1. |
An Offering
04:13
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I am offering, what is left of me
Two legs that hardly stand, and a heart that's faltering.
I'm waiting for a song to sing,
Waiting for a song to sing
I'm waiting.
In each day I wait, in each night I turn
I don't want to decide, something I've not yet learned.
I'm waiting for a word to say,
Waiting to be shown the way,
I'm waiting.
When days get long and nights get longer,
I begin to lose my sleep.
If I'm still here by next October,
Take me to the road that leads me
to a place where I can wander.
It may not be next week, it may not be next year
But this is not my home, and I cannot stay here
So show me where the road begins,
and where it falls and rises again, I'll follow.
And even when my fear sets in, and it's hard to find my way within a shadow...
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2. |
Beatrice
04:44
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Oh my love, she calls to me
In my deepest sleep she roams for me
emerging from the rain her song plays within
the plague of my uncertainty
from the northern winter sun
shines a light that cannot warm
but she takes my hand and leads
steady toward the storm, to sing
Oh my love, she calls to me
In the empty streets no sound is heard
no messages to warn us,
the pointing signs refuse to say a word
and it seems that I must travel to endure
the quiet observation brings no cure to me
Oh my love, oh my love, she calls to me
In the quiet night her voice can ring
summoning me back to hear the words
that have convinced me of my wandering
but I can’t turn back if the way’s been blocked to me
as silence proves us weak I find no peace,
until she sings
Oh my love, she calls to me
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3. |
Fear of Love
04:25
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drive out my fear of love
drive out my fear
cause something must be done
and it can’t be done
were we all dead at the morning light
were we all dead at dawn
shaking my head at a stranger to the daylight
shaking my head for fun
drive out my fear of love
drive out my fear
cause something must be done
and it can’t be done
hold on my dearest one
hold on my dear
when it finally comes
you will surely hear
when in darkness you conceived
and in winter bore the fruit
did you think that you’d behaved untrue
crooked we stand in an open field
crooked we rise from the ground
shaking our hands through the restlessness
and nodding our heads in the wind
nodding our heads in the wind
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4. |
Beyond the Word
04:36
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Coming at me from the sky above
a holy and disruptive kind of love
not a sign or warning there to heed
my weighty words are longing for the ground
was this some unsettled grudge left from
before I learned my lesson at my birth
whether it was there or not I hope that
someone would have gotten here ahead of me
to clear the way
Men come to me and tell me what is lost
tardy warnings say that I should count the cost
they say that man shall reap what he has sown
if to say that I must face this on my own
Can the forest of such words do more than
leave a man to wander in the dark?
While the shadows keep their watch could there be
someone who had gotten here ahead of me
to clear a way?
three in the morning, I can’t sleep
With all my thoughts unresolved
the clock doesn’t listen, it does not speak
but to prod my time along
reminding me that there is no way out
Picking up my coat off of the floor
she speaks in silence and in silence shuts the door
comfort’s only comfort if it’s true
yet her comfort bears the weight of what I’ve been through
In the stillness of her peace I hear
the voice of all that needs to be ignored
and before her searching eyes I learn the
dying that it takes to find your way again
beyond the word
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5. |
Cemetery Song
05:33
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Well I thought I was just dreamin’
I thought it was a dream
til I saw you drawin’ closer in to me
and my words are not an answer
my words say nothing known
but a nod to what has already been shown
it’s a simple cemetery song that
rights you when your rights are wrong
and takes you where you more than might belong
and though it may be rather long,
you hate it, but it must go on
to carry you from night into the dawn
Well I thought you were my freedom
You said you’d offered more
‘til I came and just as soon you shut the door
And so if nothing is above us
and you’re only what you are
it’s a shame that I’ve been brought so very far
Because the more I try to pierce the skies
the water falls to flood my eyes
and leave me here to wait upon the tides
But it’s then I finally see a spark
a light against this room so dark
saying what you know will never give you sight
Oh it’s easier than breathing
to tell you what to do
and pretend that I’ve got privileged access to the truth
and I’ll soon forget your features
and I’ll forget your name
And you’ll only be the object of my blame
Because nothing that I’ve done so far
has silenced me or made me scar
I’ve only come to tell you who you are
so stop me when I start to speak,
my words are strong my soul is weak
I’m waiting for the day that I can bear
a silent plea
Oh I thought I had a new heart
I thought it was my own
til I saw you and no sooner turned to run
and so my time is not worth saving
and there’s nothing I can do
but frantically to wait patiently for you
Even with all of these secrets known
there’s somewhere that I’m still alone
Rejoicing and despairing all in one
And it’s not because I never try,
I do my friend and that is why
I only walk the land and not the water,
or the sky
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6. |
La Vita Nuova
02:12
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huh, huh
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7. |
Walls of My Enclosure
05:07
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Wind and snow blow cold and bitter,
longer than most men can bear to know
rising off the northern waters,
piercing through the cracks beside the door
woken by the breath of the morning,
and driven from your home
and it will not stop
And it's shaking the walls of my enclosure
so I must continue on
thrust out while the sun is silent
out to where the howling winds still roar
when the skies come wrap around you
will you have the courage to endure?
only what you've seen from a distance
you carry with you now
when it will not stop
And it's shaking the walls of my enclosure
so I must continue on
ice recedes to cold black pavement
soon they say that too will surely melt
underneath you’ll find a thousand
tongues who still have stories they must tell
they alone can stop all the questions:
why this must go on
why it will not stop
And it's shaking the walls of my enclosure
until the wildfires come
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8. |
Fear of Being Wrong
03:43
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Well every conversation reveals a great divide
between the ones who’ve lived a little,
and those who’ve stayed inside
and it takes no deep discernment,
to realize how you’ve spent your time
but til you get past your fear of being wrong,
you’ll never be right
wake up feeling lonely and wonder what it’s like
to awake in a total strangers arms
in the middle of the night
and it seems that the more that you fight it
draws you closer to giving it a try
but til you get past your fear of being wrong
you’ll never be right
deep within your chambers you give a heavy sigh
for you know some misbehavior could cost your very life
and you feel the accusations
even though you’ve never stood on trial
but til you get past your fear of being wrong
you’ll never be right
well in this inquisition, still I can’t decide
if it’s best to just go on with my living
even when it causes strife
but there is no easy answer,
cause my heart won’t recognize my mind
o take me past my fear of being wrong
that I may be alright
no take me past my fear of being wrong
to give away my life
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9. |
The Ark
06:24
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Well I have nothing to tell you
that is I have no advice to give
and when I cross that line I'll ask you
only that you would forgive
cause I'm a kind of Captain Ahab
I've leveraged everything I own
just to sail into the open
for a chance to find my way back home,
but not alone
cause you can't go by yourself
and just hope all will turn out well
I once was scared of my footsteps
whenever I heard them in the hall
they lead me daily to the shower
and lead me straight out through the wall
and you know it tends to make me upset
whenever I look a bit to close
at that scar upon my forehead
and the fracture of my nose
years ago
it came as a collision
which left me maimed and slow
in a way that I don't yet fully know
We left the dock after the sunset
cause I feel safest in the night
and I've gone through all this trouble
but still the coordinates aren't right
cause there's no place called "Greetings! California"
Perhaps this postcard's not a map
so for now our sailing is our pacing
until my memory comes back of what I lack
and why it's been so clear
that we cannot stay here
and simply get along
So if you see us in the moonlight
a silhouette against the stars
you may guess that we are lost here
but you'll never guess how right you are
but our navigator knows this
and he knows he's not getting paid
until we reach our destination
so for now he's going through all the names
from Z to A.
And back, until he finds,
a place held common in our minds,
and so he plots a course
So now I thank you for your attention
and that you've stayed on through the end
and if you did and didn't fear us
well then I'd gladly call you friend
Because many are our number
and an invitation stands to all
to forgo hope in small adjustments
for the sake of a total overhaul
the rain still falls
as this ark upon the waves
counts out the forty days
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10. |
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Let me find my rest in you
and lead me out of death
take away my heart of fear
and save me from myself
you have taken me from that desperate comfort
and called me from my home
you’ve led me to this wilderness
leave me not alone
You remove the blessings of this world
and replace them with yourself
but with you is truth and love and joy
I can turn nowhere else
Though the years may fill with pain and tears
and my sight of you go black
though I sin and stray and fail to love
somehow I can’t turn back
And though my strength and health may fail
and I can no longer speak
Still I sing because you show that you
are strong where I am weak
So come o lord and fill me
til I finally rest in you
You’ve established me here in your love o lord
What else can I do?
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Camp Christopher Charlottesville, Virginia
Over a year after recording the first note, Camp Christopher is proud to formally announce the completion of it's first album, Beyond the Word. The recordings began with Paul Curreri's veteran hand at the helm, and were later completed at Jeff Romano's Jimmydog Studios. The result is a well honed set of songs that are deeply personal, restless, and permeated with a sense of resolute joy. ... more
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