Lyrics

Ordinary Time

Ordinary Time tells the stories of ordinary people making their way in our overstressed and over-scheduled world. Twelve thought provoking songs ponder the everyday drama and nobility of ordinary lives lived faithfully.

Ordinary Time
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music 1999

There will come a day for quiet kitchen mornings
Lunches with the girls, book clubs in the afternoon
There will come a day for chintz flowers on my sofa
Just the perfect lipstick, matching purse and shoes
There will come a day without constant interruption
Confusing all my senses, my reason and my rhyme
But for now I trip on the backpacks in the hallway
Scrub the crayon from the walls that mark this ordinary time

There will come a day for uneventful dinners
When no one drops their fork or spills their milk upon the floor
There will come a day, I’ll be wiser, I’ll be thinner
I will finish conversations before running out the door
Well, isn’t that the way it is for all those happy women
Who smile at me from magazines there in the checkout line?
What about the tired, the simple and forgotten?
Blessed be the ordinary here in ordinary time

He said “Who will feed my sheep?
Who will heed their cry?”
I said “I am vain and weak
But surely I will try
You know everything
And You know that I’m
Just an ordinary woman here in ordinary time”

There will come a day when everything is order
And I will be the queen of everything I see
But how my heart will leap to find one backpack in the hallway
With the promise of a face, and a story just for me
So may I never yearn for those cocktail conversations
Clever observations made for fashionable minds
May I finally learn to be happy and have patience
With the constant changing rhythm of this ordinary time
The constant changing rhythm of this ordinary time

I’ve Got and Idle Mind
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

I’m just walking around and wishing I looked better than I do
Walking around and wondering if I appeal to you
I’ve got no particular plans, I’m just trying to get through
Cause I’ve got an idle mind, but I don’t mind
I’ve got an idle mind

Oh the romance and excitement I see on the videos
Don’t I deserve that too? Hey, that’s what I’d like to know
These people in my life, you know, they disappoint me so
Cause I’ve got an idle mind, but I don’t mind
I’ve got an idle mind

And it’s drifting into the danger zone of
TV screens and shopping malls
Magazines and gossip calls
I’m so intrigued by it all

My mind is filled with slogans and the words to silly songs
“What’s hot, what’s not!” that’s what I’ve got to do to get along
Don’t bother me with asking ‘bout what’s right and what is wrong
Cause I’ve got an idle mind, but I don’t mind
I’ve got an idle mind

And it’s slipping into the danger zone and
I will run from solitude
Silence only wrecks my mood
Give me life with attitude
Cause I’ve got an idle mind

It’s leading me into temptation
Endless hours of agitation

An idle mind, but I don’t mind
An idle mind, but I don’t mind
An idle mind

Plenty of Time
©Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

She slams on the brakes, worried ’bout that appointment
There’s so much left to be done
A styrofoam breakfast and a portable crib
The morning has just begun
She searches the faces in the rear view mirror
Reaches round to put a shoe back on
A “Love you so much” and a “See you tonight”
And she’s gone

And she thinks she’s got plenty of time to come back home again
A couple of years to find herself, then she’ll come look for them
Till then they’ll keep just fine, she’s got plenty of time

Room service knocks with an open- faced sandwich
He’s clearing a space on the bed
This was the night for his home again flight
But he got delayed here instead
He picks up the phone to say,” How did the game go?”
And “Be sure and take care of Mom”
A “Miss you so much” and a “See you next week” and he’s gone

And he thinks he’s got plenty of time to come back home again
A couple of years to make his mark, then he’ll be there for them
Till then they’ll keep just fine, he’s got plenty of time

My, oh my, how the babies cry
How the years go by
When there’s plenty of time

Yes they think they’ve got plenty of time to come back home to them
A safer car, a bigger house, a better life for them
Till then they’ll keep just fine, yes there’s plenty of time

I Am the Wife of a Busy Man
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

I am the wife of a busy man
I am the wife of a busy man
He says “Catch me, catch me if you can”
I am the wife of a busy man

When he’s home, there’s not a lot to say
When he’s home there’s not a lot to say
Except “What a busy, busy day”
When he’s home, there’s not a lot to say

And he thinks he owns all his time
And it’s more valuable than mine
Wasted youth is such a crime
Will he ever take a look behind?

I think I’ve lost the remote control
I think I’ve lost the remote control
Oh, Lord come fill this lonely soul
I think I’ve lost the remote control

Heaven help me, help me please
Help me get through times like these
I will kneel and I will stand
I’m the wife of a busy man

I am the wife, I am the wife
I am the wife of a busy man
I am the wife, I am the wife
I am the wife of a busy man

What I Wouldn’t Give
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

It was a simpler time
And it was easy to be true
Such a happy time
There was me and there was you

But how the years go by
There was so much I had to prove
And I suppose that I
Just lost track of me and you

But what I wouldn’t give to see those silly eyes
Daring me to laugh, I never realized
There would come a day, so serious and small
And what I wouldn’t give is what’s hurt me most of all

And I’m sure I can’t explain
Why it hit so hard today
That old familiar pain
Of not knowing what to say

But what I wouldn’t give to see those silly eyes
Daring me to laugh, I never realized
There would come a day, so serious and small
And what I wouldn’t give is what’s hurt me most of all

Time is a treasure, it comes from above
Time is the measure and maker of love
I tried to keep it all to myself
I wouldn’t share it with anyone else

But what I wouldn’t give to see those silly eyes
Daring me to laugh, I never realized
There would come a day, so serious and small
And what I wouldn’t give is what’s hurt me most of all
Yes what I wouldn’t give is what’s hurt me most of all

Above It All
©Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

It’s so predictable, how he sits and slurps his coffee in the morning
And by now I’ve come to know when he’ll be too late for dinner, no I don’t need any warning
And even though my eyes are open I can dream that I am flying far away
To another place and time or maybe just above it all
Till it’s time to come down and face the day

Lately he looks at me, and it’s more than he can do to crack a smile
And I wonder what he sees, no he hasn’t mentioned that, not for a long, long while
And even though his eyes are open, is he dreaming that he’s flying far away?
To another place and time or maybe just above it all
Till it’s time to come down and face the day

Above it all, maybe we could meet somewhere above it all
Somewhere before our fall, into this world of gravity
Above it all, surely we could meet again above it all
And even though our eyes are open, if we try we just might see
The simple noble beauty there in him and here in me
And in this same old place and time lift up our hearts and truly be
Above it all

Lifeline
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music 1999

Just before she checked out with her groceries
She took a detour down aisle seventeen
She waited till she thought no one was looking
Grabbed a test and hid it in a magazine
She’d take it in the morning, no one had to know
She had her suspicions, but all that really showed
was…

Just a little Lifeline peeking through the window
Mother can you see me, Mother did you know?
I could be a boy scout, I could be a ballerina
Don’t you want to find out, don’t you want to know?

Seems like nothing ever turns out like she planned it
And she could not afford one more surprise
But even though she knew no one would understand it
She was picturing the fingers and the eyes
What would people say?
They’d roll their eyes and sneer
Blind her with the light of reason
Cripple her with fear

Oh, but God sent her a Lifeline, will she have the heart to take it?
Will we ever find out, will we ever know?
God sent her a Lifeline, the angels pray that she will take it
Save her from herself, let the child within her grow

Let her be a sign of contradiction
Let them revel in the scandal of it all
But Truth is more powerful than fiction
Let her hear the sweetness of the Call

Of just a little Lifeline peeking through the window
Mother can you see me, Mother did you know?
I could be a boy scout, I could be a ballerina
Don’t you want to find out, don’t you want to know?

God sent her a Lifeline, will she have the heart to take it?
Will we ever find out, will we ever know?
God sent her a Lifeline, the angels pray that she will take it
Save her from herself, let the child within her grow
Save her from herself, let the child within her grow

I Live Next To a Highway
© Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

I live next to a highway
And the cars, they speed on by
To schools and jobs and meetings
While I sit, and watch them fly
Surrounded by a chain link fence
The kids are safe inside
I live next to a highway
And the cars, they speed on by

He comes home in the evening
And he’s hungry and he’s tired
So he sits down in the easy chair
And the kids, they all go wild
Saying, ”Daddy won’t you give me
Just one horsey ride?”
He comes home in the evening
And he’s hungry and he’s tired

But when the day is done and they’re sleeping in their beds
We steal into their rooms and we smell their precious heads
And bathe there in the peace of their breath so soft and low
And thank You for the company of these gentle souls

I live next to a highway
And I probably always will
Someday they’ll learn to drive away
But I will be here still
Remembering these voices
And how the days were filled
I live next to a highway
And I probably always will
I live next to a highway
And I probably always will

You Know Where I Am
©Marie Bellet, Ordinary Time Music, 1999

She was eighteen when she left the nest
She would be different, like all of the rest
Of those sassy young girls who knew better than
To give up their lives for some kids and a man
And she learned to be tough
And of course staying home would just not be enough
But when she falls apart every once in a while
She calls her mother, who says with a smile…

You know where I am, you know how to find me
Come on home again, you know where I am

A few years and a man
Two kids and a plan
To compete and to have it all
A pretty neat trick
Till someone gets sick
But of course then she knows she can call
The one who always cares
The one she takes for granted will always be there
When it all falls apart every once in a while
She calls her mother, who says with a smile…

You know where I am, you know how to find me
Come on home again, you know where I am

She was rushing to a meeting when a school bus stopped ahead
So she had to watch the children cross and laugh and toss their heads
And their happiness cut through her, she was really not prepared
To face the road not taken, she sat frozen as she stared
Her heart raced to find the piece that was missing in her life
It raced to find the peace of a mother and a wife

You know where I am, you know how to find me
Come on home again, you know where I am
Come on home again, you know where I am

She was beginning to feel some agitation on Saturday afternoon
A restless and wild imagination went spinning around the room
Nothing to eat in the kitchen
Nothing to watch down the hall
Clearly something was missing
What could she do?
She went to the mall!

Windows of fashions for mid-income shoppers
So many new things to wear
She never had been especially sought after
Perhaps if she changed her hair
It only would take a few minutes, she eagerly sat on the stool
The transformation was finished, he lifted her head…
She looked like a fool!

“Mother, hear me, Father, steer me
Somebody heal me, I can’t conceal me”

Was it all a bad dream? with the mannequins laughing
She made her way back to the car
Though she didn’t know why she could not help remembering
St. Mary’s was really not far
The doors all wooden and heavy protected the light there inside
Feeling a little unsteady she sank to her knees and she cried
She silently cried…

“Mother, hear me, Father, steer me
Somebody heal me, I can’t conceal me”

“If you have been ridiculed, I have called your name
Come and lay your burden down, I will ease your pain”

“Bless me now for I have fallen, I fallen down
It’s been years since I have called, now I’m pressed to the ground…

And how many years must I go through this life feeling so awfully alone?
I work out at the popular health club but still, nobody rings the phone
Something I heard from my mother
Lately it runs through my head
If you want to be loved so by others
Try loving them first instead
Love them first instead”

“You are empty, I can fill you
I can fill your soul
I can make you beautiful
I can make you whole”

She was beginning to feel some agitation on Saturday afternoons

If only I had paid attention just a little longer
I always thought by now I would have been a little stronger
Maybe then the evening hours wouldn’t feel so dark
If only I could offer You a pure and constant heart

Yet another resolution tries to ease my shame
But it still seems such a burden by the middle of the day
When it’s any comfort or distraction, anything at all
I’ve no patient sacrifices, no, none I can recall

Oh, late have I loved You, my Beautiful One
Too long have I waited, the day’s come and gone
Forgive me, forgive me, so much left undone
Late have I loved You my Beautiful One

Your innocent body is strength and life
Your trusting eyes cut through me with a healing knife
Oh, bend me and break me any way that You will
Mold me and make me, be with me still

Oh, late have I loved You, my Beautiful One
Too long have I waited, the day’s come and gone
Forgive me, forgive me, so much left undone
Late have I loved You my Beautiful One
Late have I loved You my Beautiful One

They wandered into the “New Age/Self Help” section
And lost ten years chasing self-absorbed perfection
What else could they do in a world gone wild
That looks for hope in horoscopes, then kills the unborn child?

They said “One man’s truth is as good as any other”
And “Man created God to control his brother”
But for all that freedom still they wailed and moaned
Then in non-judgmental rage they stormed the family and the home

But the man of the house was waiting for them at the door
Noble and wise, he exposes their lies on the floor
And he fights the good fight ‘cause there’s wrong and there’s right
There are things worth losing for
He fights the good fight ‘cause there’s wrong and there’s right
There are things worth losing for

And hope shines through each crisis, it transforms the common man
It flows from tabernacles all across this blessed land
Listen now, it’s singing from those souls still without names
Borne along by soldiers strong, protectors of the flame

And the man of the house is waiting for them at the door
Weathered and strong, he will lead them along on the floor
And they’ll fight the good fight ‘cause there’s wrong and there’s right
There are things worth losing for
They’ll fight the good fight ‘cause there’s wrong and there’s right
There are things worth losing for

Lyrics

What I Wanted To Say

Lighten Up