Songs for Nathan & Julia

It's been fun to get this blog going again. I noticed this post was saved as a draft. I wrote it over five years ago and wanted to share it now...

If only I could sing these, or any other, songs :-) We heard "The One Who Knows" at a Dar Williams concert a few years ago, after Nathan was born. I remember enjoying it then, but it really caught our attention when we were expecting Julia. We listened to it too many times to count before Julia was born, and also played it at the hospital soon after she was born.

Earlier this week, on the way home from work, I decided to listen to one of our old Vienna Teng CDs and heard "Lullabye For a Stormy Night". It reminded me of last week when Nathan woke up in the middle of the night to the noise of thunder. Betsy went into his room and he settled down and went back to sleep pretty quickly. But he did express confusion that he could hear thunder but didn't see lightning... turns out we've had his window covered with a blanked to block out the sun in the morning in the hope that he might sleep just a little later. No luck on that front :-) Last night (same day that four tornados hit western MA) we had a pretty extreme thunder storm, but Nathan stayed sound asleep. Nonetheless, this song popped into my mind, hence the cheesy blog post tonight. Two Nathan and Julia songs, chiseled away in our minds...

Dar Williams – “The One Who Knows”
Time it was I had a dream 

You're the dream come true 

If I had the world to give
I'd give it all to you 



I'll take you to the mountains
I will take you to the sea 

I'll show you how this life became
A miracle to me 



You'll fly away 

But take my hand until that day 

So when they ask how far love goes 

When my job's done 

You'll be the one who knows



All the things you treasure most 

Will be the hardest won

I will watch you struggle long

Before the answers come 



But I won't make it harder
I'll be there to cheer you on 

I'll shine the light that guides you down 

The road you're walking on 



You'll fly away 

But take my hand until that day 

So when they ask how far love goes 

When my job's done 

You'll be the one who knows



Before the mountains call to you 

Before you leave this home 

I want to teach your heart to trust 

As I will teach my own 



But sometimes I will ask the moon 

Where it shined upon you last 

And shake my head and laugh and say 

It all went by so fast 



You'll fly away 

But take my hand until that day 

So when they ask how far love goes 

When my job's done 

You'll be the one who knows

Vienna Teng – “Lullaby For a Stormy Night”
Little child, be not afraid
Though rain pounds harshly against the glass
Like an unwanted stranger, there is no danger
I am here tonight

Little child, be not afraid
Though thunder explodes and lightning flash
Illuminates your tear-stained face
I am here tonight

And someday you'll know
That nature is so
The same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
On forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you'll see
In the morning

Little child, be not afraid
Though storm clouds mask your beloved moon
And its candlelight beams, still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight

Little child, be not afraid
Though wind makes creatures of our trees
And their branches to hands, they're not real, understand
And I am here tonight

For you know, once even I was a
Little child, and I was afraid
But a gentle someone always came
To dry all my tears, trade sweet sleep for fears
And to give a kiss goodnight

Well now I am grown
And these years have shown
That rain's a part of how life goes
But it's dark and it's late
So I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close

And I hope that you'll know...

Everything's fine in the morning
The rain'll be gone in the morning
But I'll still be here in the morning