Maria began as a guitar instrumental in my back yard one afternoon among the pigeons.  The song itself  began to take shape on the L'isle d'Orleans, not far from Quebec City, sitting among the trees in back of a small country Inn, looking out across a vast green leafy field toward the poplars that run along a distant road.  It is a song of healing... about trying to rest in the assurance of ones life having a purpose in the face of a dehumanizing world.  As my friend Tyrone Hawkins, aka. "Walnut" puts it...  "We struggle!" 

The birds you hear just before the song begins are the pigeons that inhabit my back yard garden that I mention them description of These Are the Days.  I wanted them to be on that song instead, but the prima donnas showed up late for the session.

MARIA    

Midway on the journey of our life
I find myself deep in a forest dark and green
The path that I've been following lost
like a half forgotten dream

I cannot go  back the way I came
And all I see in front of me is difficult terrain
Then the smell of pungent leaves
Then the sound
of a gently falling rain

Oh Maria
Tell me I'm not wrong
That every step just takes me closer
To the place where I belong
'Cause I can hear your sweet voice singing
I'm just down here trying to learn your song

Oh Maria
Tell me what it means
is that your voice that I keep hearing
Or is it just a dream
'Cause I believe that you are with me
But sometimes your so far behind the scenes

Last night I woke up from a dream
Frightened and confused
I couldn't remember where I'd been
And even my own home looked unfamiliar
Sinister and strange

So I walked out into the midnight air
Wrapped in mortal mysteries
In the depths of my despair
Beneath the ripened Autumn moon
I heard your sweet voice carry on the air

Oh Maria
Tell me what it means
is that your voice that I keep hearing
Or is it just a dream
'Cause I know that you are with me
But sometimes your so far behind the scenes

Oh Maria
Tell me I'm not wrong
That every step just takes me closer
To the place where I belong
'Cause I can hear your sweet voice singing
I'm just down here trying to learn your song
John Boehmer    © 2004