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LYRICS

Picture
SAFER
Shut your windows, lock your doors
It’s safer inside, safer inside
Lights out, quiet now
It’s easier to hide, easier to hide
Oh, where do you go?
Oh, where do you go?

You’ve been burned before, you have reason to believe
That it’s safer inside
Safer inside
But is it easier to stand up, or to leave?
Don’t believe those lies, don’t believe those lies
The stones can’t reach you in there
But neither can the light

Insulated in your blanket
Are there monsters outside? Monsters outside
And, either way, it’s likely raining
It’s fixed in your mind, fixed in your mind

That’s no way to live your life
You’ve got to live your life

SANTIAGO
Lines drawn hard, tight across the hands

Of the old man on the sea

Sleep brings dreams of lions on the beach

And of a younger, stronger me


But I won’t let go

Not for the life of me

I won’t let go

But I won’t let go

Not for the life of me

I won’t let go



The blue September sky

Salty air has me talking to the sea

Pulling hard on me, now

Eighty days & nights

I have waited for this fight

I’ve given far too much, now


Dawn breaks, I’m still standing

As the beast jumps from the sea

The Sacred Heart of Jesus & me

Against this fish & the Gulf Stream


But I won’t let go

Not for the life of me

I won’t let go

But I won’t let go

Not if it’s the death of me

I won’t let go


Sleep brings dreams of lions on the beach

And of a younger, stronger me


CEDARS
Among the cedars

A band of light shone on our faces where we

Slept on the damp ground

Where the paper stars had lulled us to sleep & we

Lodged in the caverns

When the rain fell hard or the midday burned with heat

Among the cedars

We found ourselves

We found ourselves


Among the cedars

We came to life

We came to life

In rhyme & meter

We came to light

We came to light


Among the cedars

The rocky spine of the old AT, where we

Crossed the Hudson River

Never looking back as autumn burned the trees

Those days were innocent

When the sun fell hard & every moment was sweet

Among the cedars

We found ourselves

We found ourselves


Among the cedars

A band of light shone on our faces where we

Slept on the damp ground

Where the paper stars had lulled us to sleep

LEXINGTON
Last time I last saw you
There was fire in the trees
I ran in the night
‘Til I was weak in the knees

Wrote you this letter
That I may never send
Tears & ink were spilt
My bones, in time, will mend

Love in a time of war
Some things are worth fighting for
Lexington is calling me
The North Star’s hanging in the east

Seen things never thought I’d see
Raiders from across the sea
You’ll be my bride when this war is through
Pray the Lord brings me back to you

FIRST DANCE
As we summit this rock
That we started climbing
River below us
Flowing & winding
Here Heaven is so close
Could reach out & touch us


And now this new journey
That’s laid out before us
Together embarking
Angels in chorus
Welcome us in
Free as hawks on the wind
On the wind

From this first dance
To our last waltz
I want to grow old with you
From the first breath of spring
To the last gasp of winter
Canvas, white & new
My stream in this desert
The wind at my back
You’re the trail that leads me back home
I’ll always remember this first dance with you, my love
My love, my love
My love, my love

Never seen such a light
As I saw in your eyes
Knelt to the ground,
Asked for you as my bride
That long, long wait
Now so easily forgotten
Now pick up a pen & let’s write down our story
Days be our letters,

We’ll start up a family
I thank God above for you
For you

I will always remember this first dance with you, my love
My love
My love

THE WEATHER
Diamonds in the sea, on an empty beach
Last time you were here with me
The weather’s cool & clear, wind & waves are all I hear
I wish that you were here

And I wonder what you’re thinking
When you look up at the stars
And the constellation we used to claim as ours
I wonder in this moment
If you’re thinking of me, too
When all that I can do
Is think of you
I’m here without you
Oh, I’m here without you

Some memories don’t fade the way that night time turns to day
As gentle waves cascade
It thrills my heart for me to know
Your love for me has only grown
I love you more than you could know

I’m here without you
Oh, I’m here without you
The weather’s cool & clear, wind & waves are all I hear
I wish that you were here

SWIMMING IN THE SEA
My sentences won’t stick together
My words are simply failing me
Swimming in the sea
Feels like a losing battle
My peace has sprouted wings & flown from me
Swimming in the sea
Swimming in the sea

Hold fire, hold fast
I need to heal
I’ve been breaking my fists, fighting the stars
Grasping for the wheel
Hold fire, hold fast
Have mercy on me
This ship is broken, lend me your hand
‘Cause I’m swimming in the sea
Swimming in the sea
Swimming in the sea

Seems like your slings & arrows
Are aimed right at me
Swimming in the sea
But my hope is not abandoned
I know that you still love me
Swimming in the sea
Swimming in the sea

PAPERTHIN
‘Neath the aspens
Rusting leaves take flight
Hallowed light of morning
On your countenance tonight
Burnished & branded, senses abandoned to you
And your blue eyes
I’m trembling in the doorway
Shuttered & feathered & struggling to bring it to light

Times you’re like mercury
My defenses are paperthin
Here in the waiting, waxing & waning, I’m
Paperthin
Oh, summer come heal me, I’m
Paperthin

Midst of winter
New Year’s Eve tonight
Leafless scarecrow trees touch
Like our stars cross in flight
Burnished & branded, restless & candid with you  
Into your sweet light
Your rainy eyes won’t own you
I’ll hold you till dawn kisses the night

We were in bloom
We would shine like the stars
We were in bloom
We would shine like the stars
We were in bloom
We would shine like the stars
We were in bloom
We would shine like the stars

HALLELUJAH
I've heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah


Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah  



Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew you

She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the “hallelujah”

Maybe I've been here before
I know this room, I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew you
I've seen your flag on the marble arch
love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I tried to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah


WINGS
I was cutting through the fields
On the way to your house that night
Fireflies hanging like stars in the dusky light
Your mother said you weren’t home
But I could hear you crying inside
Didn’t know what I’d said,
Didn’t know how to make it right

Were you an angel?
Were you an angel?

Dreamt that I saw wings
Taproot & limbs & the crown of a king
Your eyes never seemed so bright
As they did in my memory of those summer nights
Dreamt that I saw wings
But sometimes dreams just don’t mean a thing
But I dreamt that I saw wings

10th Street Philadelphia
One cold & wintry night
You smiled at me, & I smiled as I walked on by
Our history is past, like two ships in the night
Never knew what to say,
Never knew how to set it right

Were you an angel?
Were you an angel?
 
MANHATTAN
Manhattan
I walked your streets alone,
Perhaps it was a dream
You’ve got me feeling like the only living boy
Among the million faces that I see

The angels are singing
Up in Washington Square
My thoughts are a quill
Writing poems on the air

I’m sending this song home
Over waves & wires
I’ve been treading up & down Broadway
And I’m so tired
Pavement to the sky, your streets alive
Are such a lovely view
And, Manhattan, that’s mostly
What I need from you

Manhattan
You’re quite a sight, Central Park all decked in snow
Goodbye for now, I’ve got to get back to my girl
From Penn Station to my Pennsylvania home

And, Manhattan, that’s mostly
What I need from you

PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS
Make me a channel of Your peace

Where there is hatred, let me bring Your love

Where there is injury, Your pardon, Lord,

And where there’s doubt, true faith in You


Make me a channel of your peace,

Where there’s despair in life, let me bring hope

Where there is darkness, only light,

And where there’s sadness, ever joy


Oh Master, grant that I may never seek

So much to be consoled as to console

To be understood, as to understand,

To be loved, as to love with all my soul


Make me a channel of your peace,

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

In giving of ourselves that we receive,

And in dying that we’re born to eternal life


Amen, amen

Amen, amen

Amen, amen

Amen, amen

Amen, amen

Amen, amen

Amen, amen
Amen, amen
Picture
RIVER (A DARK CHASE)
You treat me like a criminal
The ghost of some lonely soul
A silent hound on a dark chase
Full moon splits these streets in two
The light & the shade between me & you
In a different world
We could have been brothers

I’m a man acquainted with pain
Crying out to the heavens again
Should I run to the river?  Run to the river?
Run to the river?  Run to the river?
Is there peace by the river?  Peace by the river?

So through the streets of Paris we fled
Guilty only of stealing bread
Protecting my lark
Guarding my beloved

So I whisper to her, “Hold on to me”
“Hold on to me”


GOLD

Now, I’m not sayin’ that you need to like me
Judgin’ from the barbs you throw my way
But sometimes bitter roots
Give rise to sweeter fruits
And all your sticks & stones, they turn to gold

Every time I put the pen to paper
The letters spell a sweet refrain

Sometimes bitter roots
Give rise to sweeter fruits
And all your sticks & stones, they turn to gold

Sometimes my words, they just feel weightless
Benighted by cinders & ashes of shame

Sometimes bitter roots
Give rise to sweeter fruits
And all your sticks & stones, they turn to gold

I really think that you could love me
That would be such a sweet refrain

Sometimes bitter roots
Give rise to sweeter fruits
And all your sticks & stones, they turn to gold


INDIGO

 I’m in no weather for this lashing
O, indigo
A mast is down, the sails are all around me
O, indigo

Indigo, O, indigo
Dream of my love ‘midst fields of indigo

Sailing home, this wounded craft must hold
O, indigo
Thought I saw your eyes up in the cold blue stars
O, indigo

Indigo, O, indigo
Dream of my love ‘midst fields of indigo

Remember those nights when the nightingale & wolf cried out
O, indigo
The springtime sky would wrap us up in velvet night
O, indigo

Indigo, O, indigo
Dream of my love ‘midst fields of indigo
Point me home, O point me home
To be with my love  ‘midst fields of indigo

How I long to share those sunsets with you again, my love
O, indigo
But now I’ll ply these oars through this moonlit dark
O, indigo

Indigo, O, indigo
Dream of my love ‘midst fields of indigo
Point me home, O point me home
To be with my love  ‘midst fields of indigo

Remember those nights when the nightingale & wolf cried out
O, indigo
I’ll stand beneath that springtime sky with you again, my love
O, indigo


HELIOTROPISM (LEANING TOWARD THE LIGHT)

Painted over the rust
But it still shows
It still shows
I got nothing but time on my hands
And this heavy load
Heavy load

Sure could use someone to walk beside me now
So pull up a stool & help me talk this out

I’m walking down this road
Carrying more weight than I can hold
I don’t always see things in black & white
But I assure you that I am leaning toward the light
Carrying more weight than I can hold alone

Covering over the scar
I try to hide
Try so hard to hide
Failed more times than I can count
But I have tried
Lord knows I’ve tried
Sure could use someone to walk beside me now
So pull up a stool & help me talk this out


Picture
 UNDER THE SUN
A wise man once said there’s nothing new under the sun
I’m starting to believe him, ‘cause all I see has all been done
I’m burning my hands holding this torch for you
A pain I’ll gladly endure even with a skin too few

Rain must fall down, down on every man
But I’m singing outside your window,
Asking for your hand
I sense the colors changing, a wry smile on your lips
You say, “There’s nothing new
Under the sun”
Under the sun
Under the sun

I see my reflection, in a mirror, dimly
You’re holding that key to daybreak, now won’t you share that with me?

I’m burning my hands holding this torch for you
Burning my hands


THE LARK (UNDER SHIVERING STARS)

Ambling through the shabby streets
Of your little town
Trying to beat your wings against
The ones that hold you down
The ghosts, ghosts
That you think that you see
Startle you from your
Winter reverie
But I hear you
I hear you

Who’s going to fight the good fight for you now?
Under shivering stars
I’ll drag a match to light the dark
I’ll fight the good fight for you now
You can rest here
Won’t you sing for me, my lark?

Seven seasons older
Feels like twenty years
Vestiges of hope
In spite of all the tears
The ghosts, ghosts
Can’t reach you now
Take my hand
I’ll lead you out
I hear you
I hear you

The cold trees for your confessional
You didn’t see me there
Tearing pages from the book of pain you’ve known
The cold trees for your confessional
You didn’t see me there
Burning pages from the book of pain you’ve known
 
Under shivering stars
I’ll drag a match to light the dark
Under shivering stars


#8

On those vintage days of June
The sky was worn and bruised
Like sleepless eyes
And gently spilled the rain
We were lush and bright
Like moths to a light
Our house of cards
Would never see the ground

Summer came and it
Broke upon us like
Roman candles in the sky
Trade your coins for a
Handful of wildflowers and
Let the summer rain
Sing you to sleep
Summer sing you to sleep

The promises to keep
Would run like rivers deep
Like letters sent
Adrift upon the wind
But seeds tend to grow
And you shall ever know
You were a lighted window
At the end of my street


AVALANCHE

Bracing for the avalanche
Waking up the sleepers
Where you go, I will go
And hang out with the dreamers

April seven, you’re waking up
To the brighter side of what’s making up your little world
The flowers and the season bloom
Like the daylight shining in the room
In the place that you now call home

In the air, you feel the change 
Suddenly, your splintered trust is rearranged
Thinking love is worth the fall
The damage healed, and truth is all that remains

You and I can wander far
I feel I could bottle up the stars and give them to you
But I’m not sleeping, I’m waking now
And ready to see exactly how this all plays out

“Make something of your life,” they say
You find you have, and those voices fade away
Thinking love is worth the fall
The damage healed, and truth is all that remains

Tell me, ‘cause I may be wrong
But I’m thinking maybe I belong
Thinking love is worth the fall

The damage healed, and truth is all that remains
Truth is all that remains
Truth is all that remains
Truth is all that remains


YOUR VINTAGE HEART

Under a sky painted red
And clouds of white
You glide through the wheat and heather
It’s good to be alive
But you feel so much older
Beside these trees and leaves
Burned by the seasons and the sun

Don’t you see there’s beauty in the broken
Insecure in all your moving parts
I’m tangled up in all your strings and wires, tell me
Is there room for me in your vintage heart?
Is there room for me in your vintage heart?

Oh, my love
You just need some time to mend
Assemble the fragments of
your thoughts
So take a bite of air
And remember that our Maker
Knows that we are dust
And it’s okay to fall apart

Sometimes you close up all the windows
And shut all the doors
Keeping the world from your lights and graces
Put away your armor
Won’t you see the beauty that’s within
And just let me embrace you?

You store up all your secrets
In your little hidden book
And guard them all so secretly
Open up your vintage heart
And let me understand you
However poor and darkly
Love, let me try and love


SEVEN MILES

Memory is haunting
When you sleep and dream
Treasure all the little things
Fireflies and silver rings
I see through your disguise
To the fear you hold inside

Seven miles up the road
You search for hope to pierce the darkest night
Living with the fear of God
Learn your lessons through experience and time

Mercury is falling
Moonlight spread on Sinclair Street
Life opens the door to the brightest and the darkest
It’s not all as it should be

Do you see through my disguise 
To the fear I hold inside?


THE LIGHT & THE SEA

The wind on the water
This sea is dark as wine
Did you get my letter?
Restlessly passing the time
All I want is redemption
To make this right and new
This light burns inside of me
A silver fire for you
 
When daylight fades and these
Fears rush in
I need your grace
You’re whispering

Don’t forget in the darkness
What you found in the light
This candle is burning down
On this wind-blown night
Don’t forget in the darkness
What you found in the light
This candle is burning down

Don’t leave me alone in the night
Did I hear you speak to me
Or was it only a dream?
The stars flutter up in the sky
Of this mystery
All I want is redemption
Overstepping this line in the sand
This light burns inside of me
As you reach for my hand

The daylight fades and these
Fears rush in
I need your grace
You’re whispering


FILMS

We went down to the docks
To look at the water
Could still hear those night trains rumbling
The confluence where the creeks join the river

Last year it was just me around here
Now you’re back in town
Scenes from a movie
Films ‘bout our story
The waters of time & doubt could not drown

Absence felt like salt in the wound
But I was still too blind to see
That your love was never really absent
When the ghosts from my past tried to haunt me

Shreds of indigo turning darker by the minute
We barely make a sound
Scenes from a movie
Films ‘bout our story
The waters of time & doubt could not drown

The first scene was easy
The second moving mountains
The light, the contrast of white on white
The third scene still happening

This path keeps unfolding
This light keeps on shining
You say we’ve only begun
Scenes from our movie
Films ‘bout our story
Tying knots that time & doubt had undone


ARROWS

You caught me
Speechless and silent with fear
They accuse me
Maybe they're right about the burden I bear

You say nothing
Just words etched into sand
Grace stooped down
And offered me a hand
 
And these arrows
The wounds and the bruises I bear
I've got no right to feel the healing I feel
And these arrows
The wounds and the bruises I've dealt
Forgive me
Speak the words that my heart needs to hear

Can I believe You?
You prove Yourself time and again
There are times when
I need to feel Your wounds with my own hands

Just words etched into sand
You offer me Your hand


OTHER SIDE OF THE WATER

Paint the time with your tired refrains
You speak the words, but will you own the grace?
How can you love me at an arm’s length?
You’re on the other side of the water
You’re on the other side of the water

Is this love or is this war?
Burned the bridges to your door
Is this love or is this war?

A thousand times I’ve heard your voice cry out across this line
A thousand times the broken bread
A thousand times the poured out wine
Can your hands reach out and touch me where I stand?
You’re on the other side of the water
You’re on the other side of the water
You’re on the other side of the water

The sun is distant and the hour is late
Don’t pass me by as if I’m in your way
How can you love me at an arm’s length?
You’re on the other side of the water
You’re on the other side of the water

How can you love me at an arm’s length?
How can you love me at an arm’s length?

Is this love or is this war?
Borders don’t matter anymore
Is this love or is this war?


REPAIRS

Rain fell through the open window
Of her recurring dream
Water gathered on the wooden floor
Empty chairs in an empty house
She fumbled for the keys
To open up that wooden door

Dawn creeps in, like love itself
When you let love in

Words sting like the truth 
They haunt me like a ghost
Pray that love will heal the fracture 
& bring repairs that we need most

He tried in vain to catch her 
In his recurring dream
Stars reflected in black water
& so he dove in after
Though he knew not how to swim
He could not bear to lose her

Dawn creeps in, like love itself
When you let love in


WOUNDED HEALER

The sun sets over the city
And You are good
You awaken the dawn
And You are good
You sent Your Son to live and die
For our sins, He sacrificed
You offer us Your love and You are good

The darkness and the tragedy
The widows, and orphans, and wandering
Through it all You prove that You are good

Wounded Healer
Full of grace
I’m so caught up in myself
I don’t recognize Your face
You made us to be Your hands and feet
So why are we still wondering
When You’ll show up
Shine Your light through me

A soul rises from the ashes
And You are good, a homeless
Child given a meal
And You are good
You beckon us and Your love goes free
From the chains of her captivity
You’ve filled us with Your love
And You are good

The glory and the poverty
Grace that makes beauty of ugly things
Through our weakness, You show
That You are good

The sinners and saints and politics
We’re drowned in affluence, breathe into us
Will You show us what it looks like
‘Cause You are good?

Shine Your light through me
Shine Your light through me


SHEPHERDS & ANGELS

Oh, dawn, won’t you wake up
& bring me your light?
Distant candles,
The 4 am stars are burning bright

Open road before me
I’ll take what light I can take
Night watches
When only the shepherds & angels wake

Driving away
Thousand miles to go

Love
Keeps bringing me home,
Lands me back near you, love
Love
Steals my thoughts on the road,
Wraps my mind like a glove
The most beautiful love often comes from the most broken things

Just mid-December
But it’s feeling like snow
The car heater battles
The outside freezing cold
The tune through the speakers
Its old familiar ring
Music just like
The shepherds & angels sing

Winter’s well on its way
Thousand miles back home

Thousand miles away
I just want to go home


A CONTEMPLATION ON PEACE

Is peace just the absence of war?
Could making peace mean something more?
We apply a bandage to the gaping wound
Damaged, but beautiful
Your hurting world

Peace to you, my friend
Peace also to our enemies
We didn’t get what we deserved,
But aren’t all men
Made in the same image?

O God of all, we need You now
This world is all messed up
We need Your Kingdom Come
Use these flawed vessels, lifted up

Justice is possible
We can be the peace You want

O God of all, we need You now
This world is all messed up
We need Your Kingdom Come
Use these flawed vessels, lifted up
Justice is possible
Will we be the peace You want?


ASH WEDNESDAY

Where the new moon expired
I slept, but my heart was awake
Scatter the
ashes of what used to be
Confessing in the light of Your flame 
 
Coming back home as the mercury and the snow come down
Giving You all of me that I am able
Intentions burned up, down to the ground, like ashes & dust
Feasting on the crumbs from Your table
I’m feasting on the crumbs from Your table

Running to You like a child
Scared of the edges of the night
A cross of ashes in Your home with no walls
Begging Your flame to be my light

Coming back home as the mercury and the snow come down
Giving You all of me that I am able
Intentions burned up, down to
the ground, like ashes & dust
Feasting on the crumbs from Your table 
I’m feasting on the crumbs from Your table

Forty days
Shades of black & white & grey
Forty days
Shades of black & white & grey

Feasting on the crumbs
I’m feasting on the crumbs
I’m feasting on the crumbs from Your table
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