Patti LuPone - Meadowlark (Introduction) lyrics

When I was a girl, I had a favorite story Of the meadowlark who lived where the rivers wind Her voice could match the angels in its glory But she was blind, the lark was blind An old king came and took her to his palace Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid And he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice and he prayed "Sing for me, my meadowlark Sing for me of the silver morning Set me free, my meadowlark And I'll buy you a priceless j**el And cloth of brocade and cruel And I'll love you for life if you will, sing for me" Then one day as the lark sang by the water The god of the sun heard her in his flight And her singing moved him so, he came and brought her The gift of sight, he gave her sight And she opened her eyes to the shimmer and the splendor Of this beautiful young god, so proud and strong And he called to the lark in a voice both rough and tender "Come along fly with me, my meadowlark Fly with me on the silver morning Past the sea where the dolphins bark We will dance on the coral beaches Make a feast of the plums and peaches Just as far as your vision reaches, fly with me" But the meadowlark said no for the old king loved her so She couldn't bear to wound his pride So the sun god flew away and when the king came down that day He found his meadowlark had died, every time I heard that part I cried And now I stand here, starry-eyed and stormy Oh, just when I thought my heart was finally numb A beautiful young man appears before me Singing, "Come, oh won't you come?" And what can I do if finally for the first time The one I'm burning for returns the glow If love has come at last it's picked the worst time Still I know I've got to go Fly away, meadowlark Fly away in the silver morning If I stay, I'll grow to curse the dark So it's off where the days won't bind me I know, I leave wounds behind me But I won't let tomorrow find me back this way Before my past once again can blind me, fly away And we won't wait to say goodbye My beautiful young man and I