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Portals

by Sharon Knight

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1.
I step inside the neon tide The city scatters all the tears I’ve cried A fiddler plays by the alleyway His moon drunk gaze cannot be denied He said I know what you’re looking for You are everything I need So take my hand, let go your plans We will see where fortune leads I’ve lived a million lies Beneath vermillion skies Come let’s break free from this pale charade Pure joy is what remains, let’s reach beyond the game Still we are not lost when the nightmare fades He dealt the cards, their colored marks Spell the secrets of who we are A whispered wish on a storm at sea All my yearnings out in front of me He laid his final wager down, A singing stone, a tarnished crown The price you pay for true love’s cost I played my hand, but I knew I’d lost I’ve lived a million lies Beneath Vermillion Skies Come let’s break free from this pale charade Pure joy is what remains, let’s reach beyond the game Step inside the Crimson Masquerade Abandon reason All who enter here There’s just one thing you’ve got to lose And it’s everything you fear I’ve lived a million lies Beneath Vermillion Skies Come let’s break free from this pale charade 
Pure joy is what remains, let’s reach beyond the game We’ll spin until the sky begins to shake I’ve lived a million lies Beneath Vermillion Skies Still we are not lost when the nightmare fades
 Pure joy is what remains, let’s reach beyond the game Welcome to Crimson Masquerade Bye bye, sleepy-bye Dawn dreams in your minds eye
2.
Musty old attic, where nobody goes Moth eaten curtains hide greasy windows Day after day, I call this my home In a box made of cedar and cast away hope But when the blanket of twilight falls Beckoned we are by the curtain call You pull my strings and I arch to your will Entwined in a dance made to thrill I come alive in your arms My chipped china cheeks grow crimson and warm I come alive at the warmth of your hand in mine With every breath I take, harder my heart can break I am your Porcelain Princess no more Now you have met a flesh and blood girl She smells of peach blossoms and absinthe and yearning Honey wine hair, and breath of warm spring The lust in your eyes sets me burning What must it feel like to be so alive With a coal hot fire that smolders inside If you could but see how our dance quickens me I’ve the heart of a lion in winter time I come alive in your arms My chipped china cheeks grow crimson and warm I come alive at the warmth of your hand in mine With every breath I take, harder my heart can break I am your Porcelain Princess no more
3.
The lights have gone dark The patrons have headed on home The doorkeeper waits To lock up after the show Just one more moment My dusty pink slippers were here Amidst fanfare and flowers Glimpses of fairytales lost through the tears I would have danced for you until the stars flickered out I’d have taken a chance with you All of our sorrows would soon fade away I was your princess in shimmering silk You were my Gentleman King Up on my toes in those slippers of rose, Dad I knew we could be anything You brought them to me In a pinstriped box they were wrapped up with care All satins and softness I combed the twigs from my hair Then toil and trouble You found your mistress of poison and pain My gown turned to rags Pink satin slippers forgotten and frayed I would have danced for you, until the stars flickered out I’d have taken a chance with you All of our sorrows would soon fade away I was your princess in shimmering silk You were my Gentleman King Up on my toes in those slippers of rose, Dad I knew we could be anything Just one poison apple A slumber that leeches your memories away How many years now The rose in your cheeks has faded to grey Just one more moment If I could just have one more chance But the clock has struck midnight I know I have missed the last dance I would have danced for you until the stars flickered out I’d have taken a chance with you All of our sorrows would soon fade away I was your princess in shimmering silk And you were my Gentleman King Up on my toes in those slippers of rose, Dad I knew we could be anything
4.
We built our castles by the sea Made of dreams and mermaid secrets You the brave knight, I your queen No hidden treasure ever lay between As we grew older, a hero’s quest Became the thing that you loved best Before you left to far off lands You placed a crimson jewel into my hands Though the journey is long and the road is winding I’ll hold you in my heart like a flame By the light of this jewel you’ll find me and Oh, I will whisper your name You went your way before I told The secrets of my heart unfolding I won’t rest until you know How deep the well of my love does go I followed where your trail led With a gypsy’s vision in my head No promises could she give But while your ruby glows I know you live Though the journey is long and the road is winding Your ruby burns in my heart like a flame By the light of this jewel I’ll find you and Oh, I will whisper your name I wished upon an ocean breeze Carry news of my love to me Show the road that he does ride Carry my love to his side Though the journey is long and the road is winding Your ruby burns in my heart like a flame By the light of this jewel you’ll find me and Oh, I will whisper your name Though the journey is long and the road is winding Your ruby burns like a scarlet flame I will not rest until you know that I love you and Oh I will whisper your name
5.
My eyes glitter sorrow To see you turn to leave Knowing that the road you walk Must lead you far from me Late last night you touched me Lips that mesmerize Scarlet visions dancing In your jeweled eyes You burned your love into me like a brand Left my body trembling where I stand And the scent of your skin on my skin brings it back to me Unfolds in my mind like a seed of memory It’s the scent of your skin that laces through my dreams And feeds my soul till you return to me My eyes watch the horizon Weeks stretch on like years I rub my skin in sandalwood And you appear Your taste of love is burned into my brain Sweet intoxication mine again And the scent of your skin on my skin brings it back to me Unfolds in my mind like a seed of memory It’s the scent of your skin that laces through my dreams And feeds my soul till you return to me
6.
Melusina 04:51
Melusina, Melusina Melusina, Melusina Your longing is a bitter salt upon the sea Your tears are drying crystalline between my toes I want to touch you but I cannot see your face Just your serpent’s tail slipping through to worlds I’ll never know You seek the simple joys You give the taste of something more But oh, they can’t contain you And you slip away in silence out beyond the door Don’t let it slip away, don’t let it slip away Melusina, Melusina Melusina, Melusina Melusina, I know you hunger to get through But our slavery to reason does not welcome you What mighty song is poised upon your lips A pearl beyond all price at our fingertips Through beauty and through sorrow We crack the masks of certainty We travel on, enraptured by the mystery Our senses overcome with majesty Don’t let it slip away, don’t let it slip away Melusina, Melusina Melusina, Melusina
7.
Slipped Away 02:40
8.
Oh oh let the river flow Oh let my sorrow go Clutching on to the comforts I have known Open up the skies Let us finally realize Stay by my side, so I won’t feel alone Let the Waters Rise Let the rainfall sing its lullabies Quench the thirsting earth Her soul is ripe for rebirth Evergreen, the scent of life Soothe away our sun bleached strife Drench our gardens with the hope of blooming Sweep me away my love A storm that captures the clouds above Promises of spring beneath the gloom Let the Waters Rise Let the rainfall sing its lullabies Quench the thirsting earth Her soul is ripe for rebirth
9.
Castaway Carly, she wanders alone Hair all knotted with feather and bone Bound up with spells, fervent and haunted She bleeds for the soul of the world Wishes that crumble to dust long forgotten A parchment of yearnings gone dry No fickle fates, no ravening storm, No tides will dissuade her from calling An honor-bound soldier, tattered and torn With the will to do right by us all Does she sing for a savior, return of the king Draw the sword from the stone, and cast off the ring A dashing young hero in flashing red cape Come to vanquish the ills of the world I share in your sorrow, my beautiful friend For the pain of destruction and war without end And we search through the histories of gallant young men For a promise that never comes true Where are the heroes of tales gone by Whose sagas live on throughout time How long must we wait for the champions of fate To come slay the dragons of night Do you sing for a savior, return of the king Draw the sword from the stone, and cast off the ring A dashing young hero in flashing red cape Come to vanquish the ills of the world A blade of grass struggling up through the stone A hardened heart gives way to the love it has known A hero’s blade forged in a fiery hall A champion’s flame burns in the hearts of us all. Do you sing for a savior, return of the king Draw the sword from the stone, and cast off the ring A dashing young hero in flashing red cape Come to vanquish the ills of the world I sing for a savior, return of the king Draw the sword from the stone, and cast off the ring We’re the dashing young heroes in flashing red capes Come to vanquish the ills of the world
10.
Conjurer 03:11
Conjurer, conjurer Won’t you bring me some sweet get away Conjurer, Conjurer A shadow lies across my heart today Crush the blossoms on the stone Mixed with rust and graveyard bone Bring me someone I can call my own Conjurer, conjurer Won’t you send some lucky mojo my way Conjurer, Conjurer My bed been cold for far too many days Waiting for the spring to come Waiting for the singing sun Waiting for some sugar come my way Conjurer, conjurer Won’t you light the tinder in my midnight fires Conjurer, conjurer Ensnare me in your ravening desire I long to breath your sultry air I want to be your maiden fair I need to feel your fingers in my hair
11.
I run until I cannot breathe Out among the trembling leaves The cliffs plunge into the silver sea The branches drip their sacrament Resin frozen in descent A benediction captive in a tree My feet caress the earth The votives burn and lay us bare Give life to those who dare Give life to those who walk the trail of prayer The brooding moods of sea and sky Shimmer through her storm swept eye Casting shadow over all who yearn Sorrow shrouded in the vines Promise of more hopeful times Poems dreamed amidst the candles burning My feet caress the earth The votives burn and lay us bare Give life to those who dare Give life to those who walk the trail of prayer I wander wild through this wide open world Out at the edges of things I cannot change Wistful and weary I wait for a welcome Into the arms of the seelie and the strange My feet caress the earth The votives burn and lay us bare Give life to those who dare Give life to those who walk the trail of prayer
12.
When the Frost King wraps his frozen fingers Around his icy flask of gloom And drinks a mighty draft to all that lingers Long after spring’s blush is through When hope huddles in the shadowed corner Casting furtive glances at the door Warm your heart around the fires of friendship Laughter, your shelter in the storm No long night can hold you down And bind you in the darkness. You are a torch, you cast your light A shining spear into the dawn When the Ice Queen ensnares the world in silence A blanket of foreboding evermore With a bitter heart she beckons your compliance The wolf is howling at the door May the wood fires unfurl their smoky tendrils Easing the chill that grips your bones Ignite the flame in every poet’s promise Revel in the Sun’s returning home No long night can hold you down And bind you in the darkness. You are a torch, you cast your light A shining spear into the dawn No long night can hold us down And bind us in the darkness. We are a torch, we cast our light Shining spears into the dawn

about

Portals is envisioned as an otherworldly carnival, a traveling roadshow of musicians, each with the ability to open portals with their voices, their bows, their flying fingers. Meant to convey the spirit of life on the road, and the spontaneous magic of sitting in on each other's sets, Sharon and Winter have invited several of the musicians they have shared stages with to add their unique talents to this collection of mythic song-stories.

The Portals soundscape rests somewhere between Loeena McKennitt, Faun, and The Civil Wars.

Featuring guest performances by SJ Tucker, Betsy Tinney, Alexander James Adams (Tricky Pixie), Nathaniel Johnstone (Abney Park), Heather Dale, Wendy Rule, Sonja Drakulich ( Faun, Stellamara), and several more!

Be sure to check out the Porcelain Princess Music Video on YouTube!

credits

released March 1, 2016

Sharon Knight: vocals, lyrics, octave mandolin, acoustic guitar, various percussion
Winter: acoustic, electric, classical, and baritone guitars, vocals, various percussion
Caith Threefires: bass, keyboard, mandolin
Mark Abbott: drums

Guest artist credits listed on individual songs.

Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Winter at EMB Studios.

Art design by Sharon Knight.

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Sharon Knight Oakland

Festival favorites Sharon Knight and her longtime collaborator Winter perform a mythic-Celtic style, which they call "Neofolk Romantique; songs for poets, adventurers and lovers of mystery". They tour internationally several months of the year, bringing their fantastical tales of love and magic to festivals, cafes, and homes across the land. ... more

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