1. |
Serendipity
02:38
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Feet touched the water, it was cool beneath our toes
North Carolina in July
We’d set off swimming, it was spring before we’d know
That this lovely accident had died
So follow the river ‘till it leads you back alone
And bring all your camping gear we’re never coming home
Cause this serendipity could only last awhile
And I don’t have the means to make it right
I buried grievances and you just held your tongue
But in time the dam was bound to break
It ran amuck until the sun was sinking down
And I’m slow to let the feelings fade
Chorus
And I’ll just have to hope that we’ll survive
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2. |
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The first two months were just a feeling
An IV dripping in the vein
When all the joy was so untainted
Like Eden, pure before the pain
But we pulled back the curtain
And fought to make it through
Found that love was worth it
And finally told the truth
I’m glad you’re still
I’m glad you’re still
I’m glad you’re still around
I’m glad you’re still
I’m glad you’re still
I’m glad you’re still around
Still around
I did the laundry in the ninth grade
Our home was quiet with you gone
You fought the chemicals inside you
Like darkness just before the dawn
We wondered if we’d lost you
Your eyes had lost their glow
But miracles still come true
And I hope you’ll always know
Chorus
You aren’t the one I was afraid of
Some distance I could never reach
So scared of messing up my chances
I hid the love you gave to me
But grace ain’t on condition
And God ain’t up the hill
He’s closer than a vision
Like prophecy fulfilled
Chorus
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3. |
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When life don’t feel like living
You might be lying in the bed alone
Might be staring at a cell phone screen
Might be waiting for a miracle
When life don’t feel like living
You might be wrestling with the muse
Might be sifting through your thoughts
I bet you’re dying for some rest
It won’t always be this way
Morning breaks, another day
Not a single tear is given
‘Till the heart you hide is riven
When life don’t feel like living
When life don’t feel like living
You’ll need some patience with yourself
It’s hard to face up to the realization
That you’re gonna need some help
When life don’t feel like living
You’ll have a hope of coming home
You’ll trade the secrets you keep private
For some proof you’re not alone
Chorus
When you were younger you would laugh until you cried
You were chasing a rainbow everyday
Do you remember when your eyes were that wide?
Can you remember how you got here?
Chorus
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4. |
Gloria
04:03
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Gloria
In a nursing home
She was born in June of 1922
From a Catholic home
In the south of Texas
To some memory care just far enough away
Where she sits by the door
For her loved one to come
And she can’t think of anything else
But it’s been three long days
And she’s hardly had a thing to eat
But she’s waiting for a visitor to come
Gloria
In the dining room
Hears “Amazing Grace” and grabs the singer’s hand
Knows her favorite saints
And all her favorite music
So she’ll stay a while then wander down the hall
Chorus
Gloria . . .
Gloria . . .
Gloria
In my troubled heart
With her oil in hand she consecrates the sick
Chorus
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5. |
Teach Me How To Wonder
04:06
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When I was five I had so many questions
My eyes were open wide the brightness of it all
Like fireflies and drinking in the raindrops
Where did it go?
Stayed up all night just waiting for a sunrise
The cul-de-sac was glowing like a sign
These days I’m mostly watching from the inside
Where did it go?
And I don’t want to lose the new light
And I don’t want to lose the dawn
Teach me
Teach me how to wonder
We started bands and played for all the neighbors
Now the singing has started feeling like a job
You make a dime and then you get distracted
Where did it go?
Cause I don’t want to lose the music
And I don’t want to lose the song
Chorus
C’mon, take me back
C’mon, let me breathe again
C’mon, wake me up
Let this lens fall from my eyes
C’mon, let’s find a way
C’mon, get back to the vivid days
C’mon, it’s not too late
Let these tears fall from my eyes
Cause I don’t want to lose the magic
And I don’t want to lose the spark
Chorus
Teach me
Teach me how to finally see the way
Finally see the way that I used to
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6. |
Temples & Shrines
03:48
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The night is drawing nigh
With violence on the cell phone screen
The tyrants flaunt their might
And prey upon the ones unseen
Cause man seeks the highest office
To find that there's never enough
The temples and shrines of our progress
Were built upon backs of the ones we say we love
Parading through our days
Comforted within our means
We trade our time for things
Scratch the itch and then repeat
Chorus
When the bough breaks and castles falls
Those sinking stones - who built them all?
When the king slips from a throne so tall
Those stones cry out, “Who built them all?”
Cause man seeks the highest office
To find that there's never enough
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7. |
Lou
03:26
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It’s last minute tickets and hotel fare
Driving to airport and feeling unprepared
There’s never a convenient way to go
Rehearsing your lines and letting emotions show
But we want more
Even after 98 years
We would take just a bit more time
If the words don’t come out
Though I’m confident you know by now
I just want to say . . .
You never were the conversating sort
Just sitting in your armchair and watching all your sports
But your ears were tuned and your wit was sharp
Still sticking your jokes in the bull’s-eye like a dart
Chorus
Now we’re all aware
Standing on the precipice
Drag another chair across the kitchen floor
Only at the end
You see the things you might have missed
Thanks for all the things I never thanked you for
Chorus
And Mother is on the wall beside the saints
Still smiling down even as the seasons change
You’d sign her name on our Christmas cards
I guess you knew that “goodbye” is just too hard
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8. |
Burning Bushes
06:04
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Take my bike along the lakeside
Running through the checklist all the way
I don’t know when a joy became a burden
Just trying to keep the calendar at bay
The subtlety of every sunrise
Is burning bushes out of every day
A camera phone’s a vain attempt to capture
The fleeting time I often burn away
So teach me the tune of all your freedom
When all of my days are bought away
And when I recover from my folly
Make straight a way to lead me back home to you
Stuck in traffic on the freeway
A thousand metal cages take us home
Just slow enough to see a face behind me
As a thousand busy people drive alone
Chorus
And by the time the clock unwinds, the evening sky is listening
To every tired plea and fear, when passing time is everything
‘Till in a flash of light I see the ordinary glistening
I’ll loose my restless mind while overnight your light is making all things new
Chorus
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Paul Demer recommends:
Dear Saint Isaac
by Symon Hajjar
pain as a path to holiness
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RIVER HOUSE
by Taylor Leonhardt
kindness and earnest hope
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The St Buryan Sessions
by Sarah McQuaid
Recorded live at St Buryan Church, the latest from Sarah McQuaid is a showcase for the simple power of voice & guitar.
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I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot
by Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke
Alec Bowman perfectly captures the dark soil under the pastoral world of British folk with this collection of melancholy originals.
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For My Love
by Kesang Marstrand
featured on Bandcamp Radio Jan 5, 2016
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