Tenebrae

Released in:   2007/2008 (Oarfin Distribution)
Produced by: Duane Lundy
Recorded at:  Shangrila Studios, Lexington, KY 

 

Waiting For No One

Morning sun creeps up and midnight’s charm falls
The streets so empty they scream nothing at all
You sleep in your bed and dream of tomorrow
I dance, I dance in my head and write from the sorrow

Everyday goes by and everyday gonna come
I know I’m gonna die so we’ve got to run

But good things come to those who wait
We ain’t waiting for no one

So take my hand from me its time to cash in
We are proof that someone’s gonna lose, its our turn to win
I’ve been running, running so long and it shows on my face
So come on baby give me your trust and let’s get out of this place

Everyday goes by and everyday gonna come
I know I’m gonna die so we’ve got to run

But good things come to those who wait
We ain’t waiting for no one

Whisper of weathered stained smile hangs on your face
Footsteps stumbling in doubt will pull through with Grace
There’s a Mother with her Child in hand that shows this world how to be
So you can stay detained by your questions or come living with me

Everyday goes by and everyday gonna come
I know I’m gonna die so we’ve got to run

But good things come to those who wait
We ain’t waiting for no one

It’s Me Not You

I remember what you said the very first day that we met:
“Oh baby it’s me, not You”
And I was with you when you left behind each and every step
Cause oh baby it was Me, not you

Oh baby can you live
with the thought of Me instead?
To ask for love is to ask for someone too
With every broken glass
behind every shattered past
Oh baby it’s Me, not you

I’ve been in and out of every room walking like this bleeding groom
With a broom I’ll sweep away dust and devils
But you heal every hurt by recycling your dirt
And through your eyes I can see your heart disheveled

Oh baby why you pretend
to hold Me in your hand?
Yet when you rise I’m the first thing you let go
And in the cold desert land
I fingered in the sand
Cause oh baby it was Me, not you

There’s a healing wound that cries for every man that brushed your thigh
But you cover it up and play it all again
You flinch with every touch hoping he won’t take too much
But there’s a Nova Cain that Abels you to go

Oh baby look inside
it’s in My heart you’ll find
riches worth more than gold or silver
Yes I’ve laid before them all
and I’ll be there when you fall
Cause oh baby it’s Me, not you, yeah
Baby, baby it’s Me and it’s true

The Killing Floor

Tonight I’m coming back for you
To free the dove like you want me to
All good draws pain without birth she fly’s in vain
And I see we’ve been running for the killing floor

The pure we’ve twisted till profane
I’ll break the tide if you blow out the flame
To fill these hearts full we reach and grab for more
But I’ve found we’ve been reaching for the killing floor

But we can sing Halleluiah

And the vulnerable have been crowned insane
We hide our burns in the colors of the flame
And the consensus conceal what these tender wounds reveal
And were surprised when our knees feel the killing floor

And the night my love has had its ways
My eyes have seen the secrets of where we lay
Wrapped deep in pride we take what’s never been denied
And with each step we bandage our sides to the killing floor
With each step we abandon our sides to the killing floor

But we can sing Halleluiah

First Time: Please Forgive Me

Please Sir take cover I’m about to discover a lesson in sin
You could run for the door but you have been forewarned there’s a storm coming
Yes I’ve been courted, my plans thwarted by the crossing guards eyes
And the placebo I chose because it’s the smell not the rose that gets me high
And oh my tears they flow rivers from streams
And my eyes they flow to you
Sisters please, please forgive me
Sister please, please forgive me
Sister please forgive me
And I’ll see you for the first time
I doubted love so I push and I shove to replace these needs
But the pain how it grows now I’m yearning for the rose of a mother so sweet
But oh my love won’t you lay with me once again
In this union we hold forever
Sisters please, please forgive me
Sister please, please forgive me
Sister please, please forgive me
And I’ll see you for the first time

You Don’t Wanna Leave

I took five days in Memphis but Memphis was taking me
So I drove to Chicago to study the city streets.
I saw my girl, my lover, she said she’d wear my ring
But as I kept on walking to my back I could hear her sing

Big wheels lay you down in the chords of another town
And you’ll sing yourself to sleep
And if that mockingbird don’t care for a single word
You’ll just change your melody
But you don’t wanna leave

Little Robby was a lover but his picture was his biggest muse
He had all the gifts of Heaven but he traded for a pair of shoes
And his girl how she loved him but he never want to let her in
So when I heard that he left her I said, “Robby did you hear her sing?”

Big wheels lay you down in the chords of another town
And you’ll sing yourself to sleep
And if that mockingbird don’t care for a single word
You’ll just change your melody
But you don’t wanna leave

Well the night’s busted open on those two lanes to anywhere
There’s a kiss on my cheek and it burns so I leave it there
I step on the gas and something begins to shake
It’s my heart and it’s singing, boy, this is more than you can take

Big wheels lay you down in the chords of another town
And you’ll sing yourself to sleep
And if that mockingbird don’t care for a single word
You’ll just change your melody
But you don’t wanna leave

Slowdown

Her neck moves with the rhythm of her eager beating heart
She says the soul can lose its way sometime but it never moves too far
With my voices pounding heavy there was no room to let her in
But this night the loudest voice I heard was the beating of her skin

I look down to the floor and up into the trees
I look everywhere to avoid the stare of when our two faces meet
In the stillness of a moment she cut through me with her words
She said there’s something deeper going on and it’s time that it gets heard

I said, “oh slow down baby, baby slow down”

I never been one to worry, I never traded something stolen
But regrets have staked their claims and now I question all I own
In this heart of darkness she said that she would stay
She said “I won’t go but you got to show me that there’s another day”

I said, “oh Woman, yes come and take my hand
But in my broken fall my strides are small lets take it slow if we can”
Bitter hands of forgiveness, it was a bosom for a bed
I felt the breathing of a Savior as she knelt and kissed my head

I said, “slow down baby, baby slow down”

It’s A Hard Road To Crawl

If ever you feel
that tomorrow might not even come
Well I’ll urge you on down the line
‘Cause the many they’ll hold you down
But you only need one to lift you up
And that’s a hard road to crawl

And some too
are still chasing the sun
Under its westward bow

But the twilight can never be undone
And all suns are made to set
Over the wayward road below
And also in your eyes
I can see a fading light
As you take to the road alone

Winter’s cold
and the nights are long
But if we travel south enough, We’ll find

that the summer’s just begun
And there will always be a place for us
Down this long road we’ve come
And don’t you forget
I will always be your friend
I ask for nothing in return

It’s a hard road to crawl
But you won’t crawl it alone

Now That It’s Done, Won’t You Come Back

Lay me down easy, love,
lay me down
Lay with me tonight
before you leave town

Because I’ve made decisions, love,
I’ve been plagued from the start
Regrets bleed when my memories go
from my head to my heart

But now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
And I will surrender to your heart again

I left home early, love,
with each step the wind
And I’ve been burned more at my front door
yeah I am ready to come in

And I wanted freedom
so I broke their laws
But freedom don’t come from rejecting them,
it’s from not being tempted at all

Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
And I will surrender to your heart again

If you kiss me, love,
please do so slow
It’s been said you can save the wicked, depraved
and I wanna know

I know it ain’t easy
to pardon what I have done
But addiction don’t run from the sight of a gun
and I need someone

Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
Now that it’s done won’t you come back?
And I will surrender to your heart again
I will surrender to your heart again
I will surrender to your heart again

I’m Sorry Again

I don’t question that you left me
I just question where you’d go
I can’t put this night to rest
I though you should know

I see traces from the past
In every window of every home
I see reflections of a man I used to know
I’m sorry, I’m sorry again

There’s no metaphor tonight
There’s no place for me to hide
I can see clearly now those things that I used to do

And I’m sorry, I’m sorry again
That I’m sorry, I’m sorry again

Leaves will sway before they die
Beneath that auburn harvest sky
And I’ll follow them to the ground
Free from any questions why

So please look back at me once, my love
Look back as you walk away
So I know that you can hear me when I say

That I’m sorry, I’m sorry again
That I’m sorry, I’m sorry again

Great Divide

And if I said to you
Please stop me as I’m leaving
Will you follow through or leave me for a lesson
A mystery turned blessing
Left to wonder and miss my message ring
I can barley sing these thoughts that I’m confessing
The words that I’m expressing
To one day walk and see the great divide

And if I said to you
I can’t hear your words there broken
Will you kiss my ear and teach these words you spoken
Show me life is but a token
And that forever makes then and now collide
But why do you hide when I just yearn to hold you
And do these things I’m supposed to
And have a chance to walk and see the great divide

And if I said to you
You can’t stop me now I’m leaving
Will you follow me and protect me from disaster
And everything there after
Pulling strings where ever my feet lay
You don’t have to say
But surprise me as I’m walking
Through homily or talking
And give me a chance to walk and see the great divide

A Requiem For The Trash: Damnatio Memoriae

I don’t remember when you left
I’ll admit those days were miles from sober
I was not myself and so I’ll share the blame
But no one told me the eleventh hour had come and passed

So you should have kissed me one last time
I wish you had hovered over me
And even if I had turned away
You should have held me a little longer that day

For the night is lonesome enough
And what are mornings made but for mourning?
When at dawn I dreamt life was a breaking wave:
We suffer upon the shore before rolling back to the sea

And the shore that breaks all form
Is the same shoreline that shapes each beginning
And when I awoke your side of the bed was made
But you were long gone as if on the ebb tide of the sea

Never mind the garbage you left behind
Forget the direction you’re traveling
Most haunting has been the silence of solitaire
And that to you I could become as light as nothing at all

And the garbage dump is nearly full
And your closet is all but empty
And though I still have some pictures of you on the wall
Your beauty has dimmed and your smile has lost its bite

As if a requiem for the trash
Remembrances linger casting long shadows
Just like your side of the bed still accosts to your warmth
Yet, the dead can never rise again and your side of the bed shall, forever, remain unmade

Mama, Be Not Afraid

From a dirt road I come from, storm from the past
Dust twirls in cyclone curls and lays me on the grass
As steady as a heart beat, and as fleeting as a wave
I break crest on newborn shores from everlasting graves

I walk the seems of night and day amidst tears of all unknown
Please turn and face night fall because in the darkness light is shown

Oh mama, be not afraid

Sticky hands and crooked hearts have scattered all your things
And read you lines from wicked poems that empty searching brings
With my hands I’ll feed you bread and they’ll complain its just toast
And search the trees for spirits and then claim they saw a ghost

Well they’ll try and sell you happiness and then sell it to you for a fee
I can sell you everything, I’ll just sell it to you free

Oh mama, be not afraid

When poets breathe indifference
When a singer loses breath
When politicians rid their land and retire for the rest
When eyes of heads of relevance cast their shadows on your hands
And draw their inspiration off the backs of younger men

Yea I can tell you something from the grey we must choose
And if you don’t learn how to give your life there’s no life for you to lose

Oh mama, be not afraid
Oh mama, be not afraid