Stories behind the songs on the
new album "Closer To You"
Closer To You
I had always wanted to write a song around the medieval elegy The
Wanderer. I cannot say that I achieved it with this piece, but I
was delighted for the opportunity to revisit the poem. Gawain sent
me a chord progression that seemed to fit perfectly with writing
a song solely around sea imagery: Vikings; endless, lonely days
on the sea; miles upon miles of water, etc. Musically, we tried
to paint a canvas of sounds that evoked these images. For example,
if you listen closely to the chorus, you can hear waves lapping
against a ship that Ben sampled and slowed down to the tempo of
the song.
Rhiannon's Lullaby
Rhiannon, the great goddess of Wales, has held a strong place in
Celtic lore for many moons. Wronged first by her parents, then by
those closest to her, she did not have a life that matched the beauty
of her countenance. In legend we do not picture her standing in
the cold by the castle gates, telling every passerby a murderous
story pinned on her by her ladies–in–waiting. No, she
is remembered for her passionate beauty, her flowing white horse,
and her gentle patience for the sins of those around her. I took
the tale a step further and put a bit of wrath into Rhiannon; some
vengeance if you will. For this song I chose a beautiful traditional
melody from the Isle of Mann. I found it during my travels and rewrote
it to suit the lyrics and then brought it to Ben who came up with
the beautiful progression underneath.
The Silk Road
Last year I heard a young woman from Uzbekistan on NPR, singing
traditional songs from the Silk Road. The beauty of her voice struck
me, and the forms of the songs inspired me to listen to Eastern
music and study its forms more closely. Previously, my musical interests
were solely Western. On a trip to San Francisco, I played some of
these newly discovered treasures for Gawain. He responded by writing
the hypnotic chord progression that you hear pulsing underneath
the melody and words, supplied by my own hand. Those "words," however,
were the hardest part for me. How could I write about the beauty
and mystery of the Silk Road if the farthest east I had traveled
was Budapest? I wrote to professors around the country, trying to
find collections of Silk Road poems that could offer some insight.
I did not find collections, but bits and pieces floated my way,
along with a couple of documentaries and a book on Wu Zetian. After
gathering this information, I put it all away and thought about
it for about four months. I knew that all of these beautiful new
creatures of knowledge would eventually settle down in my head,
and finally move down to my hand.
The Fields
I wrote this song one evening while living in Limerick. My room
was the size of a shoebox, yet it was the most comfortable room
I have ever lived in. There was the usual winter storm blowing outside
my window while I tried to sleep, with my bed pushed up beside the
glow of my furnace. It wasn't the noise of the storms that stirred
me on these nights, however, it was the ghostly warriors the storms
brought with them. I could look out my window and see generations
moving through the trees when these storms came to visit. I can
still close my eyes, three years later, and see myself in that room
writing this piece for no one but the Celtic storms that swept through
my nights.
Voyage
I am not a sea-fearing woman by any stretch. Raised on the Great
Plains, I would rather see land each way I turn. Yet, I have always
been fascinated by those who spend their lives at sea, especially
those voyagers, plunderers, and fishermen who sailed when there
were no tracking devices to find them once they had set off on their
journeys. How dark those nights must have been. While writing this
song, I imagined those nights, and what it must have felt like to
watch the ships leave, or in reverse, to watch the land fade into
the distance. It seems these men had an addiction to being out on
the open water. Too much time at home, and they were restless to
set sail again. I pictured what must it have been like to be on
the shores of the lands that the ships were approaching, with their
tall masts and longboats full of strange faces, wondering who was
coming and for what purpose.
Just for a While
Melancholy has no sense of time. Wounds can be two years old or
two thousand years old and still feel fresh. We have all lost someone
through the parting of souls, whether in this life or not. The significant
ache that remains can be eternally overwhelming. I wrote this song
with this question in mind: "What if we could go back, just for
a while, and see that person once more? Peacefully, finding ourselves
in their arms, or by their side in our happiest moments together."
The great characters of literature have battled this question; their
success left for the reader to interpret. Two of my favorites make
an appearance in this song: Ophelia from Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
and Elaine from the Arthurian cycle of literature. Both had a very
resolute way of dealing with their sadness, but it is not for their
dealings that they were chosen. It is for the tragic beauty and
color with which they graced the pages of our minds.
Come with Me
I first traveled through the Highlands of Scotland on a literary
tour when I was 20 years old. There, I saw beauty that I thought
existed only in our dreams. The colors, and the evening gloaming
that came over the mountains, still call me back into their arms
when life proves uncertain. Five years after the trip, while studying
in Ireland, I was paired in an ensemble class with a Scottish flute
player. She had a six-part Scottish reel that she wanted to use,
so I set about trying to find a song that worked with this. My dear
friend Rosie had sent over a lovely old book of Scottish songs that
she'd found at a street fair in New York. I read through the songs
one Saturday afternoon, and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the
language. The words transported me instantly back to the Highlands.
With those memories gaining strength, I put the book away and created
a song about leaving the complexities of life to return to the basics.
Nothing represents this notion better than the highlands of Scotland,
with their rugged beauty.
Only in My Mind
Sometimes we find ourselves in relationships that function much
better in memory than in reality. With this piece, I tried to express
the feeling of walking that painful line, when you know the relationship
is inevitably not going to work out. You know there is a cold winter
waiting for you, around the next bend, and yet you give every petal
of yourself to that person, hoping to discover a new reality.
Dreaming of You
I had never had my heart broken... until a few years ago. In the
past, I had secretly delighted in romantic tragedy, but this was
nothing I had felt before. I was certain that I was ruined, my ideals
of love extinguished permanently. It was a sad prognosis at 26 years
of age. I remember calling my father from overseas, sobbing uncontrollably
on the phone (something I was not known to do), asking him if I
would be able to function normally again one day. To this day, I
remember his exact reply: "Ashley, I promise that you will get better.
It won't be today, or probably even two months from now, but you
will get past this." I believed him. Later that summer, I found
myself at my kitchen table in Ireland, writing this song -- not
only for myself, but for those around me who were struggling with
the same issues. Today, with a healthy heart, I can say: If you
are suffering from this kind of ache, you will heal in time. I promise.
I am living proof.
The Hills of Another Day
During the writing of this song, the gentle memories of my life
wrapped every known emotion into one. When I am in my twilight years,
I picture myself rocking on my front porch in the evening, dreaming
of the times when my heart was in its fullest of colors. I believe
it will be in those quiet moments that I finally get to stop and
enjoy the memories I am creating now.
Coming Home
Statistics show that more Irish are now moving home to Ireland than
moving to America. My great–grandfather, two–times over,
emigrated from Northern Ireland during the great exodus in the 1840s.
We do not know much about him, except that when land was offered
to settlers, he seized the opportunity and moved west to farm its
unforgiving prairies. It is for his courage, and that of his young
bride Miss O'Malley, that I am a Kansan. I haven't lived consistently
in Kansas since I was 18 years old, but wherever I go, when people
ask me where I'm from, I always say, "I'm from Kansas... but I live
in ____." The north of Ireland has had many cloudy days since my
ancestors left, but it is once again moving towards a prosperous
peace. I'm sure Mr. Davis would be proud of the place he came from,
and the place where he landed.
Lyrics for the songs on the
new album "Closer To You"
Closer To You
The wind has swept me into fervent dreams
Of constant longing for you upon the sea
We are melting with colors that will be
As the morning drags it all from me
Nighttime whispers move through the mist
As the sunset sleeps on my lips
Soothing waves into tempest sighs
I will find you in time
You move heavens with your eyes
You move day into night, into night
Chorus
I will fall down beside you
I will make love with you
In any field under these moons
Within my mind I'm closer to you
These watered days dilute my flailing mind
With wallowed ways I swim towards the time
When twilight blossoms danced in your hair
Think on me as I am there
Some days I'm swimming in your charms
Some days I'm drowning in your arms, in your arms
Chorus
The wind has swept me into fervent dreams
Of constant longing for you upon the sea
Riannon's Lullaby
The night has come I bring her in
I show her where you are sleeping
I touch your hair
I touch your face
I weave a web
Of colored days
I move in white
Through wintry nights
I'll bring you warmth
I'll bring you fire
I am your moon
I am your earth
Lay down your head
And feel me move
I gave you wind
I gave you fire
For this you left
To find another
I will be back
When spirits move
You'll know me then
As someone new
The Silk Road
There is no one here now
We are alone now
Move your heart towards me
Place your scent upon me
In golden ships with silken sails
You will take me into tales
Of gypsy lady she is waiting
Move with the sea
Sway now like the trees
Love pours down the walls
Dresses float to the floor
Wrap my hair around us
The night has found us
Cornered by our desires
The hillsides are on fire
The Fields
I cannot sleep, my dear, tonight
For the wind has left my heart in flight
And the moon wanders these hills all alone
The bells that move through the trees
Are saying softly to me
Will you dream through this night all alone
I cannot sleep without you
In the forests that we drew
With colors from the streams
Flowing through our dreams
Where has my heart gone, I cannot tell
Has it been sold in market stalls
To beggars in search of gold all alone
The dreams they come and go
They make their way through the snow
To foggy kingdoms beyond all alone
I have grown weary of the hearth
I cannot breathe with this heart
I am a winter's bride
Without you by my side
The fields that have slept in my head
Have wakened the gales that have fled
My thoughts that live in this love all alone
I will wander the moors
I will try every door
That might lead to the cart
Wheeling off my heart
I cannot sleep my dear tonight
For the wind has left my heart in flight
Voyage
The ships move through the veil of the night
Fading into the darkened sky
A journey beyond all legend and song
They'll follow the way of which they belong
They'll sail for a world unknown to the sword
To steal away the peace of the day
The lanterns sway to the beat of the waves
The darkness drowns all their days
They'll carry the cries of the women behind
A sweet soft ache not enough to remain
The ships move through the veil of the night
Fading into the darkened sky
A journey beyond all legend and song
They'll follow the way of which they belong
The lanterns sway to the beat of the waves
The darkness drowns all their days
They'll carry the cries of the women behind
A sweet soft ache not enough to remain
Just for a While
Just for a while I will go my way
Into the night of another day
Follow your shadow through the dawn
Stay by you until the morn
I'll walk the rose-path timeless miles to go
Just for a while
Just for a while I will walk beside you
To feel the days inside us move
To a time when velvets made our bed
The passing days our only dread
I will brook the repeating trials to go
Just for a while
Moonlit dances in torch-lit gardens
The come of morn our only warden
That is where I'm to be
When this time sets me free
Just for a while I will speak your name
And not hear it echo throughout my day
Slip my words inside your heart
Dance as if I've known the part
Open my mouth to drink your smile to go
Just for a while
Twilight floating I am leaving
Amid the dreams I am weaving
That is where I'm to be
When this time sets me free
Just for a while I will stay with you
To find a way to our path of truth
Float like Ophelia, spin like Elaine
These are the ones who conquered the rain
I will sail the trodden days gone by to go
Just for a while
Come with Me
Come with me and sit a while
We'll leave this place and our sighs
We'll find the heather's purple glow
To the Highlands we will go
A cottage with a garden seat
There my love we will greet
The evening purple heather glow
To the Highlands we will go
The stormy gales within us now
Will have to find softer fields to plough
We'll find the heather's purple glow
To the Highlands we will go
Chorus
Hir-ree hir-ree ho hir-ree ho
Hir-ree hir-ree ho ho
Hir-ree hir-ree ho hir-ree ho
Hir-ree hir-ree ho ho
Dancing through the running fields
There my love we will yield
To the flowing purple heather glow
To the Highlands we will go
Chorus
Life will leave us there to love
The rambling springs and sky above
We'll find the heather's purple glow
To the Highlands we will go
Only in My Mind
These thoughts I have of you
Live inside a memory of truth
Like the trees that long to touch the sky
You are only in my mind
I spread these thoughts on the water
In hopes they might offer
Some release from these binds
For you are only in my mind
Chorus
But I would leave in the morning
Petals on your pillow
A tender promise of where I'll be
By the road on the river
In a dress made of moonlight
That is where I'll be
Some things you don't say
They just chase me through my day
And follow me through the night
For you are only in my mind
Chorus
But I am waiting, I am falling
Oh into you
I am dragging, I am pulling
You into me
Chorus
Dreaming of You
Where has summer gone, I don't know
Did she lose her way in the snow
Or does spring still hold her in his arms
And whisper of his April charms
Why did you leave me; the memories don't ease me
Dreaming of you
Dreaming of you
Where has summer gone, I can't say
Did she come intending not to stay
And why does she wear the winter's clothes
To sleep in the evening glow
As I moved through the trees
I screamed with the leaves
For dreaming of you
Dreaming of you
I know you're with summer
She's your lover
But I'll dance through the autumn
By winter you're forgotten
There's no summer here, now I know
So I'll make my way through the snow
To summers that bloom in my past
I'm leaving yours at last
And I will find my own voice
And I will sleep through the night
Without dreaming of you
Dreaming of you
Without dreaming of you
Dreaming of you
The Hills of Another Day
I came to you in the night
With a soft shallow step of sadness
There you dimmed the light
Of my secret cradled madness
You brought me in to your table
You moved me from the stables
Where quiet women retreat
To watch the wild horses sleep
And dream of...
Chorus
Your words against my neck
My thoughts upon your breath
The mountains' cool breeze
Your soft summer ease
Let me lay by your side
Till the rising morning tides
Move us away to hills of another day
The April moon came in June
And brought us to the summer country
Where we played the tunes
Of our longing distant memory
The nights then all were days
As you undressed my silken ways
You wrapped the dusk around my shoulders
And your kiss spoke of growing older
To dream of...
Chorus
The fall returned me to the horses
With my arms ribboned in choices
The women spun them in my hair
As I sang of the love I'll wear
When one day I return
To my love who anon will learn
That this road leads us safely
Back to the fields of the summer country
To dream of...
Coming Home
A lifetime apart, an ocean away
We thought we had left for better days
But winter came and never left
Our mothers cried, our fathers wept
We were bound across the ocean
She called us at night her plains and mountains
We built her homes, we sang her songs
We're coming home, it's been too long
We're coming home your sons and daughters
We worked so hard, we thought of you father
There's nothing here but more of the past
With peace in our hearts, we'll be home at last
Flowers blooming, sun is shining
Night is coming, we're still smiling
Oh my mother, oh my father
We'll be with you in the morning
We saw your face in the stars at night
We kept our minds away from the fight
We knew our future lives in tomorrow
Not in the peace that you borrow
Now our children will walk these hills
To the tune of sunshine not bloody battles
We'll walk behind them a lifetime apart
They'll come home at last with peace in their hearts
Come home children
Sleep now children
We'll be with you in the morning
Peace in our hearts
Peace in our lands
We have buried all of your tears
Press Quotes
What the press is saying about
Ashley and “Closer to You”…
“Beautiful soothing melodies, married to words that linger
throughout your day. This is an artist to watch and, most importantly,
listen to.”
Sam Mellinger, The Kansas City Star
"A spellbinding voice and enchanting, original songs. Pure
magic!"
Stephen L. Betts, Editor in Chief, Country Music Today
Magazine
"Ashley Davis’ fiery passion, airy vocals, well grounded
instrumental work, and soothing melodies make for one of the best
releases in ANY genre for the new year, much less in just the
World/New Age realm."
Michael Jaworek, Music Director of The Birchmere, Washington
D.C.
“Ashley Davis has a natural understanding of the sorrow,
love and longing
that inspired so much of the music she sings. Her material has
a lyrical romanticism that is
joyfully refreshing, while her voice evokes genuine emotions of
love where so much of our charts are filled with mawkish sentimentality."
Sean O’Driscoll, Arts Editor for the Irish Voice,
New York City
Ashley Davis is poised to be a college radio 'break-out artist'
in 2005! Her new CD "Closer To You" is a perfect mix
of superb songwriting, stellar musicianship, and vocal stylings.
With this CD, Ashley Davis immediately joins artists like Enya
and Loreena McKennitt in an exclusive singer/songwriter/performer
pantheon.
Norm Prusslin, President of Intercollegiate Broadcasting
System/National College Radio Station Organization
"Ashley Davis has a voice that is equal parts heavenly and
earthy."
John Niccum, Arts Editor, the Lawrence Journal-World,
Lawrence, KS
What her peers are saying about
her…
Ashley Davis is a young woman with a beautiful voice and as much
musicality as anyone could wish for. And on top of that she writes
and sings with a confidence way beyond her
years. I wish her all the best and I look forward to watching
her music and her career develop.
Philip Glass, Composer
"Ashley's voice is otherworldly. ... She has a true and magical
gift to bestow when she opens her mouth to sing!"
Beth Nielson Chapman, Singer/Songwriter
“This is sensuous and sensitive music for the head, heart,
soul or whatever part of you is raw and needs fixing. Ashley has
the pipes, promise and talent of the young Sandy Denny. A beautiful
debut."
Larry Kirwan, Black 47
"Stage charisma, beauty and a pure, haunting and sincere
voice. She will take you places of spectacular color and beauty."
Paul Katz, cellist with the Cleveland Quartet
"Ashley Davis carves her own path into the Celtic music
world, bringing a unique and beautiful voice and entrancing songs
that will awaken long forgotten parts of your soul."
Kathy Chiavola, Bluegrass artist
Soothing….Healing
"I find Ashley’s "Closer to You" an oasis
from the day-to-day stress and pressures of my job. For me, it
provides a place of relaxation and reflection."
Faye Mankor, Vice President, Sprint, Corporate Real Estate
“Thirty years spent in psychology have convinced me of the
strength of multi-sensory intervention, especially through the
power of music, and I've found Ashley Davis's “Closer to
You” Note: Removed italics to be an unmistakable example.
Her music can be a powerful adjunct to counseling or psychotherapy;
her soothing melodies, both exotic and familiar, touch the soul
and become a calming anchor for those tossed on turbulent waters.”
Michael F. Enright, Ph.D, Psychology
