Lyric sheet for The "Blue" Period

I Wish You Could Be

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
Oh, I WISH YOU COULD BE
The one for me
I wish like in the movies we were meant to be
Coming halfway 'round the world to meet
Me in the air, you on your feet
Why can't you be the one, the one for me?

When I met you
We were sailing all our cares away
Now to forget you
Will take hours of my days away
I wish I didn't have to go
I wish I didn't love you so
I wish that you could be the one for me

CHORUS

I love you
It feels so good, it hurts so bad
I'll always love you
It's the best romance I ever had
I wish you weren't so very sure
That you were going to marry her
I wish that you could be the one for me

Bridge:
The open sea
And you and me
Why can't it be
Our destiny?

CHORUS

Piano, vocal, keyboards: Irene Hartfield

Separate Beds

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

With so many reasons
Why and why not
So many ways we could go
In a different place and time
We could say yes
We know that right now it is no

Maturity beckons
Inevitably
We know the end without any doubt
No more naiveté
No more pretend
We know just how things can turn out

Chorus:
So it's SEPARATE BEDS, separate lives
So attracted but we know that it can never work
Say goodnight
Say goodbye
It can't be a fling
So it can't be anything

Hurt while it's happening
Or hurt in the end
My choices are clear to me now
When I was much younger
I would jump for the chance
Now my head my heart won't allow

CHORUS

Bridge:
I am learning to enjoy attractiveness
I am yearning but I'm destined to progress

So I'll go to sleep now
But I'll still regret
Not knowing you intimately
I wish things were different
I wish you were mine
But wishing's not reality

CHORUS

Vocals, Piano, Keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Heartbreak Dead Ahead

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
HEARTBREAK DEAD AHEAD
Hurtin' right in front of me
Seems like I don't want to be
Smart enough to call a halt to
Lovin' you the way I do

You told me right up front the way you felt about her
You said that all you wanted was a friend
You told me that you liked me and you wanted to be near me
But I didn't see the heartache 'round the bend

CHORUS

I said OK to you that I would let it go no further
But deep inside I knew that I was lying
I looked into your eyes and listened to your sighs
And pretty soon my pillow heard me crying

CHORUS

Bridge:
Darlin', don't you be my Deadman's Corner
You could stop the hurtin' if you wanted to
If you'd fall in love with me
You could set us free
And the hurt could be
A bridge behind us burnin', burnin'

But until that day I'm willin' to keep hurtin'
I'll pay whatever price to be with you
And maybe I will learn you play with fire you get burned
And I'll trade my heartache for a love that's true

CHORUS

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Sailing Away

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
SAILING AWAY today
The City 'neath my feet
Takin' me there
To where the view is open sea
Vast overhead ahead
As far as you can see
Sailing today
Away, away

Carrying you with me
Having you by me
Holding on and surviving
My time is arriving
Anew on my own
Inspired by strength and a new kind of caring
I'm traveling and traveling to nowhere called home

CHORUS

Loving you freely
Creating within me
Born anew and renewing
Fate boiling and brewing
I'm on to it now
Inspired by God and a new way of seeing
I'm traveling and traveling to where I am now

CHORUS

Bridge:
Willing and waiting
Without hesitating
I'm still navigating to you

Love is an ocean
It draws you and calls you
Seducing your spirit
All you do is hear it
And you must be free
The song is forever in spite of your wishes
You're traveling and traveling on your way to me

SAILING AWAY today
The City 'neath your feet
Takin' you there
To where
The view is open sea
Vast overhead ahead
As far as you can see
Sailing today away, away

CHORUS

Piano, vocal, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Boston, Bermuda

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus: BOSTON, BERMUDA, me in Manhattan
Who do I care for and where do I live?
Sailing madly between these two rocks in the ocean
Who do I care for and what can I give?

I want to come home
But where is home?
I'm on the run since I'm on my own
I want to be loved, but what's the price?
What's gonna happen at the next throw of the dice?

CHORUS

I want to be free
But what is free?
Is it something in you or is it in me?
I want to be loved, but what's the price?
What's gonna happen at the next throw of the dice?

CHORUS

I'm drinkin' again
Without any friends
I know it's a phase but when will it end?
I want to be loved, but what's the price?
What's gonna happen at the next throw of the dice?

CHORUS

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Thank God We're Friends

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS and we're not lovers
I couldn't handle loving you
Because you need constant distraction
And 'cause I know you'd be untrue
Your effort is Olympian although it never ends
THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS
THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS

You sure are handsome
You sure are smart
You've got the qualities to break somebody's heart
You'd charm the buzz right out a bee
Your charm is so disarming that it almost works on me

But THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS...

You're good at lovin'
Of that I'm sure
But with emotions you are just a bit obscure
Avoiding all direct response
Avoiding all but coital confrontations and advance

But THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS...

I hope our friendship
Lasts a long while
'Cause even when I'm down you always make me smile
You'd charm a bird right out a tree
Your charm is so disarming that it almost works on me

But THANK GOD WE'RE FRIENDS...

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

It takes a Lifetime

Words by Jeannie Burlowski
Music: Irene Hartfield

They say young loves are fragile dreams
Moonlight, sad songs, and roses
The first strains of a symphony
That only time composes
You've made me see that love is more
Than emotions built for two
So, in gratitude for all you've done,
I'll write this love song just for you

Chorus:
IT TAKES A LIFETIME to say, "I love you"
It takes laughter, tears, and pain that say it to
The tests of time cannot suppress it
A thousand love songs can't express it
IT TAKES A LIFETIME … to say, "I love you"

So love is more than fragile dreams
Moonlight, sad songs, and roses
It's the first strains of a symphony
That only time composes
A house, a home, and memories
That only time can give
Oh "I love you" - it's not a simple phrase
But it's the way we've seen you live

CHORUS

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Don't Let This Night End

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
DON'T LET THIS NIGHT END
DON'T LET THIS NIGHT END
Please don't say "Goodnight" to me
Let me be with you
Let me stay with you
Just make believe you love me

Don't let our time end
Don't let this time end
Please don't say "Goodbye" to me
Let me be with you
Let me stay with you
Just make believe you love me

Pretend you love me
Pretend you want me
Pretend there are no goodbyes
There's no tomorrow
There's just today now
The future is just a disguise
You know I love you
You know I want you
You also know I must go
Let me be with you
Let me stay with you
Please, just this once, don't say no

CHORUS

If I must leave you
And I will leave you
Let it be when I am gone
Let me be with you
Let me stay with you
Just until morning has dawned
We have today now
We have tonight now
Then I am gone, I am gone.

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield

Venus to Me

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Chorus:
You're VENUS TO ME, VENUS TO ME
You brought my heart out to play
When I'd been keepin' it away
So carefully
Dangerous, dangerous
Potentially dangerous sensually
You're VENUS TO ME
VENUS TO ME

You're in and you're out
You're here and you're not
In town for the day, tomorrow en route
A definite chapter in what life's about
I can't wait to see how the book will turn out

CHORUS

I'm high and I'm low
You come and you go
I'm melting with yeses; you're hardened with no
It's courting destruction I'd better go slow
The harvest is heartache, you reap what you sow

CHORUS

Bridge:
Venus, Venus, you're so appealing
Sending me off, senses reeling
Scraping me off, off the ceiling
Crashing me back to the ground

I like what I see
When you look at me
Until you must tell me that you are not free
Magnetically speaking we start to agree
And nothing else matters on earth or on sea

CHORUS

Piano, vocals, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise

Begin with You

Begin with You was recorded live at The Grand Finale, a nightclub located on 70th Street and Broadway in New York City during the late 70's, early 80's. Recorded and printed by permission.

Well, I'm lookin' through clean windows and I can see clear
From where I came from it looks like it just rained here
Something exciting in the air
Seems I'm learning how to care for myself as well as you
Tryin' hard to keep that point of view

I'll find another kind of lovin' better than down there
Another kind of feelin' than "I don't care"
Can't you see it's not his thighs bringing tears to cloud my eyes
But his tongue gently lashing me in two
Why does it feel so good around you?
I'll find another love

There'll be another night much better than that night, last night
Another loft much bigger and more bright
No more lunches with the foe
Pins and needles in Soho
Does it all BEGIN WITH YOU?
And there is nothin' that I would rather do
Than BEGIN WITH YOU

Piano, vocal: Irene Hartfield
Drums: Arnie Wise
Bass: George Sheck
Recorded live at The Grand Finale, NYC
Engineer: David Immer
Mixed at The Warehouse Studio, NYC

Bring It Home

Words and Music: Irene Hartfield

Bring It Home was commissioned by the U.S. Ski Team for the 1984 Olympics and performed at fundraisers during the Rose Festival in Portland Oregon and for the Gold Cup Ski Race in Aspen, Colorado. The song was designed to be sung live to a track that was used to accompany a multi-media presentation.

The mountain speaks to you, she's calling out your name
Inspiring you to excellence, no thought of fear or fame
You've skied like this a million times, but this times not the same
And you go for it, you go for it, you go for it again

You're high above the crowd, upon the white terrain
Your life is like that too; sometimes it seems insane
You've felt like this a million times but this time's not the same
And you go for it, you go for it, you go for it again

The time is now
The flag is down
You hear the sound

You got to bring it, BRING IT HOME

Defining your own challenge, this is why you came
You run the razor's edge of total loss or gain
You've prayed like this a millions, but this time's not the same
And you go for it, you go for it, you go for it again

You got to bring it, BRING IT HOME

You're flying past the gates on wings of wax and steel
You're aiming for the stars and God knows how you feel
You've tried for this a million times but this time it's for real
And you go for it, you go for it, you go for it again

You got to bring it, BRING IT HOME

Piano, lead vocal, keyboards: Irene Hartfield
Drum programming/Engineer: David Immer
Guitar: Tim DeHuff
Background vocals: NYC Studio Singers
Recorded and mixed at The Warehouse Studio, NYC

Produced by Irene Hartfield
Mastered at Darbuki Island Studio North by Robin Anders

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