1. |
Rain
03:55
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Rain falls on the righteous
Rain falls on the right
Rain is falling on the left too
Can’t nobody find a light
It’s been coming down so hard
hard to keep from getting wet
Dummies on tv speculate
no signs of stopping yet
Can’t nobody find a light
Can’t nobody find a light
Day as dark as night
Can’t nobody find a light
Rain falls on the ignorant
Rain falls on the wise
Rains been falling on the blind fools
the proud been getting drenched too
Swipe up, take the bait
Every king wants a kingdom with high walls and a locked gate
the poorest of the poor gonna pay, the poorest of the poor gonna pay
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2. |
Life
04:05
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Syrup left on the table
the ants have moved on in
can’t get enough sugar
like a birthday boy and his friends
Life’s a disappointment
when you’re always surprised
the rain keeps falling on your hay day
all you wanted was clear skies
Bread left in the pantry
mold has set up shop
green as all your envy
why can’t I get all this pain to stop?
Life’s one big let down
when you can’t get passed the pain
shoulda coulda done this and that
but there’s nothing you can change
Sometimes the frig stops working
Sometimes the stove won’t even burn
The pipes have started leaking
Now, will you ever learn?
Life’s a joy and a pleasure
when the rain falls as a gift
and the pain is just a window
for letting the truth on in
Life’s a holy mystery
when it stops being yours
your days just like a vessel
headed for the shore
you found out what it was for
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3. |
At Merton’s Cabin
03:32
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I’ve stood at Merton’s cabin
seen the blinking cell phone tower
soaking in the silence with
the distant passing cars
I’ve sat on the Bench of Dreams
and felt nothing and everything
ignorant to the seeds of contemplation
in the soil of my heart
Now, if I know one thing
it’s God who speaks in silence
and only fools fiend the babble,
they clamor on and on and on
hallelujah, thine the glory
surely God must find it boring
wishing all would learn the language
simple words without speech
But I know it’s hard to find a whisper in the chaos cattle call
it’s hard to leave the multitude for the mountain
when you’re so use to the cymbal’s gong
it’s hard to let go of it all
I am no desert son, no anchorite
there’s both wrong and right
where those seeds were buried
but I no longer assume
the flower is spoken into bloom
creator casting spells
by silence just as well
I’ve stood at Merton’s cabin
knowing I was trespassing
peering through the window
at the lamp still on
I’ve sat on the Bench of Dreams
wondered what it all might mean
aware of the seeds of contemplation
seeds of contemplation
new seeds of contemplation
in the soil of my heart
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4. |
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Four verses into an altar call
She was crying; I was dozing off
Till she grabbed my hand and whispered soft, “Honey, I hear the angel’s song”
The aisle was a river of the Holy Ghost
all the sheep were swimming toward the host and the weak wine in the silver cup
I saw her add her tears and drink it up
I pined for the preacher’s long last prayer
my eyes caught in the coldest stare
thought of weeping myself, but not for my soul I was just so sad....I knew I had to go
Standing she was on her own front porch steps still sweating in that Sunday dress
mosquitos hovering round her neck
She told me just how it felt
She said, “i could have swore I was flying....with Jesus right beside”
I smiled, but I was lying
i didn’t believe a word she said
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5. |
Scheduling a Revival
04:10
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I was born beneath a Georgia pine
and my Daddy’s stare
grew up in the steeple shine
felt the tug of the Bible Belt
went to Revival every year cause that’s just what we did
heard the preacher telling all the sheep to shut up and repent
Scheduling a revival is like planning a heart attack
you might see the signs along the way, but you never know when it will hit
Down here in the shallow South(stubborn, Christ-haunted) it’s all we can do
is schedule revivals thinking God will pay his dues
Well, I joined the youth group and went to camp, got down on my knees
I was down there at the altar
the band played “softly and tenderly”
I started reading the Bible when I got back it lasted all of a week, but I had a brown-haired girl on my mind who was way out of my league
Now, I live with two ghosts
one holy, one profane
I read the marquees every 50 feet those sayings they drive me insane
Now, I know that I’m no better
and it could be a whole lot worse,
but if those white-washed buildings
are the wedding dress then honey, let’s try on a skirt
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6. |
A Murder of Crows
03:48
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A murder of crows
cawing some hymn
corn in the pews
last church of the field
A world just as tender
as silk ‘neath the husk
the wind keeps a praying
but nothing ever comes
Buzzards and drones
Over the blight
Day after day keeps
Bleeding to night
Coveys of quail
gone with the doves
the wind keeps a praying, but
nothing ever comes
This lonely, blue marble
Circling the sun
Abused and neglected
beat like a drum
the wind keeps a praying,
but nothing ever comes
nothing ever comes
what’s been done has
been done.
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7. |
Shame
05:15
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I could feel it in the room
like she was waiting with the words
names of all the people
I had hurt and let down
they won’t stick around
when the news gets out
Shame she speaks softly
at the bottom of the well
the sky lost above you
night as dark as hell
I could tell you the story,
but you’ve already made up your mind
no benefit of doubt this time
a good man is still hard to find
you used to be the kind
She’s just waiting for you to fall
Swears you’ve lost it all
and there’s nothing you can do
You’re a liar and a fake
ah, there’s nothing you can do
hey, but that’s not you
that’s not you
that’s not you
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8. |
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The Rio’s on the rise/Lonnie’s on the front porch/going blind, blind, blind/he’s been dying in the living room/brittle as the kitchen broom/swears he’ll tell his secret soon/wonders who he’ll tell it to
“How’d you ever get out here?/Did you settle for settling down?/Was it really just a woman that kept you from leaving town?”
“You know, I thought it’d be funny/to send a postcard from the road/saying “Greetings from Indecision! Take the one or take them both!”/but the angel at the P.O smiled/I’d knew I’d be around for a little while.”
“Pure as the White Sands/she drove me to see/Pure as white linen/she always was to me.”
The Rio’s on the rise/Lonnie’s on the front porch/for every drop of rain a sigh/the day id nearly sleeping/he gives it one more try/just an old man and his oxygen/tank and tube his only friends/‘tween the porch and what she called the den/he finally left town/with not a soul around/his secret safe and sound
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