Fortunate Island

All the stars and waters
Lay the path
The nine, cauldron, and head
Fruiting trees
That never need
The plough or gardner's hand
All the oldest songs
That sing of kings
And apples that fell
Did the poison gas
And ancient maps
Really point to Turtle Shell?

If you can read
The bending trees
It could be an injured branch
Or it could lead
To thing you need
To survive the wilderness
An animal with a intellect and will
to damp defeat
There’s one family in the leaves and stones
The others in the breeze

A giant sat to rest on stone
And decided it was home
And spirit slept in nothingness
And worked when he was woken
From a mighty height, geese take flight
Until the fall is broken
From a mighty height, geese take flight
Until the fall is broken

Serpents and bees are swatted
Taxing each attempt
Is there fortunate island
If there are no apples left?
And now I’m sucking on a purple stone
And my lips are bleeding from the spines
And now I’m digging in a deep burrow
For a spring that hasn’t dried

All songs recorded in Marfa, Texas 2025. 1. Automobile Headlights or Small Campfires (opening) 2. The Criminal's Goodnight 3. Big Road Blues 4. Moving North 5. All of My Heroes 6. Big Black Cat, Big Blue Mountain 7. The River Moves 8. Fortunate Island 9. Glass and Comb (The Mermaid) 10. Transpose 11. Moon Going Down (interlude) 12. I'll See You in the Dark. All songs by Phil Boyd except The Criminal's Goodnight (Boyd/Traditional), Big Road Blues (Boyd/Johnson/Traditional), Glass and Comb aka The Mermaid (Boyd/Traditional). All instruments and voices Phil Boyd, except 'misty winds' guitar on Glass and Comb by Nick Terry and backing vocals on I'll See You in the Dark by Abby Boyd. Susquehanna River photo contributions by Elias Huebner. Thanks to Abby Boyd, Eli Huebner, Nick Terry, School of Song, and everyone who encouraged me to make this record.