Tiger Lilly Road

When I was a younger man
 I traveled where the compass spanned
 The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
 And Tiger Lily Road
 The narrow street, sloping room
 The fishing weirs and the horses' hooves
 The gold dust light on the purple hills
 Always the river
 I was sent on some exchange
 To learn the language, I got paid
 Doing dishes in a waterfront café
 Evenings, I would wander home
 Past rocking chairs, hushed Gallic tones
 The knitting needles click the Rosary
 What was it about those times?
 I seemed to have a clearer mind
 My footsteps knew their purpose then
 Down Tiger Lily Road
 Perhaps it was the known routine
 The simple work, my thoughts were free
 To roam the hills of mon pays
 Always the river
 Perhaps it was the vesper hymns
 The priests who prayed for my sins
 The golden light upon the rim of hills
 The steeple cast its shadow long
 The afterglow, it lingered on
 I knew myself better then I know
 Weekends, I would take my pack
 Les Escoumins or Tadoussac
 The path before me lay the world
 Down Tiger Lily Road
 The bold cliffs of the Saguenay
 We'd watch the Fins and the White Whales play
 Why you could make Ste. Rose in two days
 And yet I see it clearly now
 That I was ripe for a fall
 No priest within his solitude
 On Tiger Lily Road
 I think about that time and when
 Walking home one evening when
 We played the game of eyes
 And that was all she wrote
 The name she bore – Marie Lafleur
 Her father owned the corner store
 At the corner of Redemption
 And Tiger Lily Road
 And yes, I'd seen Marie before
 But dreams are hopes and nothing more
 I found myself at your door
 Dreams to deliver
 But it seems you knew more than me
 The greater fool too blind to see
 That you yourself were drawn to me
 As drawn to that river
 That evening as I wandered home
 Our steps were matched and not alone
 The circumstance, it had been sown
 I smile to remember
 Oh, I think about those days
 I wandered 'round in a haze
 Somewhere above the cobbled streets
 Of Tiger Lily Road
 And the cook, he'd shake his spoon and laugh
 I see the mouse has caught the cat
 You are lost and that is that
 Lost to the river
 But every moment we could spend
 We spent together without end
 Though shadows, they were lengthening
 Down Tiger Lily Road
 I guess we chose not to see
 That time was now the enemy
 We had forever you and me
 We had forever
 We had forever...
 So back into those hills, we tramped
 Malbaie – Les Éboulements
 Marie and I together off down
 Tiger Lily Road
 But Marie held a different key
 She showed me new eyes to see
 The blue and white, the fleur de lys
 And always the river
 As the evenings were lost to song
 Leclerc, Vigneault, Harmonium
 I even tried to sing along
 I tried to sing along
 But the more I saw, the less I knew
 And a fear inside me grew
 As the meteors of August flew
 I could not tell you
 That I am not bound to these hills
 These narrow streets, your sharpened will
 Ce n'est pas mon pays
 This Tiger Lily Road
 And as the first days of autumn turned
 The wedges flew and the maples burned
 With promises to return
 I could not deliver
 I did not know myself the truth
 The shallow callousness of youth
 I believed I'd see you
 Come next summer
 But next summer came and I moved west
 The tiger lilies bloomed, I guess
 Was it the same for you?
 I sometimes wonder...
 As I drive the north shore near your town
 The radio off – the windows down
 Something made me turn on down
 Tiger Lily Road
 That narrow street, it was unchanged
 But that door – it's not the same
 And suddenly, I'm lost again
 On Tiger Lily Road
 Why, do you know Redemption Street?
 I ask the people that I meet
 There is no Redemption Street
 Please try to remember
 But do you know Marie Lafleur?
 Her father owned the corner store
 Je regrette, we don't know her
 Please try to remember
 The river splashed a thousand suns
 I cursed myself, why had I come?
 The past cannot be found
 On Tiger Lily Road
 Searching for some speck of time
 A puzzle piece – a clear through line
 Something that could be defined
 As yours as mine
 And now, I doubt myself
 These events belong to someone else
 Did we ever walk down
 Tiger Lily Road?
 But now, I begin to see
 As myth entwines our history
 We have forever, you and me
 We have forever
 We have forever...
 So, when I was a younger man
 I traveled where the compass spanned
 The cobbled streets of Baie St. Paul
 And Tiger Lily Road