Persephone, Speaking For Herself

[bnewman]

One of the wonderful things about Persephone is that She is a many-faced goddess who means different things to different people.  Vixy's original song uses the myth of Persephone to tell a story that's deeply personal to her.  For myself, I felt moved to borrow the tune to capture what Persephone means to me as a devotee — but that's something that has changed over time.  When I first began working on this song during the intensely initiatory Year of Madness, it came out quite different, not just lyrically but theologically.  I had to set the half-written song aside for a long time and come back and finish it when I knew Her — and myself — a great deal better.

lyrics by Benjamin Newman

ttto: "Persephone" by Michelle Dockrey

listen to this song
 

/ Am - - Em / - F Em F / 1st / - F - G - - - /

 

Dearest mother, dearest husband, will your quarrel never end?

If your realms are not to break then you must both agree to bend

If you fight over me forever, Earth will never heal at all

Let me offer you a compromise: a dance of Spring and Fall

 

/ C - Em F - / Em F Em F / G - - - /

 

Life and Death must dance a circle, if they will not be at war

As a child I didn't know that

But I am not a child anymore

 

/ C - F - / C F C - / 1st / C - Am - - - /

 

You still see the girl in the meadow

As tender and sweet as the rose

And you only saw me in shadow

And both of you held me too close

 

When you both presume to claim me, do you still not understand?

I'm keeping both my realms, both Life and Death beneath my hand

For neither of you will I play the innocent you've known

I chose this fate on purpose and for reasons of my own

 

And as you fight to keep the maiden, in your longing and your rage

You both forget I am a goddess, too

And every maiden someday comes of age

 

But you only knew me as lover

And you only knew me in youth

If you never knew me in power

Then how can you know me in truth?

 

/ Am - C - / / F - C - / - F C F / C F Am - - - /

 

And if you never knew my truth, then do you truly know yourselves?

Have a maiden's kisses left you quite so silent, grim and fell?

And have you learned rage and anguish, who knew only tender care?

When you step into my story, when you follow in my way

You find parts of you you never knew were there

 

Do you still think me the sort of girl who knows not what she's done?

When I tasted of those fateful seeds, I savored every one

I savored Summer's sweetness and I savored Winter's chill

It's not easy loving both of you, but by my Name I will

 

And I will hold both Life and Death within the circle of my heart

To see you reconciled, I promise

I will think of you whenever we're apart

 

And those who would grow in my garden

Must follow the path of the seed

Embrace both the light and the darkness

Only then will you know me indeed