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Once Upon A TimeOnce upon a time I dreamed there were castlesAnd you were a princess once upon a time Once upon a time I dreamed of a kingdom Of a far magic land once upon a time In those days there were dragons and witches and wise men And a man could live by the strength in his arm And the strongest and bravest of all was the king And he kept his kingdom safe from all harm But the king had a brother, Black John was his name The wealth of the kingdom he claimed for his own While the king was off fighting in a far away war He captured the princess and stole the king's throne The princess he locked deep in a castle Hid far away from the light of the day In a message he sent to the king he demanded A ransom and the kingdom or the princess he'd slay Now the king loved his daughter she was the fairest in the kingdom He couldn't bear the thought of her slain So he gave up his kingdom and he paid a king's ransom Just to have his fair princess safe once again But Black John betrayed him, took the kingdom and the ransom And kept the fair princess in prison instead The king took to hiding in the clothes of a beggar For Black John to his soldiers had ordered him dead Once upon a time a king lost his kingdom For the love of a princess once upon a time Once upon a time he wandered his kingdom Searching for his true love once upon a time Now I was a traveler, I sang for my silver And the king in his sorrow I chanced for to find He told me his story and said if I found her The princess and the kingdom would forever be mine He told of her beauty and the wealth of his kingdom And heartened by ale a bold plan we did brew He taught me the song that the princess loved dearest Learned from the king's father, that no one else knew Once upon a time there were kings and castles And a beautiful princess once upon a time Once upon a time I went merrily singing Dreaming of a true love once upon a time Next morning I went off merrily singing Days passed to weeks as I traveled along To each town I would go in search of a princess And to every castle I sang the same song At last in a forest dark and forbidding One night by the light of a fairy tale moon I heard a voice join in my singing Someone else in the darkness who knew that old tune But it was no princess, just an old man there singing He said there's a verse to that song you should know His voice like the smoke from the lantern he carried As he sang me that song from long, long ago Once upon a time I know of a castle And a princess who's locked there once upon a time And I know a secret door to the castle For I, too, was kept there once upon a time The forest grew darker as three days I spent riding To the walls of a castle so cold I arrived A song for the captain, gold coins for the soldiers Some ale for the jailer and I was inside And once in the castle I began loudly singing Hear me can you hear me once upon a time And once upon a time I heard a sweet voice answer Singing right with me once upon a time And into the night we fled on swift horses Never heeding the darkness or the wind as it blew For our love was so true and our horses never faltered Straight back to the king like falcons we flew With his princess now safe he took his brave men And they silently stole to that castle so dark And evil Black John was no match for the king For his sword was guided by the love in his heart It was total surprise and the battle a short one When through the secret door went the king and his men And evil Black John was slain by the king And the kingdom and the princess were safe once again And once upon a time I had a castle and a kingdom And a beautiful princess once upon a time Once upon a time I went merrily singing And found my true love once upon a time Once upon a time I dreamed there were castles And you were a princess once upon a time Once upon a time I dreamed of a kingdom Of a far magic land once upon a time (© 1990 by Harvey Reid) As recorded on #108 "Circles" As re-released on #126 "Capo Voodoo: Songs" |