1. |
this wayward place
04:12
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there are stones that are stones and will not be food
even for the mouth of god
there are heights so high if you fly from them
no wings will match your fall
there are riches your hands will only hold
the day in which you've disowned your soul
beasts of the wilderness
come and caress my aching bones
angels in this wayward place
come and teach me what it means
to be alone
now i'm about five times the size that i was when i was a child, flying through the air and falling into my father's arms. i don't believe that there is anything left to catch me but my own two feet. it's good, but it's not as good as it used to be.
beasts of the wilderness
come and caress my aching bones
angels in this wayward place
come and teach me what it means
to be alone
father, break my fall
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2. |
moms and pops
02:29
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this goes out to moms and pops, to ancient matriarchs who couldn't help but make magic at their talks late at night, just tellin' how it happened, and to fathers of old who spoke so slowly they were never heard, the weight of their words was light compared to the look in their eyes, but the look in their eyes did not burn quite for the coolness with which they moved, like huge stones under dark water, like the glaciers that so patiently cut and carved the face of the world.
we have learned a lot, ruttin' around in the mud that we called lovely. the seeds down here taste sweet and the roots smell good, but the undersides of the flowers and leaves have drawn our eyes up and out so that we have reached our fingers toward our origin. each and every constellation wants to lick at the lines of dirt on my palms, and i let them; i give it to them freely. take me up and out! but having kept most of my body behind, stretch just this little bit thin like a wire so that i might tether the earth to the sky; for i am only one of many fine threads, so many sisters, singing together, we have cast our net into the night. we will not be lost down here.
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3. |
dropped us here
03:04
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we're all breathing the blood of our mother's womb
we're all swimming i in the flood of our fathers who
dropped us here
we're all leaning on the lenses of our father's eye
we're all cringing and unhinging as our mother's cry
dropped us here
give me music like a sign along the road
an ancient word so that i might know
which way to turn, when it's dark and when it's quiet
direct my mind, my soul
you can drop me here!
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4. |
lord, why?
02:58
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i was born, a barefoot baby, in the church
a barefoot little child, a long haired barefoot hippy
but one day i looked down
and saw that everybody else
had come with boots on
i saw jesus
pissin' on a railroad tie
i saw my father
runnin' on along behind
i heard jesus
sayin' "boy this is my last time!"
i heard my father
he cried! he cried! he cried!
i heard jesus
sayin' "here it comes, now, down the line!"
i heard my father
"why, lord? why? lord, why?"
i saw jesus
just standin' with his hands at his sides
i saw my father
he was runnin' with his hands held high
and i saw that freight-train
a blur as it barreled by
blind! blind! blind!
i saw my father
on the floor with his head in the sky
i heard my father
he said "i tried! i tried! i tried!"
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5. |
all of this shit
03:31
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brother, find your own way home; the father holds a fishing rod.
mother, cries "you let them alone! your nets confine a living god!"
sister signs for a deaf young man
"to your eyes i commit my hands."
daughter sings for a boy, born blind
"i give you my words; i give you my eyes."
we caught the human heart between beats, pinned it to the oak lid of a stone decanter and soaked it in old wine which to some tasted sour, to some sad, to some fine, but you and i are mad! we've loosed the bonds that would bind us back, traded our futures on souped up, break-neck, high-tech steeds, faster than the speed of light! it used to be you could at least see what was comin' down the line but now there is no time -not even to be terrified- and the way is wide that swallowed our eyes and inside there is only darkness. "oh how great is that darkness!" she cried, out on the streets, in the alleyways, by candlelight.
but we're lucky now to have such a long-suffering father, such a patient god -what are you waitin' on?- because if it was up to us, we would have cut the chord, we would have pulled the plug, we would have shut the door, and then we would not have had to learn shit. no one on earth would have heard of all of this shit!
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6. |
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now grandad's dead and gone, and dad is workin' on it. i put my hand to the plow but, god, i'm sick of tillin' the ground. the clouds are watchin' me work! at war with the water and at war with the earth. at war!
but every stone in the river knows the ease with which she teaches even the hardest of us, and we will all fall -no matter how tall- when our time comes.
goliath, you were only a man, and david was as smooth as the stones he used, but i've got teath for tools, and i sleep with my boots on. i leave the dance floor in ruins, nobody tells me what i am to be doin'!
samson, you brought the house down, but you were bound and you were blind. nobody puts out my eyes! nobody leads me around! i splinter the dance floor. i drink for free. i do not fear the lord; the lord fears me!
cain, murderous first-born, chaos lurks around your door. god gave you the ground. she knew you'd misuse it. your great, great, great, great grandson's gonna make music!
now grandad's dead and gone, and dad is workin' on it. i put my hand to the plow but, god, i'm sick of tillin' the ground. the clouds are watchin' me work! at war with the water! at war with the earth!
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7. |
enough
02:19
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i've seen you struttin' in
i've seen you buttin' in line
i've seen you drawin' lines
i've seen you try, you try
you try so god damn hard
i've seen the skins you wear
i've seen the sword in your hands
i've seen your bloody hands
i've seen you stand, you stand
you stand so god damn tall
how i long for the child-king of my child playthings of my childhood, but i am so afraid, i'm terrified i'm gonna let you down, i'm sell out, get old, grow up. i may not have faith left in god, but i have fear enough.
i have fear enough.
i've had enough. i'm fine. i'm full. i'm stuffed! no more. it's cool. thank you very much, but i've had enough!
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8. |
i cannot stay
02:10
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abraham, lend a hand; a drop of water from the promised land!
now listen, pop: i watched you work hard all of my life, and anything good that i got, anything i may have done right, i know i owe to you. but, god, i hate to be the bearer of bad news. i hate to be the black sheep; the one that's got to say "i'm sorry, but i cannot stay." but there was absolutely no way that i could stay! and now i have more sisters and brothers than you have had daughters and sons, and i count you among them and as one, and of that number i have found none who could help but fall far from that tree. who could help but run from home? because there isn't one of us that fell. each and every one of us was thrown!
abraham, lend a hand; a drop of water from the promised land!
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9. |
on the threshold
04:30
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find your self; a dry well. fall in there and know your own soul. on the threshold of this hell-hole, your brothers have bloodied your clothes. go with them. they sold you. your father no longer knows you're alive.
find your self; a millstone. heave blindly and haul all alone. from the strongest came a much sweeter taste. out of the eater sprang something he ate. she let them in on his secret. they krept in; they left her, but they kept him alive.
find your self; a plowshare. there will be pain in all you gain and all you bear. your mother will be your father's slave. the ground that you till will, one day, be your father's grave. work no longer. you've done worse than wander. though i cursed the earth, you cursed the sky. you're cursed as long as you're alive.
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10. |
ripping life's stitches
02:16
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the darkness is not cold. it is not other, or foreign, or hard. it is soft, and it is easy. it permeates.
it's always ripping life's stitches and bursting her seams.
life keeps death dressed up, but only just barely.
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11. |
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i saw him looming large in a room i only knew as a boy. he was young and he was strong and his voice, oh my god, it was so loud! "i am one, now, with the way!" he cried, "i am one, now, with the way, my son. i do not know how, i cannot say just what i have become. i am one, now, with the way!"
my grandad, he came to me in my dreams, only a matter of days after he had died. when you are no longer alive, you are larger than life. he was no longer alive. he was larger than life!
screaming down the road, in an old model T, you wouldn't believe the speed, the dust, the smoke, the sound! he had gladness in his eyes. he pointed at the sky. he took a good long look at me before he tore outa town"
"i am one, now, with the way!" he cried, "i am one, now, with the way, my son. i do not know how, i cannot say just what i have become. i am one, now, with the way!"
we will not be lost down here. we will not be lost!
we are one now with the way.
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Jon Herr Buffalo, New York
i'm on a four month, cross-country bicycle tour with my brother. i'm hauling my guitar along with me so that i can share the new album. you can follow us on instagram:
onenowwiththeway
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