february 10, 2023
featuring:
tim mechling / bass, slide, keys
eli waltz / harmonica on "blood mountain"
eli waltz / harmonica on "blood mountain"
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prophet of the sound
take a bus ride to the sound tonight
tell your mother you have seen the light
tell your father you are wise enough
you have risen from the holy mud
take my right hand with a falling gaze
take my body to a resting place
tell the prophets i have met my lord
seen the face and bled for my reward
you can count on me when the sky is quiet
when the man above isn’t home for a while
i’ll be there when the angels hide
when their words run out i will prophesize
30 miles out into the salty salish sea
you will find your calling buried 10 to 20 layers deep
with every shovel full of mud and water you will sink
you will find another chain around your ankle in the drink
trust me my son, trust me my son
well 90 miles out into the dusty red and brown
you will find a book of ancient tongues just seven layers down
with every shovel full of sand your body will cry out
and i’ll remind you of the deep blue water you had cursed about
trust me my son, trust me my son
albatross
annie mae is having visions of a great black snake
within the valley gives its warm embrace
and kiss the smokin’ ridgeline
albatross, who has sent you here to haunt this rock
are you the father sent to judge and mock
have you a line to offer
oh my daughter, leave the light on dim and purple
you can never go back now
six years more, is what you wasted down in valley forge
stripping bottles you have yet to pour
but your eyes are nice and blue
lemonade in the arizona mountain range
carrying a dog in burning pain
is this the land you’re meant for
oh my daughter, leave the light on dim and purple
you can never go back now
blood mountain
there’s blood on the mountain, i’ve eaten my share
i can’t look down, there’s snow in your hair
your friends have told you they’ll buy up your bones
you just have to ask to pay what you owe
beautiful things on a roadside
creations of god don’t seem to mind
maybe they’re in on the purpose and plan
sold them the goods watched as they ran
what i'm missing
lightning bolts and totem poles and open mountain air
washing all the sorrow from our bones
and if you can run fast enough you might make it home
before the sun goes down on lake ontario
what would you give to see anthony again
what would you give to forget where you have been
well i know what I’m missing, well i know what I’m missing
you think you saw that fortune laced my wrists and laced my mind
man are we all in for a good show
but i have made no promises and i have signed no line
that i will not sink further down below
what would you give to sing fervently again
what would you give to forget where you have been
what would you give to see anthony again
do i know what I’m missing, do i know what I’m missing
my dear one, it's time
the seashells cut your fingertips
and i walked back to the pier again
and i counted all the diving birds
and you bled out as the water churned
and the sun it sparkled on the sand
as you raised your scarlet blooming hand and i stopped
hold on a little longer
i said it’s almost time, it’s almost time
well your friend she’s on a mountaintop
and her arms are spread like wings of god
and the springtime birds are satisfied
as they sip on shiny emerald eyes
and they say just hold on a little longer
oh it’s almost time my dear one, it’s time
washington
stones on the side of a riverbend
fireplace and a shallow bed
in the arms of the rushing water
find revelation in honeycomb
stratification of how to cope if you follow design
fantasy in the curls on your upturned brow
feel the warmth of the green and brown
books stacked up on your bedside
firewood all soaked up in the backyard now
washington has a way about the rain on embers of childhood
cold morning
coal county west virginia
photographs in columns black
thirty dead and they’re still counting bodies
thirty dead and they’re still calling us inside
they’re calling us inside
i saw my father at the breakfast table
i saw my brother flipping pages
wiping hands and getting black soot on the china
wiping hands and getting black soot
but do not raise your voices
do not raise your voices
cold morning in west virginia
cold morning in my twin size bed
cold morning when my mother heard the door talk
cold morning with the soot upon their heads
so do not raise your voices
oh do not raise your voices
cincinnati
cincinnati, time is wasting
catch your blue birds, time is wasting
pull the moon close, tidal wading
august in a photographic blue and white
the lightning binary code in the sky is full
his belly full of dandelions
and empty watering cans in moonlight
highwater
come clean the table, come wash your face
come sew your sweater
come put the wood in the fireplace
say i’ll be better
and sang his cello as robins cried
with every downturned bow
a stage light captures
collapsing tides of molecular glow
come over sunday, i won’t be free
but i will never be
come write my letters, come drink my tea
come do it all for me
what am I missing, what am I missing
what am i
i wanna go back, i wanna go back
what am i
finally (be at peace)
40 acres from your mother’s side in utah
candle makers from a vintage catalog
can you remember what her daddy said
can you recall the yellow quilted bed
i do, i do
she came from england with her purple tinted bottles
she wrote in cursive in a never-finished novel
she saw your daddy in that uniform
the angel gabriel in human form
to the desert now, desert now
her first child emmy was a daughter fit for achin’
she cursed the rainfall and laid hands on the ground shakin’
i do not know this soul, her blood’s not mine
our father will bless us the second time
he will, he will
so mark had come into the world halfway through april
the prayers were whispered that he’d be like his father gabriel
but he came out with black and sunken eyes
he had no heart inside his chest that night
it’s god’s will, it’s god’s will
you were the third try and by then they gave up prayin’
it was their debt that all ones before were payin’
but you were different, you would speak in tongues
a cactus flower blessed with holy lungs
finally, finally
be at peace, be at peace
finally, be at peace