1. |
Hymn #76
03:37
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To meet me is to dare into the darkness
But if you are devoted to a dream
Go and light the lantern
Leave your family abandoned
Meet me by the shallows of the stream
O meet me by the shallows of the stream
To ask me is to love with hesitation
My answer is the same as it has been
Here is my affection
No conditions and no questions
Open up the door and let me in
Open up the door and let me in
To trust me is to travel past the towers
Those who make it back from here are few
It takes all of your devotion
To have courage for a moment
The world has bested better men than you
The world has bested better men than you
To love me is to set upon the mountain
Every step is harder than the last
But to find the step above it
Is to triumph, is to summit
Taste the frigid water from the tap
Taste the frigid water from the tap
To curse me for the life we left behind us
Is to misremember what was cost
For from the vacant cradle
To the empty kitchen table
Show me what was precious that was lost
Show me what was precious that was lost
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2. |
Those Thankless Years
03:05
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If it must be done
Then listen, son
Should no one stand
To shake your hand
Here’s what I’ve learned
From the file and rank
It’s a road of bones
And you get no thanks
Well I was young
With pockets deep
I gave a sum
To a friend in need
I lost the rest
To the central bank
It’s a road of bones
And you get no thanks
My love was caught
In a winter storm
I brought my coat
To keep her warm
Her eyes did close
And my heart sank
It’s a road of bones
And you get no thanks
So if you came here for the accolades
You’re a foot too short and a lifetime too late
There are no sweet words to wash your face
Or to carry you back home
Unless they are your own
I heard my call
And I answered it
I left my home
As I saw fit
Now I have no friends
And my days are blank
It’s a road of bones
And you get no thanks
So if it must be done
Then listen, son
Should no one stand
To shake your hand
Here’s what I’ve learned
From the file and rank
It’s a road of bones
And you get no thanks
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3. |
The Great Despiser
04:05
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Hey little brother did you hear I made it back to town
I’m getting sober there’s some things I gotta figure out
I saw the station and the lot we used to run around
I could have sworn that there were things I used to care about
Pleased to see you it’s been too long
Where you been since I been gone
What were all those words we used to shout
I am the great despiser
I hold myself beside her
I often hope for fire
I am the great despiser
Hey little brother did you hear I’m slipping back and forth
I’m getting older man it’s barely worth it anymore
I had a dream that we were sitting on the summer porch
It seemed like everything was just the way it was before
Pleased to see you it’s been too long
Where you been since I been gone
What were all these frozen letters for
I am the great despiser
I hold myself beside her
I often hope for fire
I am the great despiser
I don’t want to care about it anymore / I don’t want to care about it any more
I don’t want to care about it anymore / I don’t want to care about it any more
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4. |
A Gentle Few
03:53
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Welcome home my son
It’s been so very long
I know that you’re here to surrender
The disappointing days
I suffered at your age
Are more than I care to remember
Before you throw the towel
And turn your engines out
Don’t expect to spit all that you’ve tasted from your mouth
After all you seen
You’ll only hope to be
Pretending to be a pretender
The years that I been through
I met a gentle few
Who say that they love and they mean it
The others that I met
Are decent folks I guess
But all that they love is achievement
The swagger and the dress
The trappings of success
The butter and the milk of what it takes to get ahead
On any given night
You’ll catch them dead to rights
Painting their name on the ceiling
Remember in the end
That many of your friends
Would rather be dead than uncertain
They want a simple yes
Or even better yet
A promise the next life is perfect
I promise that it’s not
But then what have they got
Only fifty years they never gave a moment’s thought
Anyone they find
Who tells them otherwise
They’ll follow him backwards and shirtless
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5. |
Ours
04:03
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Ours are homes we never chose
Far from anyone we know
Taps with every faucet on
Lamps that light an empty lawn
So we took what we inherited
And we dug a hole to bury it
All our property and marriages
All we wanted was a narrative
That was ours
Ours are routes that never rest
Carved from countless heavy steps
Stairs with every stringer worn
Wind where they have wound before
So we threw away the atlases
All the heavy ones they handed us
They called us everything but savages
But we found a couple passages
That were ours
So we spoke in lower registers
Than the merchants and the ministers
We were little more than whisperers
But we found a couple listeners
That were ours
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6. |
Silver Harps and Violins
04:13
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They called you a dreamer
When you were seventeen
The years went by so fast
Now they call you other things
And all of the answers that you’re dreaming of
They say that it’s natural
But a grown man learns how to give them up
You had an apartment and a woman once
You paid the electric
And the gas and water every month
She said that she loved you
And she wore your clothes
Now she’s in Dallas
With a stand-up guy and a four year old
There’s a world out there
I know there is
Where they’ll play my songs
On their silver harps and their violins
If you remember one thing remember this
When the lights came up
There was nothing left that I could give
All of your cousins and your relatives
Are competent husbands, faithful model citizens
You saw them at Christmas
When they laughed and sang
They’re so very different
Why the hell can’t you just feel the same
There’s a world out there
I know there is
Where they’ll play my songs
On their silver harps and their violins
If you remember one thing remember this
When the lights came up
There was nothing left that I could giv
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7. |
Stronger Than the World
03:16
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I got a hold on you
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
I don’t care what they say is true
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
I know you’re tired / I know you’re honest
I know you’re sick of wealth and progress
They have their jackets / they have their dresses
But we’ll refuse what they hold precious
I got a hold on you
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
I don’t care what they say is true
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
They have their riches / I know it’s awful
I know they have their modern gospel
So let them profit / so let them gamble
We have a secret they can’t handle
I got a hold on you
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
I don’t care what they say is true
Stronger than the whole damned world
Stronger than the whole damned world
They have their titles / they have their fashion
They have their loud and desperate passion
So let them holler / so let them battle
So let them curse us, doesn’t matter
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8. |
One of Many
03:09
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As the only child / for a hundred miles / living in the land of plenty
You could raise your cup / anytime you want / and never find it empty
But your plate was flush / and you had so much / while others had not any
As you lay in bed / well they shaved your head / now you’re one of many
O now you’re one of many
It was hard to breathe / when you knew no need / the crown it lay so heavy
At night you slept / underneath your bed / with both your pistols ready
But they stole your robes / and now your clothes / they won’t sell for a penny
You’re free to rest / your naked chest / now you’re one of many
O now you’re one of many
When the sirens cried in the afternoon,
Did your mouth go dry?
Did your blood run blue?
Was it louder than a drum in an empty room?
Did it strike so hard, cause it rang so true?
As a traveler / in the wider world / the road was never friendly
So you turned around / you were homeward bound / at the tender age of twenty
When you arrived / you cried to find / your mother had no memory
Once you were her only son
Now, you’re one of many
O now you’re one of many
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9. |
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Blue needs no charter / to marble the veins
Green needs no ocean / to garner its name
Night needs no favor / weather no shame
Storms need no shoulders / to carry their rain
So neither do I need a witness / to nod and agree
If I see the mountains / they must see me
Leaders need titles / pastors need men
Authors need stories /more than stories need them
Nations need children / to rise and defend
And statues and pledges / and anthems I guess
They laugh as I lie on the floor / and I try to repeat
If I see the mountains / they must see me
Proof is as much of a blanket / as naked belief
If I see the mountains / they must see me
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10. |
The Servant's Ace
03:11
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11. |
Deep Dark Wells
02:51
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From deep dark wells comes pure clean water
And the ice will melt as the day gets hotter
The night grows old as the sun climbs into the sky
When now is then and tomorrow’s coming
And where you’ve been starts meaning something
As long as you can, just keep stumbling ahead
As long as you’re not finished
You can start all over again
As long as you’re not finished
You can start all over again
You can start all over again
From deep dark wells comes pure clean water
The ice will melt as the day gets hotter
And the night grows old as the sun climbs into the sky
And as long as you’re not finished
You can start all over again
As long as you’re not finished
You can start all over again
You can start all over again
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Joe Pug Maryland
A singer-songwriter known for his lyrical acumen and plaintive harmonica style. Paste Magazine wrote of his music: “Unless
your surname is Dylan, Waits, Ritter or Prine, you could face-palm yourself to death trying to pen songs half as inspired”.
He has appeared at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and The Newport Folk Festival.
Additionally, he is the creator and host of The Working Songwriter podcast.
... more
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