Posted in: Uncategorized | No Comments | Posted on December 16, 2011 by Rod

Lyrics written with Cindy Carver. I would say that this song was the impetus for a year-long project, gathering music of the past 40 years, primarily guitar songs that for most part I had never recorded, and placing them into one album. The song is a bit of a through-composed piece, with a few threads of recurring snippets of words. “Fifth element”, “Fly and dream” and “bumblebee” are the key phrases and/or images. I would not recommend this type of lyric for beginning writers; however somehow this song seems to make sense and have a lot of energy. It mimics the sort of free-form thought that I borrowed from Cindy, in emails we were writing to each other in Nov of 2010. She is a fellow runner, we hit it off and started writing rather prolifically for a while, just sharing life, hopes, dreams. It was exhilirating to have the kind of energy exchange we were having, but short-lived… life takes all kinds of strange twists. The relationship has cooled, but the song lives on… and she has given permission to include the song in this collection. The structure of the song is somewhat fragmented, introducing new material until about 3/4 of the way through, with only repetitions of phrases to give it coherence. The imagery must be strong enough to carry through the theme of the song, for there is no resolution, no fulfillment, only a free-flowing toss up into the wind… like the relationship. Guitar is the main instrument, with support of piano, bass, drums, and the cello, which is the voice of coherence and yet flight. Great rock contribution by studio engineer Stephen (Stefen) John…Rod on 1st electric solo, 2nd by Stephen.
Full lyrics are included also on the website under “music”:

Fifth element, the quintessential thing
The most perfect embodiment of something
Pure and concentrated essence, the quintessential thing
Fifth element

Fire, earth, air, and water, we’re above these heavenly bodies
We’re not these things but still we are the quintessential thing

So it’s “no” to Don of “Mad Men”
and “no” to lover’s trysts
but giving free, and surprisingly
it’s just no more than this!
(just no more than this)

To walk outside your door one day and stand there in the sun
On a cool November morning, and feel the comfort of this one;
There’s (no) danger in the moment, but for once
let’s step outside
to an eternal bond of kinship,
and let’s go just for the ride! (for the ride)

Finding flight in flightless bodies
with forgotten wings of light
in my nonsense or no-nonsense
but standing out of sight
I come in like the rain and push you forward, push you harder
on the no-hurt path, but sadness at what’s been left behind
open up our hearts to love and dream, you’re like the bumblebee-
set to fly and dream, and fly and dream,
and dream and fly and dream
(set to fly and dream)

These hearts have taken flight
and now we’re walking in God’s light
if anyone should listen here, they too would hear Him call
and find that same Fifth Element inside their hearts
that beat within and yet inspire song
and set the bumblebee to fly
to some far distant home,
Fly and dream, fly and dream,
set to fly and dream”

–”Fifth Element”, Rod Phillips, lyrics by RP and CC