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

Generous (Springfield, MO) and seasoned fiddle player George Geisser

(Branson, MO) on the low-strung 5 string fiddle are the only other

musicians on the album (OK, theres a cameo electric guitar solo on “5th

Element” by superb engineer/technician Stephen “Jimi” John). So, Rod

plays 3 kinds of guitars, bass, piano, cello, keyboards, chromatic and

blues harmonicas, Indian flute, whistle, and classical flute, mandolin,

banjo, celtic harp, & alto saxophone, and sings all the parts a la

Crosby, Stills, and Nash (it’s widely known that parts of their songs

were doubled by the lead vocalist on the track). That’s around fifteen

instruments, but who’s counting? The important part of the music is

the lyrics, tone, and delivery of the songs. They are art songs, songs

of family, reminiscence, longing, life, and love, with impeccable

lyrics and sometimes great stories. To put a singer in a category is

dangerous but Rod is not a rapper, not a blues singer, not a country

singer per se… if you’re looking for a wailer, you won’t find it

here. There’s much emphasis on the clarity of the lyrics and a

dependence on the form of the song, its poetry, for its impact. Rod

collaborates with a few other lyricists on the album, whom,he says “were a great

source of the inspiration for recording it, namely my friends Dale

Tower, Bob Rommage, and Cindy Carver, and a fine contribution

lyrically by Bill Smith (in Omaha, NB, anybody know how to contact him?) for ‘She Reminds Me of Montana’. Thanks especially to my ‘old’ friend Dale and my ‘new’ friend Cindy… I would never have recorded this album without their inspiration and support.”