TURNING TOWARD THE MORNING

(by Gordon Bok)

When the deer has bedded down
  And the bear has gone to ground,
And the northern goose has wandered off
  To warmer bay and sound,
It's so easy in the cold to feel
  The darkness of the year
And the heart is growing lonely
  For the morning

	Oh, my Joanie, don't you know
	  That the stars are swinging slow,
	And the seas are rolling easy
	  As they did so long ago?
	If I had a thing to give you,
	  I would tell you one more time
	That the world is always turning
	  Toward the morning

Now October's growing thin
  And November's coming home;
You'll be thinking of the season
  And the sad things that you've seen,
And you hear that old wind walking,
  Hear him singing high and thin,
You could swear he's out there singing
  Of your sorrow

	Oh, my Joanie, don't you know ...

When the darkness falls around you
  And the north wind come to blow,
And you hear him call you name out
  As he walks the brittle snow:
That old wind don't mean you trouble,
  He don't care or even know,
He's just walking down the darkness
  Toward the morning

	Oh, my Joanie, don't you know ...

It's a pity we don't know
  What the little flowers know
They can't face the cold November
  They can't take the wind and snow:
They put their glories all behind them,
  Bow their heads and let it go,
But you know they'll be there shining
  In the morning

	Oh, my Joanie, don't you know ...

Now, my Joanie, don't you know
  That the days are rolling slow,
And the winter's walking easy,
  As he did so long ago?
And, if that wind would come and ask you,
  "Why's my Joanie weeping so?"
Wont you tell him that you're weeping
  For the morning?

	Oh, my Joanie, don't you know ...

recording: Gordon Bok, Ann Mayo Muir, & Ed Trickett (1975) [YouTube]

liner notes: Gordon Bok's liner notes (1975) [Mudcat Cafe]

notes: song review [Linda Leinen]