|
> written | 2005-05-12
> tuning / capo | standard, capo5
> thoughts
i think i channeled a little ben harper in here
perhaps...i suppose i was just thinking about how with each era in one's
life, there are people that come and change it all and then leave just as
fast, and you are left to live without them as if they were never there. this song is about that force in life that tugs us
apart, and it's for all those people who've left a phone message or a
letter that still hasn't gotten a reply, and also for those people who
haven't done the replying yet.
>
lyrics
dear friend
how do these pages keep on turning?
how do these chapters keep on churning to the end?
my dear, dear friend
do you feel it coming?
like something new blowing on the wind
is all that stays the same the changing?
do you feel it coming?
someday you'll live stories
that i will never know
and if my home calls for me
may you have blessings as you go
blessings as you go
dear friend
how many lives do you believe in?
how many times have we been
in between the staying and the leaving
if for reincarnation?
and maybe lovers will adore you
and maybe i will walk alone
but when those open arms call for you
may you have blessings as you go
blessings as you go
dear friend
the last page is a shake of the hands
what has been will never be again
my dear, dear friend
and if never again
here's to time well-spent
here's to all the stories of remember when
if never again
and if the night grows cold inside us
and the fire's burning low
and if the path ahead divides us
may you have blessings as you go
just take my blessings as you go
keep all my blessings as you go...
> written | 2004-10
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD
> thoughts
santa rosa, nicaragua - the stars are so glorious, i
feel so small under them...yet all we need is down here on earth. spinning
blind, like some vessel with no captain, rolling with the waves, no
destination, we are already home, if we could only know.
>
lyrics
may the toil of our hands
be the praise and the prayer
may the walls of our temples
be the water and the air
may the Mother cradle the baby
as the light finds her face
may She return to lead us through the darkness
to our resting place
may we have shelter for our heads
and a home where we rest our feet
may we leave clean air to breathe
for the children we won't live to see
may we have grace as we borrow
this dust for one more day
may we have joy in the footprints
and joy in the washing away
and when the story ends
and the last night falls
the Mother reaches out her hand
it's her voice we hear
that softly calls
may this be all
may this be all
may we look to the stars
from our ship in the sky
we may name no destination
may we need no reason why
cuz we sail blindly with no captain
and the rolling waves won't lead us home
we are lost, yet already among the angels
if we could only know
and when the storm hits the land
and wind overtakes the wall
and we scatter like grains of sand -
we are swallowed - as the waves rise tall
may this be all
may this be all
may this be all
we sail so
we sail so
we sail so blindly...
> written | 2003-09
> tuning / capo | CGDGAD
> thoughts
i remember so clearly the feeling, but i've forgotten how to feel
it. i don't want to go but the staying does not
fulfill me...you are a mystery to me. when i
travel the banks of my memory, the feeling returns and it is mine, as if
held for the first time. i feel the past but know
the present all at once, i feel the missing and know the absence of
missing. i am chained to what you represent yet
completely free from what you are, you are right and wrong, i want to run,
i want to pass through this unknowing and rediscover devotion. i once wished for freedom, now i wish for chains. i have seen the other side and now i want to cross over
once again. i once knew the future through the
past, now all is grey and black and you cannot bring me back.
>
lyrics
under new sheets
we laugh new laughter
louder than the years in my memory
but day breaks
and the echoes of our rapture
begin to fade away
with the turning of
your keys...
older now
you gaze at me
with eyes so young
count for me
the days between devotion
and the place of freedom to which I've come,
I've undone...
...my chains
filled with all the anticipation of a new day
begun
though the rain
still falls from our stormy skies long gone
and though you rest so close
the urge to fly supercedes the pull of my
passion
and the question lingers on
are we, are we not
bound...?
I don't long
yet you are the chorus of a song
that passes from my lips sincerely
photographs and letters send me back, make me
ask
am I bound by love
or am I bound to
leave...?
I've undone my chains
filled with all the anticipation of a new day
begun
though the rain
still falls from our stormy skies long gone
and though you rest so close
the urge to fly supercedes the pull of my
passion
and though the question lingers on and on and
on...
won't you stay
hold on, I'm coming home
won't you fly away
release me
won't you stay
hold on, I'm coming home
won't you fly away
release me...
release me...
> written | 2005-05-26
> tuning / capo | FACGBE / capo2
> audio | 2006-01-14 -
club passim
> thoughts
a combination of returning to my folks' place in new hampshire for
the summer, rediscovering love after quite a while of its absence, and
learning the news of an upcoming new baby cousin (later known as Isaac!)
sparked a feeling i hadn't felt in a long time - that sort of, "wow,
i'm alive and i've got this body and i can think, and even though i don't
have a clue what i'm doing here, i made it this far!" and i noted how
amazing it is to be able to feel this at so many different points in one's
life. i thought of the notion of how souls
actually choose their parents, based on what they have to learn in that
coming life, and how they then enter as infants in possession of so much
wisdom, which they forget and must then spend the rest of their lives
rediscovering. i thought of how this innocent
forgetfulness, accompanied by this vague but profound feeling of amazement,
is experienced from one generation to the next. i
think i look at my father and see this. he is one
of the most "amazed" people i have ever met...and i'm glad it has
rubbed off on me. I wrote most of the music to this in Arizona, at my Aunt
Gila's wedding, thinking about the new addition to her and her husband
(Uncle David)'s family.
>
lyrics
nine flowers gave the girl to the boy with the
brown eyes
and all his face was a smile, no words to reply
and though they provided each other no answers,
no meaning of life
the girl would find in him a husband, and the
boy would find in her a...
~
nine kisses gave the boy, and girl took boy by
the hand
and under the covers, two lovers became woman
and...
and as the fire inside them spread from ceiling to floor
the boy remembered a feeling from some life
before, and he said:
oh my! there is this light and this sound
there is this hold on my body that pulls me to
the ground
there is this time that moves forward, though i
cannot feel it yet
there is an answer someone told me a long time
ago...
but now i seem to forget...
nine times around came the cycle of the moon
and a boy grew too big for his watery waiting
room
and though this place was the grandest of all he
had found
he remembered what the angels told him...so he
climbed on down
~
nine pages turned the calendar, woman counted
all the way
until she felt it like a raincloud, and woman
knew it was her day
and through the pain she delivered baby boy into
the light
where all the world was on fire and his brown
eyes were wide, and she cried:
oh my! there is this light and this sound
there is this hold on my body that pulls me to
the ground
there is this time that moves forward though i
cannot feel it yet
there is an answer someone told me a long time
ago...
but now i seem to forget...
now nine seasons more have passed, from sun to
snow and snow to rain
and all baby boy's body has shed and grown back
again
and now he still cries at night, though woman
tries everything
but if the boy could turn his tears to melody,
then he would sing, he would sing:
oh my! there is this
light and this sound
there is this hold on my body that pulls me to
the ground
there is this time that moves forward though i
cannot feel it yet
there is an answer someone told me a long time
ago...
but now i seem to forget...
now i seem to forget...
> written | 2005-08-27
> lyrics
CHORUS
bring them home, bring them all home, bring them
home
when the people rise up we’re gonna bring
them home
VERSES
our sons and our daughters (bring them home)
our mothers and fathers (…)
our sisters and brothers (…)
when the people rise up we're gonna (…)
~
for love of our country
for courage and bravery
(add “our sisters…when the people…” in each verse)
~
for chanukah and christmas
for ramadan, thanksgiving
~
for the families mourning
for the 9th ward, new orleans
~
with our hearts we are fighting
with our votes we're uniting to
> written | 1998
> tuning / capo | standard
> thoughts
the first words of mine put to song. i
wrote this in seventh grade and send it to my aunt ann, a
performer/songwriter who was living in israel, and offered it to her for inspiration. she
finished it off and when she came back, i had started playing guitar. we reworked it together slightly and performed it at my
first real public performance at elm st. junior high school coffeehouse in
may 1999.
> lyrics
sitting alone as the sweet breeze blows
starlight shines and moonlight glows
thinking of all that's been with me
my eyes open wide as i might see
still searching for answers i cannot know
perhaps as i live my life will show
the good and the bad a constant race
but life as a whole i will embrace...
this world made for us to love and care
this life made for us to keep and share...
something of a joy comes in my eyes
a sense of greatness without size
a smile of pride hints on my face
emptiness gone without a trace...
this world made for us to love and care
this life made for us to keep and share...
sit back and relax, said the midnight sky
i spoke, but it needed no reply
a whisper of magic in the air
glistened and shone as i sat there...
the world outside me still spinning fast
i held onto the moment as it passed.
> written | 2004-06
> tuning / capo | DADGBE / capo2
> thoughts
words to the innocent generation we will never know.
> lyrics
you my son, blueberries in your hand
you are still young, and all you've known is the
garden
i sing you the song so what came before will
never come again
don't be afraid, i must show you a world
we can't let it fade, from our minds or our
words
there'll come a day where you'll stand where
i've stood, and you must tell your children....
it took 300 years before the rivers were freed
and it took 200 years before the prisons were covered by trees
it took 100 years before the rains washed away the shepherd's blood
and it took just one day for the children of cain to drown...to drown in
the flood...
they stole the land and all of its fruit
they made it give more, and so their numbers grew
the strong asked the weak will you work for your food? won't
you feed the machine?
and the garden soil where you and i have stood
is where they raped her for her oil, where steel preyed on wood
each day they'd toil for what i've never uneerstood - it was a paper that
was green...
it took 300 years before the rivers were freed
and it took 200 years before the prisons were covered by trees
it took 100 years before each flower found its gun
and it took just one day for the children of cain to put out...to put out
the sun...
you my son, blueberries in your hand
you are still young, and all you've known is the garden
i sing you the song so what came before will never come again
it took 300 years before the rivers were freed
and it
took 200 years before the prisons were covered by trees
it took
100 years before the garden had won
and it
took just one day for the children of cain to feel the darkness...and
ask...
what
have we done?
> written | 2007-08-20
> tuning / capo | standard
> audio | none yet
> lyrics
Searching for a better world above us
A better world below
A better world deep inside us
In our souls, in our souls
Searching for a better world in the distance
You can hear a better world if you listen
Gonna find a better world for the children,
This I know, this I know
And on the long road home to a better world
On that unpaved road to a better world
I can’t see it, but I can feel it
In my bones, in my bones
So walk beside me home to a better world
Walk beside me home to a better world
And someday soon, we’re home to a better world
Coming home
[Additional verses: replace "a better world" with
"harmony", "justice", "freedom",
"brotherhood", "sunshine", etc.]
> written | 2005-01-15
> tuning / capo | standard / capo5
> thoughts
i will never forget the celebration day. i
felt my own longing and, at the same time, the turmoil of his sons, his
wife, his loved ones, and most of all, one of his best friends - my father.
> lyrics
under a lonely sky
a cup of brandy drinks from my eyes
under a lonely sky
the celebration night isn't through
i've still got on my best suit
you know there'd be no less for you
just before we parted ways
you told me, friend, i've said all i wanted to say
just before we parted ways
and with my hands i searched through the dirt
trying to recall you word for word
you said it better than i ever could
under a lonely sky
for the first time i realize i am
under a lonely sky
they took your one from our two
my cup of brandy reaches bottom just before i do
if He only knew, like taking one from two
just before we parted ways
you told me, friend, i've said all i wanted to say
just before we parted ways
but what i would give to hear your sound
but all i can do is place a stone upon your ground
what i'd give to hear you now
and as my prayer goes to the night
across the black comes one streak of white
burning slow as candle light
and i stare up to the farewell you send
'til it's me under a lonely sky
with my cup of brandy again
under a lonely sky
you're all i see if i close my eyes
if i close my eyes
> written | 2007-09
> lyrics
give us eyes wide open
give us eyes wide open
give us eyes wide open
and we'll find a way
in these dangerous hours
if we can hold onto the power
of these eyes wide open
we're gonna find a way
love for all our neighbors...
strength to make the journey...
> written | 2005-08-11
> tuning / capo | FACGBE
> thoughts
I went two decades before I made this mistake.
> lyrics
how do i repent
my sins to she who heaven sent
i cannot change what's been
so all i can do is let the sun rise again
and fall before you in the morning
i offer up my shame
remember your devotion in the sun & in the rain
you gave me all your faith
fragile and full and all i'd wish to take
may i still be he who is deserving of your gaze...
deserving of your gaze...
are you and i alone
because i've built a wall of stone?
i cannot stand as tall
so all i pray is that you take me, flesh and soul and pain and all
and together, we'll climb above the wall
just a moment of time
enough to separate your hand from mine
though all the days gone by
when we danced through the love songs and the lullabyes
may i still be he who is deserving in your eyes...
deserving in your eyes...
> written | 2008-03-15
> lyrics
V1
Every now and then the moon
reveals its hidden splendor and
falls perfectly in line
with its companion in the sky
And you may find yourself enraptured as
light and shadow have you captured
and the clouds lift from your eyes
and you may not know how long, or even...
Chorus
Why, have I
been granted
the chance to be a witness to this?
And how
how long
will the heavens be aligned
until these travelers know it's time to go back home?
V2
And when it comes you may be ready or
your telescope unsteady for
the brilliance in the night
the cosmic marriage of the darkness and the light
So keep your heart in wonder at
the sun, the moon, the thunder and just
watch with serenity
through the spring of love and winter of your grief
(Chorus)
Verse 3
And I can still remember when the moon
revealed its hidden splendor and
fell perfectly in line
with its companion in the sky
And I found myself enraptured as
light and shadow had me captured
and the clouds lifted from my eyes
and I did not know how long, or even
why.
> written | 2005-09-30
> tuning / capo | FACGBE
> thoughts
sometimes you don't know what you've got 'til
it's gone.
> lyrics
I've lived in ellipses and unfinished phrases
and voices that call me to opposite places
though just one voice alone points my compass
back home in the night
I've searched in myself in the days since you
went
and i carry a letter waiting to send
to the woman who showed me a man in the light in
her eyes
you said: love, wants, needs
but they're just words to me...
I've got a wanderer's heart and a mind
uncontrolled
and questions whose answers may never be told
but one lesson I've learned is a fire won't burn
while you wait
you said: love, wants, needs
but they're just words to me...
the ellipses I found at the end of your sentence
brought my drought to a flood and my doubt to
repentance
cuz i remember the words that were told by the
man on the street
it’s like a flower that blossoms if
you’ve got faith in the seed
and time's taken us places since that first
December
but I cannot forget, and I know you remember, me
under your body, under your sheets, and under
the moon
leaving words to our eyes, leaving sleep behind,
and always leaving too soon
the miles we drove in the name of our love
and the hours we learned what the heart is made
of
and the poems that you spoke with the touch of
your hand
when I said I could not and you said, yes you
can
but now you've spoken the three circles as I've
done before you
and I feel all the pain that was always in
store, you
had to take it all away for me to know what was
real
but I won’t let you go without a final
appeal
I stand helpless before you with nothing to hide
and if there is fear it's because I'm alive
look in my eyes and tell me if our time has passed
and before you end what you say with a period,
ask
who you love, want, need?
… who do you
love, want, need?
cuz an ellipses exists so something can come
after it
like fear before falling and tears before
laughter
my words before yours, before our eyes end the
war with the truth
> written | 2004-03-17
> audio | 2006-01-14 -
club passim
>tuning / capo | FACGBE
> thoughts
the night i returned from my trip to nicaragua, i had the scariest nightmare i've had since i was maybe seven
years old. the imagery was so vivid and the
symbolism of death was so apparent. a few days
later i started getting diahrrea, chills, fever, aches, weakness,
shakes...almost all the signs of malaria. i
remembered my dream, and for a full day i felt it was a real possibility
i'd picked up the disease, whose nicaraguan strain cannot be treated. turned out to be a virus, but i wrote this little dittie
on the toilet bowl.
> lyrics
if i die
won't you laugh more than you cry
won't you take my dreams and make them fly
if i die
if i must leave
won't you dance more than you grieve
won't you give more than you receive
if i must leave
if grow cold my hands
won't you take all your fear and understand
you'll find me in every grain of sand
if grow cold my hands
if time has come
won't you walk in awe more than you run
won't you give hope to those with none
if time has come
if my story's told
won't you be young in the growing old
won't you be the sculptor not the mold
if my story's told
if angels call
won't you shine bright past my nightfall
won't you be humble as you stand tall
if my angels call
if ends the song
won't you listen inside and sing along
won't you make right the notes still wrong
if ends the song
if ends the song...
> written | 2004-11
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD / capo2
> audio | 2006-01-14 -
club passim
> thoughts
nostalgia of old lovers.
> lyrics
i went for a visit to our firehole
it was just as exquisite as the day
when the first flame took hold
scattered lay the ashes from the last night we
came
lonely in the cold and ready to be reclaimed
meet me down by the firehole
kneel beside this bed of coal
remember what a little kindling once became
the sun now falls beneath the sky
so let's make it burn brighter this time
cuz you & i know how to turn a smolder
to a
flames dancing holding hands and through the smoke we see a vision
of our dreams
so young and innocent as children but we were a whole lot wiser than we
seemed
we build our altar not knowing how long it would burn
in the wind it would falter but always find the strength to return
meet me down by the firehole
kneel beside this bed of coal
remember what a little kindling once became
the sun now falls beneath the sky
so let's make it burn brighter this time
cuz you & i know how to turn a smolder
to a flame
to a flame
to a flame...
> written | 1999-07-24
> tuning / capo | CGDGAD
> thoughts
i wrote the lyrics to this one in Eilat, Israel,
a place you should go before you die. i wrote the
music under a tree at the national guitar workshop. later,
i changed pretty much the whole thing.
> lyrics
come ride the wind
from the layers that surround you
comes a soul lost deep in flight
flow with the ocean
celebrate the silent sound you
hear so loud and clear tonight
please come with me
be here now
share this love that we have found
please come with me
take my hand
our freedom cry will be heard throughout the land
listen close to words from the ocean wave that is
never the ocean wave twice the same
do not hurry her along
she will be gone
before you can call out her name
come ride the wind
from the layers that surround you
comes a soul lost deep in flight
flow with the ocean
celebrate the silent sound you
hear so loud and clear tonight
please come with me
be here now
share this love that we have found
please come with me
take my hand
we'll make our footprints on this
beach sand
> written | 2005-02
> tuning / capo | standard
> audio | 2006-01-14 -
club passim
> thoughts
He broke his neck in a ski accident. We all
attach significance to other people through the personal memories we have
of them, the personalized impact they have had on our own lives. Hal
Melcher made me realize how lucky I was to be alive, how blessed I was with
consciousness and a good one; he made me begin to realize the extent of my
duty to serve in this world. When he began to tutor me in 10th grade
English, my highest ambition was to play guitar on the streets of Boulder, Colorado and maybe practice massage. Seeing my head in the clouds, he
quickly pulled me back down and expressed his warning to me: “Do not
waste that which you have to give.” I remember him saying that there
was a choice, whether to retreat to the woods, like Thoreau, and bask in
the beauty of nature and metaphysics and poetry and philosophy, or to
devote myself to public service until I was used up. I remember him looking
me straight in the eye and telling me that the choice was mine, and the
consequences of that choice were mine to live with. He made it so clear to
me then, and I slowly became beholden to him, to live up to the example he
set forth. He was a state representative at the time, and I remember asking
him once, what will you do when you retire? To which he replied with that
playful grin of his, "go skiing!" Hal Melcher was a man of his
word. I only hope I can live my life with the courage with which he lived
his.
> lyrics
80 years to 16
take the hat of your head you told me
as i closed the door
you said, i am a teacher who does not teach,
i am merely he who does the questioning
he who holds the mirror.
you held the paper to my pen
if it did not speak, you saw me try again
for what are we, you'd ask, if we cannot show the world?
i remember how you looked me in the eye
and now to think there is no light behind
now just earth, just dust, just words
and i will take my hat off to the one
who opened the door inside
and i will build no house in the woods
until every child's hunger is satisfied
you asked me, to what do you aspire
when you are grown and i've grown tired -
what is your duty?
i said the path of least resistance
i said i just want to sing my songs for whoever listens
i want to follow thoreau to nature's beauty
you told me the words of mr. franklin
who said, we must fight wars just so that our children
can learn to write poetry
you said, i am an old man
you are still young, it is your own choice and your own consequence
but remember, one day, you'll be an old man, just like me
and i will take my hat off to the one
who opened the door inside
and i will build no house in the woods
until every child's hunger is satisfied
i asked, where will you go when we are through?
you said, i'll take it to the mountain, and how
about you?
do you believe in free will or fate?
now it is not your words, but in between
it is the warning call i hear in my dreams
go forth now...before it is too late
and i will take my hat off to the one
who opened the door inside
and i will build no house in the woods
until every child's hunger is satisfied
> written | 2003
> tuning / capo | CGDGAD
> thoughts
here i stand, more boy than man, looking out
into the world. island surrounded by ocean. my eyes meet so many but who really sees down inside,
the buried me, the hidden form? so much joy...i
live in rapture of the magician, the hidden artist. who
else feels it this way? who else is above? there was a me i used to see so clear in my mind living
for the giving of self, the surrender of soul that surpasses time, living
for the promise. all i am is a reflection. all i can give is the promise.
> lyrics
I feel her breath
when all that's left
are the dreams of a soul's completion
moonlit prayers I've released from
within my depths
I can feel her breath
from afar
she fills tomorrow
with the promise of revelation
rapture
sacred elation unbarred
I see her from afar
I long to leave the shadows I've lived among
when she comes
surrender in the absence of fear
when my love draws near I'll be...
...opening up my secret
borders
for her
I'll be sending all my guards
away
from my holy gates
waiting for
the downpour of love
a rain that fills the cup
from which two may drink
and will never dry up
I'm waiting for the flood
of love
I long to leave the shadows I've lived among
when she comes
surrender in the absence of fear
when my love draws near I'll be...
...opening up my secret
borders
for her
I'll be sending all my guards
away
from my holy gates
> written | 2005-08-18
> tuning / capo | FACGBE
> thoughts
i wrote this one while camping out near
Yosemite, taking a break for the weekend from organizing a campaign in
Davis, CA to institute choice voting for their City Council elections. i was struck by how, even amidst this unbelievable
peacefulness, my ears still rung with the struggles of the civilized world.
> lyrics
I'm just about to close my eyes
and I wonder is it my day to die
and if on earth all my time is through
did I really live a life as best as I could do?
with my body on the ground and my hands to the sky
wishing every man, woman, child could lay where I lie
just the stars above and the earth below
wondering like a fool what all the struggle is for...
cuz when Adam and Eve took the fruit from the tree
they sealed the fate of you and the fate of me
and when the Lord up above gone and cast them out
he sent them walking with a conscience and a mind of doubt
and since the slaying of the shephard, nothing's ever been the same
we've got mothers in the streets and babies crying in pain
and when the babies grow strong they pack their bags for war
wondering what all the struggle is for...
with all the trouble in the world I just can't stand by
cuz I know I'm gonna have to look my babies in the eye
and when they ask me, when all my time is through
I'm gonna say I lived a life as best as I could do
and when they grow, they're gonna know that they are not alone
they'll know that all the other little babies are all just trying to find
their way home
and if we all row the boat, we all might make it to the shore
and realize what all the struggle was for...
so tonight I lost my troubles on the interstate
and drove 100 miles too far past Yosemite's gates
and at a quarter of two we found an unpaved road
so we pulled up in the dirt and stepped outside into the world
I lay my bones to the earth and let the sky come in
but my ears to the heavens, in silence, still ringing
and now I'm just about to close my eyes
and I wonder is it my day to die
and if on earth all my time is through
did I really live a life as best as I could do?
and so I say a prayer that when my babies are grown
they hear a silence deeper than anything I've known
may they have the stars above and the earth below
I guess this is what all the struggle is for
yeah, this is what all the struggle is for...
> written | 2007-08-13
> audio | 2009-01-08
| 2007-08-13 | 2007-11-02 (video!)
> tuning / capo | DADF#AD
> thoughts
Here in 2007, the youth movement for clean
energy is beginning to find its soul in a powerful way. we're
beginning to trace our lineage back further, deeper, than just
environmentalism, realizing that the world we're seeking to create is a
world where all people are free to pursue their own joy, with nothing
holding them back. This is about justice, opportunity for all,
freedom...None of this is new; this has been in most people's hearts all
along - but the articulation seems to be new for many.
I've also begun to discover my soul in a
powerful way, in 2007. A little over four years ago, Fred Malkin, died of cancer; he was a friend of the family,
who everybody loved and respected. He had such joy and passion for life
that everyone around him lit up in his presence, and felt that they were
his best friend. One of the last things Fred left me was soulful music.
At that point I didn't quite know what to do with it. I hadn't live
and experienced enough yet; the folk, blues, and gospel traditions weren't
part of my lineage. So it all went dormant, until another Fred came into my
life. Fred Small, a Unitarian minister from Littleton, MA, co-organized the
Interfaith Walk for Climate Rescue in early 2007. He came to Worcester, MA to our temple, to see if
the marchers could stay there on their way from Northampton to Boston. He gave a sermon on climate
change, and also led us in song. Something stirred. On the March to
ReEnergize New Hampshire, which I spent the summer of 2007 co-organizing, I
was able to learn some songs from him, to lead and to uplift the spirits of
our marchers.
This march reaffirmed, among other things, the power of soulful
music, and I've begun to feel it in my gut in a way I just couldn't before.
Now that I've seen and heard what is possible, I've got some major catching
up to do. None of it is in my lineage, but all of it fits into the deeper
reason I started to play music: when I saw Acoustic Junction in 1998, I
felt like I was a part of something magical, something greater than just
myself. This is was I've wanted to create. I'm beginning now to see the
place of songleading in what I will do.
> lyrics
CHORUS
I have a vision
Of all the children
Finding their mission
In the Great Design
Together we're building
So they’ll be livin'
A circle of giving in their time (2x)
COUNTER-CHORUS
(optional – sing alongside chorus)
To all the children
May we listen
And all that we’ve been missing
May we give them in their time
VERSE 1
What makes the green grow?
What turns the seasons?
What is the reason
The world goes ‘round?
What is the mystery
So deep inside us
Turning silence into sound? (2x)
VERSE 2
What turns our eyes away
From our own neighbors
When from their labor
They find no reward?
What do our hearts say
When they cry mercy
When they beg shelter from the storm? (2x)
VERSE 3
When will the rivers
Flow untainted?
What kind of rain is
Gonna fall?
Who will be helpless
And who will be saved when
Mighty floods rise above levee walls? (2x)
VERSE 4
To all beside us
And all behind us
May you remind us
From where we’ve come
To those not yet with us
Oh won't you give us
A prayer of peace, a song of freedom on our tongues (2x)
> written | 2000-12-08
> tuning / capo | DADGBE
> thoughts
sometimes there is that looming feeling of
impending failure...i took a break one day painting houses with my dad to
write this down. there's a lot of time to think
when you're on a ladder with a brush.
> lyrics
from my dreams I wrote
and down
from the pen ink fell
my life
writing a book that never would sell
from my heart I danced
across a dry canvas
a brush of brown, grey, and green
my life
painting a beauty never to be seen
with all my love I reached
hands, eyes, embracing out
to the female abyss
my life
two sets of lips that
never would kiss
I plucked the strings
and scribbled things
I rose to sing
I spread open these wings
the wind brought me down
stole away my ground
stole these strings I'd found
brought me down
far into darkness
into a hole
seven oceans cold
into moonless night
into high and heavy tide
into grief I was bound
into silence's sound
into eyes with no sight
into mouth sealed tight
into nakedness, into nowhere
see my life was told to me
in this dream that I fear...
see my life was told to me
in this dream that I fear...
see my life was...
> written | 2006-11-15
> tuning / capo | DGDF#AE, capo2
> thoughts
a love song…
> lyrics
Still learning the taste of I love you on my lips
Still learning how to speak unpronounceable words with a kiss
We’ve seen days of sorrow and nights of glory
And we’re still returning home to hear the end of the story
Into the dark
Into our heart
Into the fire
To reveal who we are
Still learning how to find my way across the distance
And when your heart only whispers, still learning how to listen
Spinning round the world as we struggle to linger
Holding on by the strength of one finger
Out of the light
Out of the corner of our eye
Out of the noise
A girl and a boy
For the sharing of wings
For unbearable longing
For right or for wrong
For however long
For the giving of vows
For rain drops in between our mouths
For the rise and the fall
For no reason at all
My love, you say to me one day, have you grown tired of me yet?
You smile like you know the answer, but you still want to hear it
Days go by and we find our time is changing
Behind us something beautiful, before us now rearranging
But you and I will
Be you and I still
And the fire will grow
the further now we go
> written | 2003
> audio | studio
version
> thoughts
the guitar was a drum before it was a guitar. kahmti is hebrew for "i woke."
> lyrics
none!
> written | 2004-06
> audio | 2005-04-02 -
new song folk club
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD / capo2
> thoughts
a story about faith.
> lyrics
heard the music from across the street
saw angels dancing to the latin gospel beat
humble praise from la igelsia de dios
so i peeked inside and they called me in
so many good people singing repentance
and in the air it resounded: glory a dios!
from the altar my cup replenished
holy song filled this hall
though the prayer escapes my spanish
it spoke to me loud as jerusalem's walls
the holy spirit played drums in the band
good people crying, shaking maraccas in their hands
made me wanna praise 'til i had no dancing left
along came jose, i remembered last year
cleaned the rug each day i rushed down dormitory stairs
always knew he was a righteous man, so i said hello
he said, welcome to the house of god
i'm here cuz someone died for my sins
i said, seems like grace is all you've got
maybe we're here for the same reasons
was i one of the chosen? i said yes
but praying east doesn't hit me harder than praying west
there's many good books, under the sun
jose said, y'know he was one of your own
and you'd better pray cuz pretty soon he's coming come
i said, i think it's up to us to bring heaven down, but i'll welcome him if
he comes
he said the final battle advances
and you've got a place in the kingdom of heaven if you take his hand
i said i'll have to take my chances
but i'll be singing with you 'til the end - if that's alright
jose said, the preacher can pray for your mortal
soul
but only if you want, no pressure, you know
i said who am i to decline the healing hands of a holy man?
so up the aisle i slowly went
the preacher blessing each child, each parent
and as he blessed me, i heard him speak to the one who made the sea and the
land...
i said it flows strong through you
and he said god bless
i said, when He comes down tell Him i knew you
i'll be right here in la iglesia de dios
lighting the darkness
> written | 2000-06
> tuning / capo | standard
> thoughts
credit is due to Jim Button, my 10th grade Algebra
II teacher who stopped discussing algebra one day in class and, as if by
divine inspiration, said, "i listen to the music in my head and
sometimes i decide to sing along." remember that the song is in the
air, you've just got to catch it.
> lyrics
when I walk out at night beneath the starlight
it's the face of the moon that catches my eye
the breath of a thousand moons before it
run with the wind like some ancient cry
I ponder a life uncommon as
the heavens sing down to the sea
in just a heartbeat, we find it over
but maybe tonight
the moon will sing for me...
the leaves dance in your pain
they dance in your joy
in your final hour
and when the world was still your toy
is it in the end we realize
they were dancing all along?
some of our fires burn bright and burn high
some leave us with greatness before they die
walk yourself down life's boulevard
all these memories you've somehow picked up
along the way
that same sun shines bright
just as it did that first fateful day
what's real, what's the illusion?
sometimes confusion
ensues us all
who's to say what is right and what is wrong?
I listen to the music in my head
and sometimes...
I decide
to
sing
along
> written | 2003-12
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD / capo2
> thoughts
i don't know how to reconcile my feelings and
experiences. we can't sit while millions fight for
their lives. when the resounding no is heard, the
many yes's will arise. i traveled to miami to bear witness. through my own eyes i
saw a movement pulling for democracy on the streets, i saw a cause fade
into a meaningless fight with police. we risked
tear gas with the knowledge that the Global South faces life and death. the adventure was exhilarating, the game of hide and
chase, but that's all it was, a game. it disturbs
me knowing that we staged a game while the story of reality is heppening
elsewhere...where can i find it? in lauderdale we
simply called it a day. a little tear gas, a hide
and chase and time to relax by the ocean. how is
it that we deserve this, how is it we buy into this when for others, the
fight is never over? no beauty now without
sadness. solemnity infused into all my joy. while feel hit sand my mind returns to cement. the street remains in my vision, the police blockade,
the memory of the field outside the prison, the desperate we'd saved. my feet heavy from walking the streets so i take off my
sandals and spin around. the blur eventually
reveals two worlds. i see the ocean, serene,
eternal, and then the city lights, stories of pain in human creation. i always imagined the ocean as larger than any human joy
or anguish. i wonder if it chose to would it rise
up and swallow the story whole? could it swallow
the buildings in which leaders sat, the forming of the protested pact? and now how can i return to the everyday?
(note - the demonstration in November 2003 was
against the World Trade Organization's Summit for the Free Trade Area of
the Americas. see www.oxfamamerica.org for information on the FTAA.)
> lyrics
leaving the miami warzone
i find myself driving towards lauderdale ocean
waves
the night air is sweet
remembering the taste of vinegar seep through
as we faced the blockade
miles from the tear gas
police state now fading fast
as exits pass
on this highway
the struggle now a memory
yet i hear the millions still assembling
night and day
in my smile
a sadness runs deep
in my laughter
tears swell beneath
i feel the cry of the earth
on the wind in my hand
i am surrounded by beauty
and filled with the sorrow of man
we come to the night's resting ground
i am overcome by the ancient holy sound
of the ocean night
taking shoes off tired feet
in sand i spin around and see
nature's dark and city's light
now if the waves all chose
i wonder could they rise up to the streets and swallow
the story whole
and will the miami sun set
long after the war for peace is won, yet
i will never know
i will never know...
in my smile
a sadness runs deep
in my laughter
tears swell beneath
i feel the pull of a spinning earth
from the ground on which i stand
i am surrounded by beauty
and filled with the sorrow of man
home again
in a daze since i don't know when
and miami calls me back
i say hello to strangers as they walk by
wishing they could see through my eyes
but i can't break through the wall
miami's depth i cannot comprehend
is it life or death, is it vacation
what have i seen?
is salvation to privatize
or is it corporations against the millions' lives
do you hear them scream?
can you hear them scream?
what will you do when you hear them scream?
> written | 2001-07-19
> tuning / capo | EbBbDGBbEb
> thoughts
i wrote this in sunny missoula, montana at my uncle bill's place...check out montana at some point if you've never been. in a
sense this is a call to my future, less enlightened self...i think back to
the time when i wrote this, and how spiritually developed i was, and i am
in awe. i'm impressed that i knew how to call out
to my future self, which would forget his original face...
> lyrics
every moment could be a sunrise
light waiting to flood the real,
bring it so close into view
sun of an eternal dawn whose
every ray belongs to you
your mountains veiled by darkness
your trees all silhouettes in this shadow of night
you are your own morning star rising
you've just got to expose it all to the light
grow quiet once again
return to the silence you were born in
it's time again to rise in your blackened sky
expose the true face of this dark forgotten side
every moment this valley shivers and shudders
crying silent prayers
for the warmth of the sun
look upon it all morning star you will see
night has chilled the air out here for
far too long
grow quiet once again
return to the silence you were born in
it's time again to rise in your blackened sky
expose the true face of this dark forgotten side
remember your world of once upon a time
dawn over your land, like a memory you can no longer describe
let loose the ocean of brilliance to flood this holy site
you pray in darkness when you've just got to
expose it to the light
> written | 2006-09-24
> tuning / capo | DADF#AE
> audio
2009 - Demo featuring Jean Rohe
2007 - Demo
2007-03-24
- Interfaith Service for Climate Rescue
> thoughts
The day of Rosh Hashanah, I had to stop
everything I was doing to allow this thing to come out. I was thinking
about the beauty of the New Year, how every year it sneaks up on me and takes me over like some massive wave, crushing the
impurities of the past year, preparing me for the journey ahead…So I
was thinking about how we commemorate the gifts of the past year, as we bid
goodbye. Simultaneously, I thought about Eduardo and Natalia, two social
change agents we’d met in Chiapas this past summer, who’d
incidentally connected to us to virtually every nonprofit group we’d
visited. Only a few days after we returned to the US, we learned that they
had both died in a strange sulfur hot springs accident. Overcome by the
gases, they’d drowned. We wrestled with having received such
blessings from them, only for them to pass before we could repay them. We
sympathetically wrestled with the emotions of our compatriots in Chiapas,
in whose nonprofits Eduardo and Natalia had played such a central role. Our
professor and a man I consider a significant mentor, Duncan Earle, spoke of
the need to carry on in their name, in the quest for social justice, even
stronger than before, because we had to fill the gap that they left both in
our hearts and in our work. These two streams of thought – the New
Year and the death of Eduardo and Natalia – rushed over me, and I
began writing in “stream of consciousness” form. I moved to pick
up my guitar, and realized I needed to sing first, for something honest to
come out of me. It was then that a melody, which had haunted me since
March, came out, slow and flowing. After singing a while, I picked up the
guitar and realized that a driving, pulsing beat was underlying this
seemingly ancient hymnal chant. This is the story of the birth of this
song. – Z.T., 2006-09-24
> lyrics
We’ve traveled far
and gathered near
To lay your heart
to slumber here
We watch your sun
as it goes down
May your light live on
next time around
From one to two
Our paths ahead
Your numbered days
Come to an end
So may you return
to where you are bound
May your fire in us burn
next time around
And all that we are
Is ashes of earth
And dust of the stars
Memories lost at rebirth
But holy breath to bring
Silence to holy sound
May your song we sing
Next time around
And all your deeds
In our
book inscribed
To us
you leave
The
great divide
And
righteous wings
To
climb the clouds
May we
make them fly
Next
time around
> written | 2002-01-16
> tuning / capo | CGDGBbD
> thoughts
the general disbelief of the dream ending. we held it up for three turns around the Four.
> lyrics
have I been enough?
or have you seen too much
of this dreamer still half-grown
and it's time we go back home, my love?
is every stormy sky behind us?
have you to come find I'm just
a story you may recall
when the years begin to fall, my love?
nothing more, nothing less;
that is what we've always said
of these trembling hands held tight
this moment of glory in the Light, my love...
in my short life I've seen
blessings some could only dream
but love is all I've really known
and what it means to find a Home, my love...
from the first second to three turns around the Four
we've given to this wonder
this strange fire
we don't understand
once upon a time we danced
by the light of this sacred romance
does time now spread the flames
with Her sand?
I walk alone today but I still feel it close beside me
and in the greens & blues overhead
a brilliance warmer than the sun's rays
it's the memory of a beauty only you could provide me
a love that will leave me
breathless for
the rest of my days...
nothing more, nothing less
that is what we always said...
> written | 2005-07-24
> tuning / capo | FACGBE
> thoughts
I just started playing this in Davis on the front porch of my apartment, donated to me by Joseph
Stewart. The groove stuck with me and sometimes peeks out as a little
meditation warm-up.
> lyrics
onward we go
together or alone
onward we go
onward flesh and bone
onward we go
to find our way back home
onward we go
like water over stone
onward we go
together or alone
> written | 2004-07
> tuning / capo | standard
> thoughts
just a lullabye for my loved ones.
> lyrics
my song is on its way,
to the place you are bound to be
follows you as you lay
your mind on down to sleep
and dream
your song is in my ears,
across the highways that hide your face
so soft but i can hear
your lullabye stays in this place
singing your grace
the space is far and wide
separates your road from mine
see past the great divide,
i sing the song 'til it is time
and the road unwinds
no need to write it down
don't you know your eyes are made of poems
i'll give you all i've found
and for a while we will go
back home
> written | 2003
> tuning / capo | AADGAD
> thoughts
i have a lot to get done in this life on earth,
i realize. i'm interested to see how many years
i've got left to do it all. better eat healthy,
relax, and not put chemicals that i can't pronounce into my body i guess.
> lyrics
one hundred years
one century
it's a number I might reach
living in between a heartbeat
to the planet
beneath my feet
I am two open arms
carrying forward two open hands
I am faint sound
a whisper among the loud
just one in the crowd I am
doing my best to write
to sing
to love
to live in a state of grace
praying to find the words to say
the song to play
to bring the day
we need no tears for
this human race
as I live my days I see a people lost and afraid
trying to grow but there are no roots in our ground
no hope to be found
our soil upturned
I see a people who burned down the garden
I see wisdom unlearned
I see the glory of our paintbrushes
our clay
our strings
and our stories
but must these bring
our stones to bullets to nuclear war
we look down and must we see
blood in the rivers
of milk and honey?
I am only a child
but my eyes are clear my ears are open
I see I hear barefoot brothers remind us well
this is not our land to sell
to pave where life dwells
to control all but ourselves
but my my I am a part of this and so this is my mission
this the hardest
this, my only wish in this life -
when my one hundred years are said and done
we are more than a fumbling earth
around a forsaken sun!
two world wars
and a score of scuffles in between
the sun sets, moon rises four season turn
we are the story of human becoming
doing my best to write
to sing
to love
to live in a state of grace
a place of righteous mind
one hundred years is too short to waste
and too long to pass
the
time
> written | 2008-05-11
> thoughts
I first heard these words uttered at the gathering of Religious Witness for
the Earth (RWE)'s Leadership Council, back in September 2007. I believe it
was Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian who spoke.
> lyrics
we're gonna turn and face the danger, yes we will
we're gonna turn and face the danger, yes we will
with our open broken hearts, broken open
we're gonna turn and face the danger, yes we will
(we're gonna feel the pain and sorrow, yes we will...)
(we're gonna see with new eyes, yes we will...)
(we're gonna dream a new dream, yes we will...)
(it's gonna be our finest hour, yes it will...)
> written | 2004-07
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD / capo2
> thoughts
this friend of mine...is such a contradiction. very confident, yet very fragile. very
powerful...she could do anything, yet she is held back by forces unknown to
me. her trust in me is one of my most prized
posessions...all i can do is wait for her to come home.
> lyrics
you write to me
with your fears and lamentations
you apologize
you say you know it's not my place and
i find you funny
don't you know i'll be your counselor
if you'll be my muse
your words come down
like the tears from you face and
you say you are fragile
though you are my rock my inspiration
and i see angels up above
always watching over you
what can i do
but leave the light on
'til the world has shown itself to you
and when you're feeling alone
don't you know i'm with you in the clouds
and when you come back down
you've got a home
you want to save the world
or maybe you just want to dance
but there's something you cannot find
from colorado to france
how can it track you down
when you always fly away
you learn languages
like i learn vocabulary
but you pack your backage
so that it's more than you should carry
you can put it down
when you decide to stay
(chorus)
you say it's like a rollercoaster
you got on without knowing
but you throw your coins
to the one who's keeping it going
this fear of stillness
keeps you in motion
and i guess i should apologize too
perhaps it's wrong
but i take all your pain
and draw from it a song
and send it with my love
across the ocean
(chorus)
> written | 2006-12-10
> tuning / capo | DADGAD / capo2
> thoughts
Inspired by “Border Dynamics,” a
sculpture by Alberto Morackis; and a trip to the border with BorderLinks,
which revealed more to me than expected
> lyrics
there’s a line that’s been drawn in the Sonora sand
folks are pushing to keep out and pushing to get in
they’ve got hearts and bones and breath and lungs, and blood beneath
the skin
they’ve been dealt all their cards and now they’re playing
their hands
we’ve come to the end of the road where they say their
goodbyes
and face either hope or desperation by the rolling of the dice
Father Pancho mans the shelter and hands the travelers advice
serving frijoles by the calling of a higher faith than I, and he says:
if I were not to come then who would come instead of me?
and how could I turn away and still think myself
holy?
how can a man lie on his back at night while his
brother is on his feet?
if I were not to help my own, what kind of man
would I then be?
Jose comes from Chiapas, and I ask him where
have you set your sight?
he says, Carolina, Mississippi, I will learn only when I arrive
just a few short years and I’ll return to my daughters and my wife
and I wonder is it by God’s grace alone that we survive? And I wonder
why must we leave just so our children may eat?
and where did all the pesos go, how bad must it
be?
in what kind of world is this the path of higher
dignity,
to be in your own home with empty pockets, in your own land a refugee?
in the first light of the morning we patrol the desert distance
there’s no exodus before us – just the ghostly evidence
faded photographs in a plastic bag, one thousand eyes watch in silence
one thousand stories with no words, one thousand steps with no footprints,
and I think:
who is this that brought them here, who is this that made them go?
who is this that left them no better choice than
to walk this forsaken road?
who’s the culprit, is it the Minutemen the
army or the Border Patrol?
is it the CEO, the politician, the farmer or the
dollars we all hold?
and now we close our eyes to pray, may we change the way the story goes
in the name of all the witnesses, the perpetrators, the workers hiding in
the shadows
in the name of all the brothers, sisters, mothers’ sorrow
in the name of those who walk today, and in the name of those who walk
tomorrow
” love thy neighbor, says the Gospel, love the stranger next to
you,”
because you can bet your life that you were once a tired stranger too
” come ye tired, come ye weary, come ye sad and downtrodden,”
say the words of our dear lady, holding justice in her hands.
> written | 2002
> tuning / capo | standard
> thoughts
a man dies and a gust of wind takes the contents
of his opened closet out into the busy city streets...his thoughts exposed
for the high-paced world to see, if one only stopped and observed
carefully.
> lyrics
as the poet's soul
floats into the air
his life preserved on crumpled paper somewhere
as the breath departs
the voice still sings
a little piece of the poet in the shape of things
you have got to believe...
when he rejoins the stream
he searched all his life to find
he gives his story to the world he leaves behind
as the poet's soul
floats up into space
he's left a thought to think
a look of wonder upon
somebody's face
you have got to believe...
his soul is of the path
ancient trees growing high
his soul is of the storm
mighty thunder's cry
his soul, where the wind embraces water
where fire kisses sky...
my soul is of dirt
spread six feet wide
my soul is of the ebbing
and the rushing of the tide
my soul, rain from the heavens as
lovers collide...
the body resigns to the red earth's care
life, preserved on crumpled paper somewhere
when my sky falls
the pen will be writing me
when my world falls
the song will be singing me...
he gave the words sound
now he chooses silence to build the words around
still in the few quiet moments between
somebody somewhere is listening
it seems...
> written | 2007-10-27
> thoughts
?
> lyrics
Come with me, my brother
To the turning of the road
Come with me, my brother
To the danger and the hope
Come with me, my brother
To resanctify this land
Come with me, my brother
And we will be reborn again
And we will be reborn again
Raise your voice, my sister
For the turning of the road
Raise your voice, my sister
For the danger and the hope
Raise your voice, my sister
To resanctify this land
Raise your voice, my sister
And we will be reborn again
And we will be reborn again
Open your heart, my father
For the turning of the road
Open your heart, my father
For the danger and the hope
Open your heart, my father
To resanctify this land
Open your heart, my father
And we will be reborn again
And we will be reborn again
Won’t be long, my mother
‘ Til the turning of the road
Won’t be long, my mother
‘ Til the danger and the hope
Won’t be long, my mother
‘ Til we resanctify this land
Won’t be long, my mother
‘ Til we will be reborn again
‘ Til we will be reborn again
‘ Til we will be reborn again
> written | 2001-07-01
> tuning / capo | CGDGAD
> thoughts
?
> lyrics
none!
> written | 2008-09-14
> tuning / capo | DADF#AD
> thoughts
…
>
lyrics
Morning you woke with pounding heart and body
paralyzed
Silently screaming through lungs of
stone, remembering a world on fire…
There were rising seas, air too thick to
breathe, nations marching to their doom
There were thundering sounds, and
mushroom clouds, and the battlefield filled every womb
But it was just a dream
Just a dream
Can you see the morning star arising
What a blessing
What a blessing
To wake up
With the time still left
To turn the tide
Better to end it than suffer through
The sadness and the pain
So you swallowed the poison and mercy
you prayed
Take me back from where i came
And as the potion took hold and the
world grew cold
You screamed, “this is not my
fate”
But it filled your bones and your lungs
of stone
And you knew it was too late
But it was just a dream
Just a dream
Can you see the morning star arising
What a blessing
What a blessing
To wake up
With the time still left
To turn the tide
Why, birdsong?
And why, photons?
And why, sweet breeze?
Why, galaxies?
Why the big bang in the very beginning?
And why shooting stars with their
satellites spinning?
Why the third planet to circle around?
And why ocean waves, and why solid
ground?
And why through the seas did your
ancestors rise?
And why through the struggle, the will
to survive?
And why did they pass on such sorrow and
laughter,
And the power to dream the next great
chapter?
And why do the walls seem to suddenly
fall?
And why does the arc bend to justice at
all?
And why through the concrete do flowers
now bloom?
And why did you awaken not a moment
Too
Soon
To see the morning star arising?
And what a blessing
What a blessing
To wake up
With the time still left
To turn the tide
> written | 2004
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD
> thoughts
for a friend.
> lyrics
how strange the gaze
in a stranger's eyes
that lights my face
and sees my soul's cry
i'm on my way
to brighter day
when i land
i want to take this stranger's hand and say...
what will be
when tomorrow comes
climbing out from stranger's sheets
and i find the sun, my faith begun
how strange the place she holds
in my world within
is she my saving grace
or does she symbolize the part of me that's missing?
> written | 2006-01
> tuning / capo | DGDF#AE
> thoughts
?
> lyrics
I’ve got a friend, most do these days
And we go back now quite a ways
It’s amazing how the road splits into two
We called each other names and fought
Like brothers, but I never thought
We’d say goodbye the way we had to do
He was older than me & not just by age
Picking strawberries as a kid for minimum wage
He tasted freedom and he dreamed the American dream
And when he grew a few years more
He realized it was worth fighting for
So he signed the papers and joined the Marines
And I love my country – I just don’t want my words to
become eulogy
And now the ribbon is on my car – it means that I support the
fighter, not the war…
It was a strange and new millennium
There were evils to defeat and wars to be won
And my friend had found the girl for whom he’d fall
In those most uncertain times
Their love was greater than the sum combined
And he knew it would be with him when duty called
It all blurs together, the times we played
The call to serve their promise made
The uniform, the honor, and the ring
It seemed like time was running out
As he and she stood to make their vows
And it unfolded like a tragedy’s second-to-last scene
And I don’t care about politics – I just don’t
want to have to lose my friend for this…
And now the ribbon is on my car – it means that I support the
fighter, not the war…
We take a drive to play some pool
Like memories of after school
Our thoughts are heavier than what is said
‘ til he says, “man the years just fly on by”
And I can see the sadness in his eyes
Like looking back might be longer now than looking ahead
And he says all I know is when it comes
To me or them, there’s just my gun
And this is what I’ve trained for all these years
And keeping quiet is all I can do
Cuz I know he can’t be thinking of what or who
It is that sends him fighting over there
And now another new year’s ball has dropped
And the same bell tolls, and does not stop
And old men resolve to finish what they’ve begun
The battle grows one more year older
Turning husbands into soldiers
And sparing not a father or a son
And I love my country – I just don’t want my words to
become eulogy
And now the ribbon is on my car – it means that I support the
fighter, not the war…
> written | 2008-03-26
> lyrics
VERSE 1
Tell me where
Do you find your hope?
Tell me where
Do you find your hope?
Tell me where
Do you find your hope?
'Cuz all we need is hope to find our way
I find my hope
In the child's eyes
I find my hope
In the child's eyes
I find my hope
In the child's eyes
'Cuz all we need is hope to find our way
VERSE 2
strength > in the ones who came before...
VERSE 3
faith > in the sun & the wind...
VERSE 4
love > in the human tribe...
VERSE 5
joy > in the mystery...
VERSE 6
hope > in the child's eyes
> written | 2008-03-09
> lyrics
The tide is rising, we are uniting (3x)
Oh and our finest hour grows oh so near
We are fulfilling, the vow to our children (3x)
Oh and our finest hour grows oh so near
We've walked a long road, but hope carries us onward (3x)
Oh and our finest hour grows oh so near
Our voices lifting, the power shifting (3x)
Oh and our finest hour grows oh so near
> written | 2002-06-12
> tuning / capo | EbBbDGBbEb
> thoughts
all is love, i know nothing else.
> lyrics
I know not if we are all
but nothing
in the sight of a creator
who invisible keeps his face
or if lone rock this be
'round a lone sun
circling only for
gravity's grace;
but the meaning of the heart's beating
the blessed warmth of a similar soul
the reflection of my own love's fire
in her eyes all aglow:
this I know.
I know not if fall away
all our memories
as shapeless soul escapes and body dies,
I know not if ever again
the same shooting star
will rise so to fall
in another child's eyes;
I know not how long lives each footprint
on this infinite shore
by endless tide
I know not when our voices' last echo
in this world
will cease to abide;
but worthwhile our Song in the storm
two lovers forever dancing slow
and worthwhile the sand beneath our feet
true Love's kisses as we go:
this I know.
> written | 2004-11
> tuning / capo | DGDGAD, capo2
> thoughts
i began singing this, walking off of the metro
at union station dc..
> lyrics
all i want
is to sing the song
that calls the soliders of mercy
to the front lines
all i need
is to plant the seed
from which one thousand flowers
can feel the sunshine
all of my words
they could go unheard
but to offer them to you my friend
is all i can do
all of the miles
for just one smile
but i would drive them in a heartbeat
just to bring this to you
so i kneel down
with my arms stretched out
and my face to the ground
and my prayer to the clouds
hear me now
all i believe in
is the power of the seasons
to turn the autumn of my rapture
to a sorrowful snow
and all that is mine
i will receive in time
and like the flower in the winter wind
from my hand it will go
so i kneel down
with my arms stretched out
and my face to the ground
and my prayer to the clouds
hear me now
> written | 2007-09-08
> thoughts
The first feeling that led to this song came on
Passover of 2006. We always talk about how “we were there, we were
slaves and now we’re free…” I guess it just hit me harder
than ever…and how this implies that we are linked in solidarity to
those who are not yet free, those who don’t
yet have the opportunity to pursue their own joy with nothing holding them
back…how their struggle is ours still. This summer, working on this
global warming campaign, we tapped into such a deeper lineage, and this
lesson from Passover became so much more apparent. This was always driving
me, this knowledge that I was standing on the shoulders of all those who
have struggled before us, that it was to them that we owed it all. And just
like a week ago, I was walking around and it hit me again, this lineage,
and the first translation of the feeling was right into a rhythm. A really
fast, gospelly kind of rhythm, definitely snap on the 2 and the 4,
definitely bluesy minor melody…and words came! “We’re
walking, in their footsteps, and on their wings, we’re gonna
fly…their mighty struggle, we carry onward, until the dream, is
realized.” Call and response! It just came out and it was call and
response! In its first week I played it maybe 50 times, for and with all
sorts of different people, friends, strangers, my
neighbors…It’s exciting what’s happening.
> lyrics
CHORUS
(repeat after each Bridge)
We're
walking, in their footsteps
And on
their wings, we're gonna fly
Their
mighty struggle, we'll carry onward
Until
the dream, is realized (2x)
VERSE 1
We were there, all pushing stones
For Pharaoh, for Pharaoh
Slaves by day, slaves by night
We were there, all pushing stones (2x)
BRIDGE 1
But we found a way, we found a way
By a higher grace, we found a way
(Each bridge, repeat the above lines)
We crossed the sea, walked the sands
For 40 years, to Promised Land (2x)
VERSE 2
And we were there, all by the shore
When the white man came, with holy war
They stole by day, stole by night
We were there, all by the shore (2x)
BRIDGE 2
But we found a way (…)
Five hundred years, and all they stole
But the fight ain’t through, ‘til they take our souls (2x)
VERSE 3
And we were there, all sitting down
The signs said white, we were brown
No rights by day, no rights by night
We were there, all sitting down (2x)
BRIDGE 3
But we found a way (…)
We filled the streets, a million strong
With the light of truth, & a freedom song (2x)
VERSE 4
And now we’re there, on the front lines
Fighting for, what’s yours and mine
We rise up by day, rise up by night
Now we’re there, on the front lines (2x)
BRIDGE 4
And
we’ll find a way (…we’ll…)
‘
Cuz the arc is long, but it stretches towards
Justice
and, the righteous word (2x)
> written | 2007-08-31
> thoughts
just a little lullabye i sang to myself one
night.
> lyrics
happiness
happiness
i'm gonna find happiness in the morning
when i rise
sunshine
sunshine
i'm gonna find sunshine in the morning
when i rise
sweet love (...)
> written | 2008-02-03
> lyrics
Tell me brother
Tell me sister
What will it look like
When peace arrives?
For we've been dreaming
But never seen it
We have been waiting all our lives
Though we may never
Cross the river
Or leave the mountain
For the promised land
The new world calls us
To make this Exodus
For we are carrying
Her citizens
> written | 2002-12
> tuning / capo | DADGBE
> thoughts
in the deepest depths of heartbreak, i realize
that love is not a choice, nor would i want it to be. grace
is all.
> lyrics
while we are beggars
on corner where
love and fortune meet
how can we
but careless
toss our pride in a prayer
and bare our souls
on this cold, dark street?
and how can we
but steady
hold cupped hands in place
and give -
whether change given
or change denied -
only grace?
> written | 2001-03-03
> tuning / capo | BGDGAD
> thoughts
yom yavo v'neerai is hebrew for "the day will
come and we will see it." there are needs buried inside us all, crying
for sustenance, justice, love, for creative completion and
self-actualization. the day will come, and we will
see it.
> lyrics
all the world around
a cry sounds
from our own throats it departs
yet ears of ours
deaf to believe
a fire
ignites in our hearts
yet cold
numb we are to see
thaw with the morning sun
a new day begun:
yom yavo v'neerai
all the world wide
there comes a prayer from inside
and it's trying to rise out
though buried deeply
and it's trying to let it shout
the soul of humanity
our true song sung
one love, the language of our tongue:
yom yavo v'neerai
from the darkness
I see a light pouring through
from the noise
I hear music ringing true
from the ruins
I see a home found here
from the gasp of smoke
I breathe a breath of clean air
yom yavo...
from the enemy we see
sister and brother
from the greed we see
peace with the mother
yom yavo v'neerai...
|
