone, September dawn
It’s a working day and I’m on my way
All the world we see is a gallery full of changing scenes
It’s an endless stream of mind… God’s endless dream

4. Into the Night
Ric Wheeler and DKR break off from Taxi Dancer
for a “duo” project called WK, circa 1984. Ric is on drums, bass
guitar and backing vocals; DKR on guitar, keyboards and lead vocals.

Now there is a stillness, as the evening slips away
Now there is surrender, as the darkness takes the day
We knew a time of understanding, when every feeling had a name
We thought the light was everlasting, but nothing ever stays the same
Innocent eyes are blind, wondering what we’ll find
Into the night we go
Into the night, where no one really knows
Now we leave the twilight, without knowing what we’ll find
Now we are beginning, for we leave it all behind


5. The Lonely Zone
From a solo project called “Sacred and Secular”, recorded in Avatar Studio,
New York City, 1985

I knew a woman, but then maybe I’m wrong
It was another time
She was forever but she wasn’t for long
We followed different signs, we traveled different lines
Maybe I loved her, maybe I was just lonely
Maybe I turned her, maybe she just could not understand
She heard me knocking, but something would not let me in
So it goes, in the lonely zone
She was a wanderer who followed a call, still the memory burns
She was a summer disappearing in fall
It took a winter to learn, that she would never return
Maybe I miss her, maybe I was just lonely
Maybe she left me, maybe I just could not understand
She saw my sorrow, but I no longer was her man
So it goes in the lonely zone
And time will heal all wounds, repeal the past, reveal the new
And time is our release, the joy returns, the sorrows cease
I knew an angel but I guess I was wrong, it was a matter of time
She was a vision and the vision is gone, I leave it all behind
But the story is mine

6. Desert
From the 1999 solo project called “A Place of Love”. Recorded at the Grizzly Hill house, North San Juan Ridge, CA. The lyrics are a poem by Catherine Rice.

Shadows creep up the mountainside, crimson in color
Blossoms from the desert
Giant rocks, monuments of the past, reach for the sky
A timeless landscape, footprints blown away by chilling wind
Voices echo across the wide expanse
Call us to remember
To see beauty, not in the outward sparseness
But to go beyond, to go within the experience
To drink in the spirit of the wild
To feel the freedom of space, the openness of the heart
Soaring in the simple beauty of God’s creation

7. Introspection Trilogy
An excerpt from part two, 2nd movement
This is a band called “Eidolon”. On this recording from UCSB in 1977,
the players are Mark Bramman: Bass guitar;; Bill Bye: drums;
Jay Yim: keyboards; DKR: guitar.

8. Saraswati
From a solo project in 2000 called “Transforming the Archetypes.”

Oh Saraswati, I move into the music you create
Oh Saraswati, your harmony is singing, full of grace
Be the artist – say yes with artistic flair to wherever you are
Be the artist – let the song of your heart be the light of your art
In the world, in God, sing it, sing it, sing it
Oh Saraswati, your dance of celebration brings me peace
Oh Saraswati, you are the voice of freedom and release
Look around you – it’s a beautiful world
Look inside you – can you bow to the beauty you are
Yes, you have a great mission… free yourself
And find the way that God walks with you
Free yourself, and see that the hearts are touched through you
Love yourself, and know the love that flows through you
Free yourself

9. White
From “The Family of Light” song cycle
The band is “Open,” recorded live at club Beaudalaire in Santa Barbara, 1979. Phil Berumen: drums; Bill burns: bass guitar and backing vocals; Jay Yim: keyboards; Jaine Rice: Backing vocals; DKR: electric piano and lead vocals.

Brethren of the rainbow, merging and becoming one iridescent ray
Flooding our senses, incandescent as you stream through stars
on your milky way
Shine down pale moonglow, shimmering on the silvery snow
Phosphorescent aura, lightning of aurora
Luminous luster invading the night
Ruling from your galactic throne with halo crown, corona
Burst with a gaze of dazzling light
Ivory beam of wisdom, hue of virtue
Grace the heavenly clouds with the color of pearl
Radiant rays of splendor
No contender, as your stream through stars, your harmony reins
Flooding our senses, amassed iridescence
Your variegated domain

10. Special Moments
The 2nd half of this 15 minute adventure
From a 1997 solo project called “Iswara: Moments in the light”.

11. Like an Angel
From a solo project called “Sacred and Secular”, recorded in Avatar Studio,
New York City, 1985.

12. As Time Goes By
Another tune from Taxi Dancer, recorded in 1983 at our NYC studio.
DKR: lead voice, guitar; Charlie Gregory: bass guitar, backing vocal;
Walkiria (Lori): keyboards, backing vocals; Ric Wheeler: drums, backing vocals.

We were born as equals as the time goes by
And we build illusions as the time goes by
‘Cause we don’t stay equal as the time goes by
And we’re disillusioned as the time goes by
So we learn survival as the time goes by
And we seek our fortune as the time goes by
‘Cause we need revival as the time goes by
From the mixed emotions as the time goes by
And in the night, no messengers in sight
We stop the siege, we stop the cries
We stop the world and wonder why
In no time at all, we gaze around us all
With open eyes, we breathe a sigh, and start the world again
As time goes by


13. Tenderness
From the 1999 solo project called “A Place of Love”. Recorded at the
Grizzly Hill house, North San Juan Ridge, CA.

A year in our awakening has come and gone
Reflecting on the loss and gain, my heart will remember
The tenderness lives, the tenderness will remain
I followed after destiny and a love was betrayed
In the echoes of the agony, love remains
And tenderness heals the pain
I believe in miracles, for this is God’s world
In the wake of the destruction, love is renewed
Though we may never understand, Spirit is rejoicing
Healing our hearts and holding our hands
So this is the reality, and what’s done is done… but deeper
The seeming separation fades, love shines, love sustains
And tenderness still remains
I believe in miracles, for this is God’s world
I believe in miracles of healing, for this is my world too
The healing is here
We go forward with our lives, in joy, in courage, in faith, in light
The healing is here
Beyond the form, the pain, the loss, the gain
The loving remains – reach for it, claim it, be it
The healing is yours
A year in our awakening, hard lessons learned, but
Beauty is our legacy, and our souls are rejoicing
Their bridges are never burned
I send my love and gratitude, I release you in light
I know that we will meet again –
Circles of completion guide us tenderly through the night

14. Old Melody
From the album, “Unity Cycle”, recorded at the Rainbow Ranch, 2002.

Enter my heart, Old Melody, time and place, I know not where
Sing of a love and mystery, sing beyond all mortal care
Voice of stirring memory, fill my heart, Old Melody
Sing – sing old friend of mine
Sing the many voices and the timeless rhymes
Sing – sing your tune again, the one for Now
For I know that you walk with me
And hold me in your rhythm and your harmony
Let me hear, with your pounding joy, the heart of hearts
And I love, and I’m not afraid
Though still I know the terror, and I know the rage
I choose the faith to face the face that faces me
Reflecting Now
So I love, so I play
So I trust when darkness comes it will give way
So we laugh, so we cry
So we touch the changeless moment deep inside
Stallion run, eagle fly
Let the chamber of our wild hearts open wide
Cool wind whispers… starlight winking…

15. Ganesha
From the album, “Gang of Mantras”, recorded at the Rainbow Ranch, 2004

16. Land at Horizon’s End
Originally performed by Eidolon in the early 70’s, this remake is from the
1985 NYC recording called “Sacred & Secular”.

A kingdom, a paradise, a place beyond our reach
An unknown destination, that calls us without cease
The land at horizon’s end
Our search has no direction, the goal surrounds our sight
We stumble from the center, through uncharted hopes to find
The land at horizon’s end
Through evening’s rainbow haze, a road to solve the maze
To soon the moment fades
Beckoning all who dare, reach and ascend the spiral stair
Awakened new morning, a nomad’s madrigal
Caprice spurs on our dark horse, to heed the endless call
But evening drones tomorrow reflected in the stars
We never leave the center, though we travel far to find
The land at horizon’s end

17. Dancing in the Mystery
The final minutes of “The Dark Night”, a solo project from 1997,
recorded at Ananda Village.

I am of the group mind
There is no group mind
I must leave the group mind
I am of the one mind
I have lost the one mind
I return to the one mind
There is only the one mind…..
Dancing in the darkness, dancing in the answered prayer
Dancing in the mystery, dancing without a care

18. Enthusiasm
The Om Boys,” a spiritually oriented barbershop quartet, recorded at
Ananda Village in 1996. The voices are Jeff Rice, Wayne Palmer,
Dale Van Metre, Doug Rice. Words and music by DKR.

19. Yogananda Om
The melody is lifted from Mike Oldfield’s “Omma dawn” album.
This is the final track from a 1989 recording called “Devotion.”

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