1. |
Bethlehem
05:58
|
|||
|
With a face like raven, feet of lamb
The chest of horse and mouth of man
The beast has come to Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania USA
In his hands he holds the cannula
While the shrapnel-shredded, aching dawn
Is bleeding like a punctured arm
Through a canvass of cloud
There’s a bandage wound round the sun
And Talks Like Fire, the Indian youth
To victorious victims gives reproof
Saying “Wasn’t I the same as you?
Aren’t we all that much the same?”
And with eyes sunk moon-like in the wake
With silent strokes she’s rowed across the lake
Towards where the sky’s begun to break
On the horn of the beast
Like a river released at the thaw
When ya gonna learn? When ya gonna return?
The chief of specters dims the lights
His jeweler’s fingers work the dials
While faces wait in seats and aisles
For the illusion to begin
And announce the fourteenth eucharist
Of the holy piss and holy shit
No you don’t have to eat nor drink
You just pay at the door,
For the right to whore and be whored
When ya gonna learn? When ya gonna return?
When a man has come with man to dwell
To forgive those who cannot forgive themselves
Then the seas will split and the sands will melt
And the mountains be reformed
And the four bright horsemen from the East
Will bring health, and love, and food, and peace
And the bat will lay down with the beast
And the sons will atone
For their fathers’ crimes and their own
And on a dim and desperate beach
Talks Like Fire looks down to see
The bloodless body at his feet
And the pearl knife in her hand
And the ones who were like ghosts before
On this sheltered, shadow-crawling shore
Have gathered here to feast and gorge
Till their arteries glow
With the burning gold of the sun
When ya gonna learn? When ya gonna return?
|
||||
2. |
Poor Get Poorer
05:33
|
|||
|
As the poor get poorer
The rich get poorer
And the old get older
And the young get older
As the fight will thicken
The blood will quicken
And the fear will kick in
And our hearts will sicken
As the poor get poorer
The rich get poorer
And the old get older
And the young get older
As the fight will thicken
The blood will quicken
And the fear will kick in
And the earth will sicken
We of the cradle
We have seen a light
In the tornado
Can it be
Can it be a sign?
A sign?
As the wise get wiser
The fools get wiser
And the cruel grow kinder
And the kind grow kinder
When the heart will open
The word be spoken
And the love will roll in
And the curse be broken
We of the cradle
We have seen a light
In the tornado
Can it be
Can it be a sign?
A sign?
|
||||
3. |
Muddy
02:48
|
|||
|
Muddy don’t you leave home
Who’s gonna thread the needle?
Muddy don’t you lose hope
Who’s gonna rock the cradle now?
Muddy don’t you leave us
Who’s gonna pray to Jesus?
Muddy don’t you lose hope
Who’s gonna read the Bible now?
Now as the morning breaks
So careful, so careful we wait
All barefoot
All barefoot and brave
Muddy don’t you leave home
Who’ll ever do what you done?
Muddy don’t you lose hope
Who’s gonna light the candle now?
Now as the morning breaks
So fearful, so fearful we wait
All bare bones,
All bare bones and braids
|
||||
4. |
Muddier
02:25
|
|||
|
Why are you crying, girl?
The body, the body is gone
The body is nothing now
Go home
Go in fear and haste and tell no one
It’s muddier
It’s muddier this year
It’s muddier
It’s muddier this year
Behold the beholder beheld
All is lost
All is well
What are you reading for?
He’s far gone
O! far gone, my lord
It’s muddier
It’s muddier this year
It’s muddier
It’s muddier this year
|
||||
5. |
Snakeskin Highway
04:48
|
|
||
|
As I start the journey north
I keep eyes n the south
that chart a jagged course
that leads to my father's house
The Blizzard King
The Old North Wind
drop another stone and dive to the bottom
tell me what you find down there
wonder when you're gonna come up for air
As I start the journey out
I keep a gun in my hand
Two lonely rounds
one for me and my friend
to beat the rap
to spring the trap
burn our prison clothes and sleep in the mountains
steal whatever we can drive
they're not gonna take us dead or alive
while you're by my side
As I start the journey east
I keep love in my heart
for all the friendly beasts
that arise and depart
so feverish, delirious
quit your city life and flee to the forest
slowly turning into gold
everybody's going to lo and behold
when the trumpet blows
|
||||
6. |
Strawberry Leaves
03:31
|
|
||
7. |
Gold Tomatoes
06:48
|
|
||
|
Ultimatums arrive with the dawn
Gold tomatoes grow wild on the lawn
Hallelujah! the end is at hand
Shinin' through ya like a light with no lamp
Well you can scatter away or save
your seed till the threshing day
but you cannot escape
well...
High on a higher light
drinking the sun like wine
this heart of brass
must pass into hell-fire
and it's alright, yeah...
Naga sadhu my faithfullest foe
Satygraha will make you to molt
Shedding feathers through forests of sky
A starry desert reflects in your eye
Well you can sharpen your mind like steel,
Die for what's really Real
But you can never heal
Well...
High in a higher sky
Drinking the wind like wine
Each blade of grass
Must pass
Into hell-fire
And it's alright, yeah....
Well there's nothing you have to find
that you can't find outside your mind
But you can learn to fly high
High in the Highest High
Drinking the void like wine
This world of glass
Must pass into hell-fire
And it's alright, yeah
It's alright, it's alright, yeah....
|
||||
8. |
The Good Earth
04:26
|
|||
|
And I go down each day
To the riverside
Just a prayer to say
Just to recommit my life
To the soil
And the soul
And the word
That we’ll know
When we live from the fat of the good earth
And we drink from the milk of our mothers
And we sing in the house of our brother
Death has had its day
Let the oxen with the adders lay
And I’ll think back each day
On the path I’ve come
And I ask myself
Did I walk the ways of love?
In the forest
There’s a flame
And it burns and burns
With our names
Till we live from the fat of the good earth
And we drink from the milk of our mother
And we sing in the house of our brother
Death has had its day
Let the oxen with the adders lay
|
||||
9. |
Lie Down, Great Pan
03:18
|
|||
|
Here comes the summer
Here comes the fall
Here comes the winter
Spring least of all
Here comes the mother
Here comes the maid
Here comes the garden
All round the grave
Here comes the gallows
Here comes the ghost
Here comes the girl I
Love the most
Here comes the summer
Here comes the fall
Here comes the winter
Spring lord of all
Lie down, great Pan
Great Pan, lie down
And let the great horn sound
Here comes the flower
Here comes the frost
Here comes the corn
The beans, the squash
Here comes the washer
Here come the stream
Here comes the song heard
Only in dreams
Here comes the master
Here comes the man
Here comes the wolf pack
To lick their hand
Here comes the fable
Here comes the fall
Here comes the loser
Leader of all
Lie down, great Pan
Great Pan lie down
And let the great horn sound
|
||||
10. |
Proteus
02:40
|
|||
|
Drunk all night on your melodies
While the moon played hide and seek
Through the ranks of the refugees
Saw the spirit silent sneak
Calling souls that could hardly stand
Saying, “Rush, rush!
Up the hills, down the donkey path
To the home of Proteus”
Proteus, Proteus, Proteus
On the cliffs and declivities
With the six winds stumblin’ by
Go tell the sads and the Sadducees
That the old man still ain’t died
But all the while he was hidin’ out
Hummin’ glorias
He’s changed his crown for a cockle hat
Changed his name to Proteus
Proteus, Proteus, Proteus
All awash on the inner sea
See the compass needle spins
Chart a course for infinity
The maelstrom licks its lips
And I’ve seen you pounding cities
Into dust, dust
But you’ve never been in battle
Till you tangle with Proteus
Proteus, Proteus, Proteus, Proteus,
Proteus, Proteus, Proteus, Proteus
|
||||
Daniel Harvester recommends:
That Better Land
by Noel'le Longhaul
I stumbled across this artist on youtube. A terrific banjo player, fiddler and singer, who does the old tunes the old ways. Give a listen and drink in that good clean mountain air.
go to albumIf you like Daniel Harvester, you may also like:
The haunting new record from Canadian folk artist Avi C. Engel bridges old and new traditions with a minimalist approach.
go to album
The latest from the UK’s Chris Brain is a gorgeously wrought album of tender acoustic folk music.
go to album
they only talk about the weather
by Arny Margret
The Icelandic songwriter packs her stunning debut with sweeping melodies delivered via intimate, folky arrangements.
go to album
Ruth's sophomore release explores sacred signs against a backdrop of folk melodies and acoustic guitar.
go to album
Fool Me As Many Times As You Like
by Daudi Matsiko
featured on Bandcamp Radio Aug 29, 2023
go to album
