Doo-Wop Ranger

(Oak and pine, moon and moss)

I was raised where the branches make the roof
Where the city and the forest are the same
Where the lamplight's just the moon's own proof
And the towers learned the trees' own name
The elves taught me how to read the world
Every broken branch, every feather curled

(Bough and feather, wind and sign)

I'm a ranger, I'm a reader of signs
I can hear what the silence says
I can walk where the wild path winds
I can follow where the footprints lay
I'm a ranger, I'm a reader of signs

(Reader of signs, reader of signs)
(Path and pine, path and pine)

The elves said every forest tells a tale
In the moss, in the bent grass blade
In the way the small things go pale
When a bigger thing passes over them, casting shade
They taught me every wood is a page
And the animals mirror my every age

(Leaf and root, leaf and root)
(Oak and pine)

I'm a ranger, I'm a reader of signs
I can hear what the silence says
I can walk where the wild path winds
I can follow where the footprints lay
I'm a ranger, I'm a reader of signs

(Reader of signs, reader of signs)
(Path and pine, path and pine)

Oh, I left the green halls long ago
But the green halls never left me
I see the world the way they showed
Every leaf a letter, every root a key
Every leaf a letter, every root a key

(Root and leaf, letter and key)

Now the road is long and the road is mine
And the cities glitter, and I pass them by
I hear my name in the wind's own whine
I see my path in the hawk's high cry
I'm going where the world unwinds
I'm a ranger, I'm a reader of signs

(Reader of signs, reader of signs)
(Wind and branch, wind and sign)

Reader of signs, reader of signs
I can hear what the silence says
Reader of signs, reader of signs
I follow where the wild path lays

(Green and silver, all my days)
(Oak and pine, moon and moss)

I walked out from the silver trees
Where the moss grew soft and slow
Past the groves where the old ones sleep
To the wilder woods below


There's a fox who knows the hollow stones
There's a stag with a crown of white
There's a bear with a voice like breaking bones
But none of them are mine tonight


I'm tracking, tracking through the green
(tracking, tracking)
Looking for the one I've never seen
(the one I've never seen)
Every forest has a secret heart
(secret heart)
And my deepest bond is still waiting to start
I'm tracking, tracking through the green


The silver trees gave way to gold
Then the gold gave way to red
And the nights got warm where once were cold
And the canopy closed overhead


There's a wolf who runs the ridgeline high
There's a hawk who splits the blue
There's a serpent with a gemstone eye
But none of them will do


I'm tracking, tracking through the green
(tracking, tracking)
Looking for the one I've never seen
(the one I've never seen)
Every forest has a secret heart
(secret heart)
And my deepest bond is still waiting to start
I'm tracking, tracking through the green


Oh, the elven teachers said I'd know
(I'd know, I'd know)
Said the bond would ring like a struck bell
(like a struck bell)
Said don't settle for the easy go
(easy go)
Said the worthy one, the worthy one will tell
Said the worthy one, the worthy one will tell


Now the red trees gave way to green again
But a greener green than home
Thick with vines and the cries of birds
In a forest never known


There's a something moving in the reeds
There's a something in the shade
There's a something that the jungle feeds
There's a something the jungle made


I'm tracking, tracking through the green
(tracking, tracking)
Looking for the one I've never seen
(the one I've never seen)
Every forest has a secret heart
(secret heart)
And I feel mine start to start
I'm tracking, tracking through the green


Tracking, tracking through the green
(tracking, tracking)
The one I've never seen
(never seen)
Tracking, tracking through the green

Something burning in the deep green shade
Something moving where the light won't reach
Something that the gods themselves have made
Out of fire and velvet and teeth


Tiger, tiger, in the forest night
(tiger, tiger)
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
(burning bright)
Who made your eyes and who made mine?
(who made mine?)
Who decided we'd meet in our time?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright


I could run, I could raise my bow
I could be a hunter and nothing more
But the teachers said I'd one day know
And I know, and I know what I came here for


So I set my weapon on the ground
(on the ground)
And I opened up my empty hands
(empty hands)
And I let the tiger close the ground
(close the ground)
And I let the tiger understand
I let the tiger understand


Tiger, tiger, in the forest night
(tiger, tiger)
Tiger, tiger, burning bright
(burning bright)
Who made your eyes and who made mine?
(who made mine?)
Who decided we'd meet in our time?
Tiger, tiger, burning bright


Oh, the breath came hot and the breath came slow
(hot and slow)
And the whole world narrowed to a pair of eyes
(pair of eyes)
And I felt the bell the teachers said would ring
(said would ring)
And the bell was the tiger, and the bell was me
The bell was the tiger, and the bell was me


I don't know what passed between us there
In the green dark with the jungle still
I don't know what made the tiger choose to stay
But I felt my heart, and I felt its will
And they were one heart, and they were one will


My tiger, my tiger, in the forest night
(my tiger, my tiger)
My tiger, my tiger, burning bright
(burning bright)
Who made your eyes and who made mine?
(who made mine?)
We were made to meet in our time
My tiger, my tiger, burning bright


My tiger, my tiger
(burning bright)
My tiger, my tiger
(burning bright)
We were made to meet in our time
My tiger, my tiger, burning bright

The village sent a rider out
Said something's killing in the fields
Said the harvest can't come in at all
Said whatever's out there never yields
So we came, my tiger and me
To see what we could see


I know the shape of how they run
I know the trails they think are safe
I know the hollow where they drink
I know the hour, I know the place
And I lay me down with the roots and stone
Till the forest thinks I'm its own


I am the leaves, I am the grass
(leaves of grass, leaves of grass)
I am the waiting as they pass
(as they pass)
I am the trap, I am the path
(trap and path)
I am the leaves, I am the grass
My tiger and me in the leaves of grass


First a snare where the path bends low
Then a frost trap by the stream
Then I breathe until I'm nothing more
Than a rumor in a creature's dream
Than the hush before the hush begins
Than the space the forest ends


I am the leaves, I am the grass
(leaves of grass, leaves of grass)
I am the waiting as they pass
(as they pass)
I am the trap, I am the path
(trap and path)
I am the leaves, I am the grass
My tiger and me in the leaves of grass


Oh, the old elven poets knew the trick
(knew the trick, knew the trick)
How to be the many and the one
(many and one)
How to say "I am" and mean the world
(mean the world)
How to catch without a weapon drawn
How to catch without a weapon drawn


They came at the blue hour slow
When the shapes lose their names
And the first one tripped the wire low
And my tiger took the rest like rain
My tiger took the rest like rain


We did what we came to do
And the fields will keep their grain
And a child in that village will sleep tonight
Who wouldn't have slept again
Who wouldn't have slept again


So I gather up my traps and go
(gather up and go)
And my tiger walks beside
(walks beside)
And the grass stands up where we lay low
(where we lay low)
And the forest takes us back inside
The forest takes us back inside


I am the leaves, I am the grass
(leaves of grass, leaves of grass)
I was the waiting, now they've passed
(now they've passed)
I was the trap, I am the path
(trap and path)
I am the leaves, I am the grass
My tiger and me in the leaves of grass


Leaves of grass, leaves of grass
(leaves of grass)
My tiger and me in the leaves of grass
(leaves of grass)
Leaves of grass, leaves of grass

I was tracking a fox through the cedar pines
When I heard a sound no fox would make
A small voice crying in the underbrush
Where no small voice had any place
Oh, a small voice lost and low
Oh, a voice that shouldn't be alone


It was an elven child with a tear-streaked face
Saying, "I followed a fawn and lost the way"
Saying, "I don't know where my village is"
Saying, "please, oh please, can you help me today?"
Oh, what else was I gonna do
Oh, what else was I gonna do


Little elven one, little elven one
(little one, little one)
Every leaf's a wonder, every stone's a sun
(stone's a sun)
We'll get you home, little elven one
(get you home)
Little elven one, little one
My tiger walks beside us, little elven one


Well, I knew the elven camps a few days' walk
So I lifted up the child and we began
But we hadn't gone a quarter mile
When the child stopped to watch a dragonfly land
Oh, I say, "we've got to go, little one"
Oh, but the dragonfly had just begun


Now the child has found a speckled stone
Now the child is naming all the trees
Now the child is asleep beneath a fern
With a crown of clover on their knees
Oh, my tiger curls around them soft
Oh, the afternoon is lost


Little elven one, little elven one
(little one, little one)
Every leaf's a wonder, every stone's a sun
(stone's a sun)
We'll get you home, little elven one
(get you home)
Little elven one, little one
My tiger walks beside us, little elven one


Then the child wants to know my name
And the names of all the stars I know
And do I think the moon has ever dreamed
And how does a river learn to flow
Oh, I don't know, little one, I don't know
Oh, I don't know, I don't know


Oh, and somewhere past the second dusk
(second dusk, second dusk)
With the child riding on my back
(on my back)
I remember I was once that small
(once that small)
And the elders walked me down a track
And the elders walked me down a track


Oh, they must have sighed like I sigh now
(like I sigh now)
When I stopped to watch the bees
(watch the bees)
And they must have waited, must have smiled
(must have smiled)
When I asked about the seas
When I asked about the seas


Little elven one, little elven one
(little one, little one)
Every leaf's a wonder, every stone's a sun
(stone's a sun)
Take your time, little elven one
(take your time)
Little elven one, little one
My tiger walks beside us, little elven one


Well, we found the elven camp at last
(at last, at last)
And a mother ran out weeping glad
(weeping glad)
And she held the child and thanked the stars
(thanked the stars)
And she thanked this weary ranger too
And she thanked this weary ranger too


And I turned back to the path alone
(path alone, path alone)
But I stopped to watch a beetle pass
(beetle pass)
And my tiger waited, patient as the grass
(as the grass)
Every leaf a wonder, every stone a sun
Every leaf a wonder, every stone a sun

The morning light comes soft and slow
Through the green cathedral trees
And I carry an empty gathering bag
Down the path where the old ones used to lead
Oh, the forest has its daily gifts
Oh, the forest has its daily gifts


Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
(starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white)
Green words for the gathering
(green words for the gathering)
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
The old green alphabet I sing
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white


By the white oak's rooted stair
Where the silver vine climbs high
There's a leaf that drinks the moonlight in
And shines it back to the sky
Oh, starweave, oh, starweave
For the dreams I need to weave


Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
(starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white)
Green words for the gathering
(green words for the gathering)
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
The old green alphabet I sing
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white


By the stream where the stones are cool
Where the small red flowers grow
There's a leaf you steep to break a fever
There's a leaf you burn to know
Oh, heart-leaf, oh, heart-leaf
For the second sight beneath


By the stump where the old tree fell
Where the gold is soft and deep
There's a moss the elders gathered long
For the wounds too wide for sleep
Oh, bright moss, oh, bright moss
For what the body's lost


Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
(starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white)
Green words for the gathering
(green words for the gathering)
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
The old green alphabet I sing
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white


Oh, the elven teachers taught the names
(taught the names, taught the names)
Said each plant is a promise kept
(promise kept)
Said the forest never asked for thanks
(never asked)
But we thank it every step
But we thank it every step


And the last one grows where no one looks
Where the light comes strange and rare
And you cannot take it if you seek it
You can only find it there
Oh, dreaming-white, oh, dreaming-white
For the gift you cannot write


Now the bag is full and the sun is high
And the long way calls me home
And I carry the green words carefully
The way the elders shown
The way the elders shown


Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
(starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white)
Green words for the gathering
(green words for the gathering)
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white
The old green alphabet I sing
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white


Starweave, heart-leaf
(starweave, heart-leaf)
Bright moss, dreaming-white
(bright moss, dreaming-white)
Green words for the gathering
Starweave, heart-leaf, bright moss, dreaming-white

I left my tiger sleeping by the stream
And walked alone into the silver wood
Where the moon came down and touched the ground
And nothing stirred and nothing should
Oh, I went without a reason why
Oh, I went where the old songs die

And there in a glade I'd never known
Stood a creature from the oldest fables
Bright as the first word ever spoken
With a single horn and silken fur, so moonlight pale
Oh, my heart stopped soft and slow
Oh, I had no right to know

Unicorn, unicorn
(like a promise sworn)
What are you doing where I can see?
(where I can see)
Unicorn, unicorn
(like secret well-worn)
What are you doing looking at me?
What are you doing looking at me?

I have killed things in the dark green shade
I have laid my traps and I have won
I have griefs I gather with the rue
I am not the innocent one
Oh, I have no claim on you
Oh, I have no claim on you

But the unicorn stepped softly near
And the unicorn did not turn away
And the unicorn lowered its bright horn
Like it had something soft to say
Oh, I stood still as the standing trees
Oh, I stood still on my knees

Unicorn, unicorn
(like a promise sworn)
What are you doing where I can see?
(where I can see)
Unicorn, unicorn
(like a secret well-worn)
What are you doing looking at me?
What are you doing looking at me?

Oh, the old books say you come to the pure
(to the pure, to the pure)
But the old books never met this heart
(met this heart)
Maybe you come to the ones who know
(ones who know)
That they were never pure from the start
That they were never pure from the start

We walked that night through the silver wood
And the unicorn let me walk beside
And I asked no questions and made no claims
And I did not try to ride
I did not try to ride

Then the unicorn turned toward the deeper dark
Where I could not follow, could not see
And the unicorn looked back once at me
Like the leaving was a gift to me
Like the leaving was a gift to me

Unicorn, unicorn
(unicorn, unicorn)
You come and you go as you please
(as you please)
Unicorn, unicorn
(unicorn, unicorn)
And the silence is the gift you leave
And the silence is the gift you leave

Oh, my tiger woke and found me there
(found me there, found me there)
At the edge of the silver wood
(silver wood)
And my tiger knew without a word
(without a word)
Of something strange and good
Of something strange and good

And sometimes now when the moon is high
(moon is high, moon is high)
And the silver light comes down
(comes down, comes down)
I will feel a presence by my side
(by my side)
And I will not turn around
I will not turn around

Unicorn, unicorn
(like a promise sworn)
You come and you go as you please
(as you please)
Unicorn, unicorn
(like a secret well-worn)
And the silence is the gift you leave
And the silence is the gift you leave

Unicorn, unicorn
(unicorn, unicorn)
What were you doing looking at me?
(looking at me)
Unicorn, unicorn
(unicorn, unicorn)

I came down from the green wide world
Where the moss grows soft and slow
To a land of ash and broken stone
Where the black rock starts to glow
Oh, they sent a call through every land
Oh, every sword and every hand

In the shadow of Burning Hill
(Burning Hill, Burning hill)
Forty warriors strong and still
(strong and still)
In the shadow of Burning Hill
Waiting for the word to kill
In the shadow of Burning Hill

There's a dragon in the mountain's heart
Old as the world's first flame
Who will drink the rivers, burn the fields
If no one stops her game
Oh, they say she'll end us all
Oh, if no one answers the call

So I came, my tiger came with me
Though the ground burned her paws
And we stood among the gathered ranks
Of a war without a pause
Oh, the paladins with their hammers high
Oh, the mages with their fire and sky

In the shadow of Burning Hill
(Burning Hill, Burning Hill)
Forty warriors strong and still
(strong and still)
In the shadow of Burning Hill
Waiting for the word to kill
In the shadow of Burning Hill

Oh, the captains shout and the captains plan
And the shield-wall forms and reforms
(forms and reforms)
And the healers cluster in the back
(in the back)
And I stand in my leather and my doubts
And I stand in my leather and my doubts

Someone calls my name, says get in line
Says the hunters take the left
Says your bow will do what bows can do
Says we need every shaft and breath
Oh, I nod and I take my place
Oh, but the heat of the hill burns my face

'Cause I'm counting all the fighters here
(fighters here, fighters here)
And I'm counting forty blades and more
(blades and more)
And I'm wondering if the forty-first
(forty-first)
Will make any difference at the dragon's door
Will make any difference at the dragon's door

In the shadow of Burning Hill
(Burning Hill, Burning Hill)
Forty warriors strong and still
(strong and still)
Do they really need my skill?
(need my skill)

But the dragon's real and the world's at stake
And you don't walk away from a world
(from a world)
So I check my quiver and I set my jaw
And my tiger settles close to me
My tiger settles close to me

Oh, I came down from the green wide world
To stand with forty strong
(forty strong)
And I'll do what I came here to do
(came here to do)
Even if I don't belong
Even if I don't belong

In the shadow of Burning Hill
(Burning Hill, Burning Hill)
Forty warriors strong and still
(strong and still)
In the shadow of Burning Hill
One more archer, good or ill
One more archer, good or ill

In the shadow of Burning Hill
(Burning Hill, Burning Hill)
Waiting for the word to kill

Deep in the mountain's throat we pushed
Through the tunnels tight and hot
Something lunged and my tiger moved
And the eggs were where she dropped
Oh, twenty shells, oh, twenty cracks
Oh, twenty little fires hatched

Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
One falls burning, one gets loose
(thwang)
Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
My tiger's jaws, my arrow's use
(thwang, thwang)

Something bit my tiger's flank
I put an arrow through its eye
Something clawed my tiger's leg
I pulled the string and watched it fly
Oh, I called for the healer's hand
Oh, but the healer couldn't understand

Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
One falls burning, one gets loose
(thwang)
Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
My tiger's jaws, my arrow's use
(thwang, thwang)

Oh, the captain called for light and force
(for the front, for the front)
And the healers ran where the captain called
(to the front, to the front)
And I was one more archer in the back
(in the back, in the back)
Bleeding where my tiger fell
Where my tiger fell

Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
One falls burning, one gets loose
(thwang)
My tiger's tired, my tiger's slow
(slow, slow)
And the healers never show

Pull the string, let it sing
(thwang)
Watch the shaft take its wing
(thwang)
Every breath between the bow
(thwang)
Is a breath the raid won't know
Is a breath the raid won't know

Oh, my tiger's eyes found mine through the smoke
(through the smoke)
And I saw that she was hurt so bad
(hurt so bad)
And I saw that if we stayed in that fight
(stayed in that fight)
I'd lose the one good thing I had
I'd lose the one good thing I had

The raid pushed on toward the dragon's heart
They did not look behind
Little fires kept coming on
Something in me changed its mind
Something in me changed its mind

Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
One falls burning, one gets loose
(thwang)
Nock and draw, nock and loose
(thwang)
My tiger's jaws, my last excuse
(thwang, thwang)

I laid my body on the stone
And I let my breath go slow
And my tiger laid beside me there
With her heartbeat so low
Oh, we closed our eyes like we were gone
Oh, we closed our eyes like we were gone

The little fires ran past our bones
Looking for a living thing
And they did not find us lying there
And they followed after the ring
Of the raid's bright clash ahead

Hush now, hush now
We were never here
(never here, never here)
We were only air
(We were only air)

Oh, the elders taught me this
How to be the stone beneath the stone
(stone beneath the stone)
How to be the quiet in the quiet
(in the quiet)
How to lay still and not be known

And through the smoke between the shadows
Where the dark is dark on dark
Something stepped that left no mark
Oh, the unicorn was there
Oh, she was here

The unicorn bent to my tiger's flank
And the bleeding slowed and stopped
And the unicorn touched my broken side
And the hurting surely dropped
Oh, the silver horn came near
Oh, the silver horn came near

Hush now, hush now
We were never here
(never here, never here)
We were only air
(We were only air)

Oh, I heard the raid go deeper in
And I heard the captains call
And nobody called my name
(called my name)
(And nobody missed me at all
Nobody missed me at all)

And the strangest thing I ever knew
Came floating up like a song
That the world was going to be just fine
(going to be fine)
Without me coming along
Without me coming along

Oh, the raid will kill its dragon
(kill its dragon)
And the raid will take its loot
(take its loot)
And the bards will sing of forty brave
And I will not be in the song

And I found that I did not mind
And I found that I was free
(I was free, I was free)
And the unicorn looked at me again
(oh, she looked at me)
Like she knew what I had come to see
(Like she knew what I had come to see)

Hush now, hush now
We were never here
(never here, never here)
We were only air
We were only air

So I rose up slow from the mountain floor
And my tiger rose beside
And the unicorn walked us toward the light
Where the tunnels opened wide
Oh, we left the raid to its bright work
(Oh, we left the raid to its bright work)

And we stepped out into the cooling air
Where the stars were coming clear
And the mountain burned behind our backs
And we felt our own hearts near
We felt our own hearts near

Hush now, hush now
We were never here
(never here, never here)
We were only air
We were only air

Only air, only air
(only air, only air)
We were only air
(only air, only air)
Only air

I left the mountain smoking and I never looked behind
With my tiger walking steady and the stars to help me find
The long green road, the long green road
Where a ranger walks alone

I don't need forty heroes, I don't need a captain's call
There's a village down the valley with a quest for me, that's all
The long green road, the long green road
Where a ranger walks alone

Just me and my tiger on the long green road
Just me and my tiger and the stars above
(stars above)
I'd rather be questing on my own
(on my own, on my own)
Just me and my tiger in the world we love

Save a farmer from a wolfpack, clear a haunting from a mill
Track a bandit through the marshes, take the coin and take my fill
The long green road, the long green road
Where a ranger walks alone

Some folks need an army and some folks need a crowd
But a ranger's born for solo work, and I say that out loud
The long green road, the long green road
Where a ranger walks alone

Just me and my tiger on the long green road
Just me and my tiger and the stars above
(stars above)
I'd rather be questing on my own
(on my own, on my own)
Just me and my tiger in the world we love

Oh, the unicorn still visits when the moon is riding high
(moon is high, moon is high)
And the tiger walks beside me and the world goes rolling by
(rolling by, rolling by)
And the dragons get their slaying and the bards compose their tunes
(compose their tunes)
But I'd rather be questing underneath my own moons
I'd rather be questing underneath my own moons

Just me and my tiger on the long green road
Just me and my tiger and the stars above
(stars above)
I'd rather be questing on my own
(on my own, on my own)
Just me and my tiger and the ones we love

Long green road, long green road
I'd rather be questing on my own
(on my own, on my own)
Long green road, long green road
Just me and my tiger in the world we love
(in the world)
(we love)