Silvia Passiflora

Original setlist adjusted live for timing.

March 29, 2026

1. Birds and Bees by Silvia Passiflora (on Incarnata)

Birds and bees and Blue Ridge trees
Wise Cherokee rose
Love grows under the ooohs
Of the shady grove
 

Birds and bees and Appalachia knees
Gitfiddle and garden clothes
Love is a needle and thread
Of the brightest rose

Birds and bees
A pan cast in iron flows
Honey and cornbread for two
love grows by the kitchen stove

Birds and bees heed the need to grasp
Two are one when two hands clasp
Two are one when two hands clasp

2. Heart Shaped Game (The Tree Song) by Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)
 

Meet me under the redbud tree 
With its heart-shaped leaves 
Falling off the tree 
Meet me under the redbud tree 
It's all good (KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK) 
Knock on wood

Meet me under the sweet gum tree 
It has spiky thorns so step carefully 
If you should fall, my arms are free 
Meet me under the sweet gum tree 
It's all good (KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK) 
Knock on wood

Meet me under the dogwood tree
The one with the fiddle and the wagon wheel
No bouquet of flowers until the spring
Meet me under the dogwood tree
It's all good (KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK) 
Knock on wood

Love is priceless, like trees of gold 
But a ring on a tree is hard to hold 
Meet me halfway in the in-betweens
This heart-shaped game is a forest dream

Meet me halfway — 
may you choose the tree 
Before the last leaf falls 
Tell me……do you feel the same?

3. Pokeberry Letter by Silvia Passiflora (on Incarnata)

Oh My Dearest One,

I’m gonna write you a letter
In pokeberry juice that Southern heat induced
Blood red pokeberry juice, uh huh, uh huh

I squeezed it from the pokeberry
Put it in a crimson jar
Now I’m gonna write that letter
And send it from afar, uh huh, uh huh

In the grove — a Civil War
Between the North and South
My heart and head torn asunder
Love’s a battlefield and I”m going under

There’s a battle to storm the fort
Who’s winning and who’s falling short
Either way there’s fatalities
Arrows to the heart injuries, uh huh, uh huh

All the things I want to say
I’ve laid it all bare on the page
Each and every word’s a berry stain
But I can no longer refrain
I love you, there I said it, I love you

Yours, I remain,
Yours
Yours
Yours

4. Cicada Serenade by Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)

Cicada eyes like olives 
Stolen from the Tree of Knowledge 
Adam followed Madam Eve 
She was cherry grenadine 
Fellini pink lemonade 
In my cicada serenade

Leave behind your empty shell 
Let your red eyes glow 
What and who were you 13 years ago?

Sway me now and play me there
Violins and instruments 
Bossa nova licks 
In the pit where cool kids sit 
You made First Chair 
In my cicada serenade

Throw a penny in the fountain 
Wish for two more wishes 
A midday nap when hearts a-poundin' 
Shattering fiesta dishes 
You send me places 
In my cicada serenade

But at my back 
I always hear 
Times wing-ed chariot scurrying near 
And yonder all before us free 
Desserts of vast eternity!
And I propose with pancakes! And a three-tier cake!

(Response: Yes! Make mine Red Velvet please!)

Hand me the spoon 
In our kitchenette for two 
We'll leave behind our empty shells 
We'll dare to take the step 
What we know and behold 
Is the key of "G" to the kingdom

5. Ducks in a Row by Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)

Horns and trumpets blowing
Fiddlers in a row
Drummers moving dancers
But banjos steal the show

Fields of herbs in flower
Ducks and chickens and goats
Rabbits in the thicket
Trembling the oats

From the scarecrow’s tower
I see the sleeping crows
And the swans gliding in the shadows
Wearing golden bows

But in the grove of sycamores
I set the teacups down
I thought I heard a bit of thunder
And wonder with a frown:

Have I done enough for you
Have I noticed little things
Have I even said I loved you lately
Or let my actions sing

For you I”ll line my ducks in a row
For you I’ll sheer the sheep
For you I’ll gather eggs
For you I’ll harvest peas
For you, for you, for you

I vow, I will

6. Chicken Roulette by Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)

There’s a lot to learn about the world
A few odd things that I’ve observed
About the pecking order and the Holy Writ
Blessed be the henpecked for heaven they’ll inherit
Chicken roulette, chicken on your head: it’s a gamble

Chorus:
Blessed be the henpecked for heaven they’ll inherit
Blessed be the henpecked for heaven they’ll inherit
Chicken roulette, chicken on your head: it’s a gamble

Which came first: the chicken or the egg?
What do you prefer: a breast or a leg?
To be or not to be? That’s the question!
Spin the wheel, let’s make a deal!
Chicken roulette, chicken on your head: it’s a gamble

Chorus
Six of one or a half dozen of the other
Who are you? My keeper or my brother?
They say: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket
I like to say: Don’t count your chickens with a hatchet
Chicken roulette, chicken on your head: it’s a gamble

Chorus melody but these words:
Bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk bawk

Still didn’t answer the question
Of which came first, birthright of the universe
Think differently, my brother from another mother
Here’s the Golden Egg: Do Unto Others
Chicken roulette, chicken on your head: it’s a gamble

Chorus

7. The Scorpion and the Frog by Silvia Passiflora (on Florentinae: Spoken Word Concertinas in Sacred Gardens)

Once upon a time
There was a scorpion and a frog 
They were creatures of the water
They were creatures of the land 
They had a lot in common 
They were fast friends
Also they were in love

These two met at the bottom of a well
How they got there, it’s hard to tell 
But when they both started singing 
The echo of their song 
Coming out of that well
Drew the whole village out
And they were saved
By a bucket ride - outta hell

They were creatures of the water
They were creatures of the land
They had a lot in common
They were fast friends
Also they were in love

Years later, 
The scorpion came home,
Looked at the pile of dishes and said to the frog
I'm tired and I'm hungry…

8. Hurricane Lily (Lycoris radiata) by Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)

Intro: hurricane & siren sounds

After a hurricane's 
Hard driving rain 
Hurricane Lily 
On summer display

Turning heads 
Dressed hard in red 
Tendrilled flower 
On long-legged stems

Femme Fatale — Run! Run! Run!

Hell hath no fury 
Like a tropic storm queen 
An open bar for butterflies 
And beauty queens

Solo instrumental

Hurricane Lily 
On summer display 
Before her radiance 
Dissipates

9. Moon Pillow (radio version) by Silvia Passiflora (on Incarnata)

When the sun tiptoes in
I feel the cold dread within
When our last goodbyes are done
Will there be comfort in the solstice of the sun

Moon Pillow
Moon Pillow
The wolf of my heart howls

Tears falling down, down, down
Knees on the ground, ground, ground
I say goodbye tomorrow
To the one who eased my sorrow

Moon Pillow
Moon Pillow
The wolf of my heart howls

Awoo—oo—ooo!
Awoo—oo—ooo!
Awoo—oo—ooo!
Ow!

With the moon waxing and waning
And the temperature’s suddenly changing
Does this Atlanta girl say what she’s thinking
Because it would sound something like this

In my mind, we were a we
In your mind, what could we be?
I prayed your name at the midnight hour
Full-moon witchy wolfie power
On and on and on in my mind
I can hear the wedding chimes
I can see the candle lights
Don’t you see the candlelights
And you and me at dinner time
I wanna be your little spoon
And you can take my little spoon
And eat my homemade apple pie!

Moon Pillow
Moon Pillow
The wolf of my heart howls

Tears falling down, down, down
Knees on the ground, ground, ground
Say goodbye tomorrow
To the one who eased my sorrow

Moon Pillow
Moon Pillow
The wolf of my heart howls

But did I say what’s on my mind?
This is what I really said:
My love goes with you
To the end

Moon Pillow
Moon Pillow
The wolf of my heart howls

Awoo—oo—ooo!

10. Machete Mama by Silvia Passiflora (on Florentinae)

Mama with a machete
Skirt hitched up past her knees
Chopping away at a city jungle
With Bruce Lee’s expertise

She’s moved into the city
To a bungalow in town
But still hits coconuts between the eyes
And wears orchids in her crown

Still the tiger she ever was
Though the machete is used for cooking
Coconut, ginger and garlic too
It’s steamy in her kitchen

But she never dreams of island life
The pond was too small there
In the city she grows a banana tree
She’s made her garden there

11. The Man with the Blue Ukulele by Silvia Passiflora (on Florentinae)

There’s the man with the blue ukulele
In the night, framed in a dark blue light
In shades of blue
With three chords and the truth
He thinks of you
Oh oh, he’s been up since 2
Playing the blues
Playing the blues
Playing the blues

There’s a classic on the screen, it’s The Big Sleep
With a lady villain and nekkid women
By his side sleeps a long-haired rescue
Always faithful, she’s his true blue (true blue)
There’s a secret underneath the painting
There’s a woman hidden there
With long black hair
but it’s getting late
Oh, it’s getting late

And she’s been up since 2
Playing the blues, playing the blues

There’s the man with the blue ukulele
In the night, framed in a dark blue light
In shades of blue
With three chords and the truth
He thinks of you
And oh oh, he’s been up since 2
He’d go to any length, any length, any length
To be with you, playing the blues, playing the blues

12. Do Oranges Dream in Color by Silvia Passiflora (on Florentinae)

When asked about my dream recall
A spider crawled across my desk
I questioned it in black and white
And to my heart’s distress
The spider answered me in colored hues
and listed this list instead:

A dream inside a streamyard,
Bending like a willow
A tomcat dreams in red
upon a royal pillow

And the green freedom of a cockatiel
Pretending yet to be
an eagle spread upon a bed
of quilted reverie

Do ant queens scream when boiling water defeats their colony?
Do oranges dream in color?
Do salmon doubt their epic swim beyond the rushing stream?
And why is it you’re a character in my every dream?

I whispered to the talking spider,
”Why is it I can never remember?”
This is what the spider said,
“Maybe, my dear, you write the dream instead.”

13. Downtown Crazy By Silvia Passiflora (unreleased)

Atlanta streets paved 
Were once made of clay 
Now they're all named after peaches 
And I'm a-speeding down Lover's Lane! 
Wish you were here 
Wish you were here

Oh baby 
You drive me Downtown Crazy 
On three wheels 
Oh baby you drive me 
Downtown Crazy 
Downtown Crazy

City lights so bright 
Can't see the stars at night 
If it's okay with the Universe 
I'm gonna wish on a neon sign! 
Wish you were here 
Wish you were here

You’ve got me sideways
My left, your right 
I say your name like a prayer 
Not once, not twice 
I say your name like a prayer 
Five times at midnight

South by Southeast 
Down one-way-only streets 
If I'm being perfectly honest 
You're all I ever think about! 
Wish you were here Wish you were here

Chorus

Wish you were here 
Baby, I wish you were here

14. (Encore) Dear Adam by Silvia Passiflora (on Incarnata)

Dear Adam

I sent you an invitation to a festival
written on an apple
Maybe it got eaten along the way
because I'm sure you would have replied

So I sent the invite once again
tied to a balloon
Would you please accompany me
to a festival for two

Yours, 
Eve