Do you keep for a relic Every ticket in your pocket For a time you need reminding of The webbing and the binding Will you cherish every barb that caught you Soft and unprotected Like a souvenir collected of The harrow and the hiding You are more in the sum Of the numbers you've been done And it fits to be kind Even as your chest is bleeding And may love reign supreme in your heart Hold on to what you know You light the room, you give it all Take with you when you go The smile that you've been sketching on my face And if you slip again The nearest room is when you do And as you slip away I'm waiting here for everything to change Will you write me a card When you reached your destination? I won't take it as a white flag or A sign of hesitation Just a temporary token I'll be keeping in my pocket With the biro and the lighter 'til it Smacks of desperation We are more in the sum Of the numbers we've been done And it right to be kind Even as your chest is bleeding When the love reign supreme in your heart Make love reign supreme in your heart Hold on to what you know You light the room, you give it all Take with you when you go The smile that you've been sketching on my face And if you slip again The nearest room is when you do And as you slip away I'm waiting here for everything to change And if you slip again The nearest room is when you do And as you slip away I'm waiting here for everything to change

For the wounds that I've inflicted, for the wounds that I've received I offer you my bitterness, I offer you my grief For the trust that I have broken, for the lies that I have told Forgive me God for giving, my heart away for gold I'm a merchant in your temple, selling sinners doves You turn over my tables with your foolishness oh God I am a sly sidewinder, a brood of vipers in your hand You're an Appalachian preacher who I cannot withstand I'm running to your altar, I'm weeping on your floor I feel your love inside my heart, I wanna feel it more You said be wise and gentle like the serpent and the dove Only heeding half of your own advice is your foolishness oh God For the snow upon the mountain, melting down into the sea I will sit with you in silence and listen to you sing I will ask you all my questions, I will waste all of your time You don't give the poet answers so the poet gives you rhyme What kind of mad man are you, taking on the worst of odds I'm chalking up my fortunes to your foolishness of God

Well I feel a warm wind blowin' Meltin' all the sadness off of my soul. And I smell the sweet cherry blossoms Pourin' all their gladness into my soul. In winter, I believe you. In springtime, I see you. It's so good to be with you, My hope has come! Lord You make all things new! Your love is my breakthrough. Now I sing hallelujah! My hope has come. Now I walk through the valley of the shadow, And I have been tested like silver and gold. Lord your faith has taught me to cherish. That this light affliction is not my home. In winter, I believe you. In springtime, I see you. It's so good to be with you, My hope has come! Lord You make all things new! Your love is my breakthrough. Now I sing hallelujah! My hope has come. Now I'm not gonna give in to this mortal frustration. And I'm not gonna give death any standing ovation. I will lift my soul, God, with no hesitation Cause between you and me there is no separation. In winter, I believe you. In springtime, I see you. It's so good to be with you, My hope has come! Lord You make all things new! Your love is my breakthrough. Now I sing hallelujah! My hope has come. In winter, I believe you. In springtime, I see you. It's so good to be with you, My hope has come! Lord You make all things new! Your love is my breakthrough. Now I sing hallelujah! (End)

Well I'm not known for my spiritual ways I'm known by the sweat of my brow My back is strong I was born to contend With the land by the blade of a plow Cursed is the land from beginning to end Blessed is the man who'll not yield For God takes pleasure in those who pursue Him in the midst of their field Through blood and marrow Dust and rain I hear heaven calling my name Of sorrow, I am not afraid I was not born to labor in vain I have the rhythm of John Henry's hammer Pulsing like fire through my veins I'll never regret any days of my labor This freedom that some think are chains So I'll sink my hands down into the soil Plant seeds for bread and for wine And I'll sing a song for my wife and my children When I come home every night Through blood and marrow Dust and rain I hear heaven calling my name Of sorrow, I am not afraid I was not born to labor in vain Despite my attempts To avoid this affliction I've failed to resist this earthly thorn It turns like a screw into all my revelation Twisting my sinew and bone So I'll drag my leg slowly behind me Through fields that will always be stained It's true that I've lost ones I love In the meantime, I will not labor in vain Through blood and marrow Dust and rain I hear heaven calling my name Of sorrow, I am not afraid I was not born to labor in vain I hear heaven calling my name Of sorrow, I am not afraid I was not born to labor in vain

Here is my harvest of heartbreak Here is my threshing of tears I'd give you my dream but I lost it Down in the locust years Still praise is the song that I'm singing Even though sorrow's my tune My love is only a whisper now But nothing is wasted with you Here is my secret miscarriage Here is my public divorce Nobody taught me to let go So I learned how to beat a dead horse Now all of my altars are empty Except for this lone hallelu The heat of your fire's just a memory But nothing is wasted with you Hungry as a mother who cannot find her child We keep missing each other I'm in the liquor aisle Prostrated in your glory I am bowed low under this Either nothing is wasted or everything is Here in the Holy of holies Here by the blood of the lamb Words I have said all my life and believe But still I do not understand But I want to live in your presence However inopportune The heat of your fire's just a memory But nothing is wasted with you My love is only a whisper now But nothing is wasted with you

I took on the world when I was young and strong Start to lose heart when it takes too long And without your heart, what can you do? From how I had the feeling, nothing's where it belongs Masters have slaves, and slaves have songs And so I say, "What else can I do?" In the middle of the night, walking in my sleep Trying to untie, something that I need Never felt closer, but still just out of reach It's hard to be brave when your brain's on fire If heaven and earth have conspired To make you pay, more than you owe There's a blizzard in my belly, a fever in my soul Can you tell me is Jehovah, friend or foe? Well there's some things, we just have to know In the middle of the night, walking in my sleep Trying to untie, something that I need Never felt closer, but always out of reach Still I hold a promise like hope holds a dream But I've lost so many battles I forget what it means I would let it go but it won't let go of me Between the pestle and the mortar, the bitterness is crushed And every sweet illusion is turning into dust I don't understand but I'm learning to believe Can you shake your fist at heaven, or blame your God above If he allows the weakness to prove the strength of love I would let him go but he won't let go of me

You bring the gladness I'll bring the gleaming You bring the glory I'll bring the singing You bring the table I'll bring the feasting Somewhere in the distance, I hear wedding bells ringing You bring the comfort I'll bring my thinking You bring the new wine I'll bring the drinking You bring your spirit I'll bring the weeping I have nothing else but the promises you're keeping You bring the morning you bring the evening I'm gonna praise you with every breath that I'm breathing You bring the working day so a man can keep believing So a woman can keep on dreaming And after the fire dies you open up our eyes again You bring the stillborn baby to my shoulder You bring your sorrow to every fallen soldier You bring your passion to the graves that we stand over Young love that we lost, we will find as we grow older You bring the mountain so I have somewhere to wander You bring the ocean so I can walk on water You bring the wilderness so I can learn to hunger I feel you like a phantom I can't explain your wonder You bring the morning you bring the evening I'm gonna praise you with every breath that I'm breathing You bring the working day so a man can keep believing So a woman can keep on dreaming And after the fire dies you open up our eyes again