1. |
Oh Creation
05:34
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Oh good traveler take heart
As you endure this endless climb
Through a country full of peace
In which you may have no part
I will not tell you to be kind
You are a master of the art
Of tending to the broken branch
And the bitter vine
Oh creation
I was young
How could I know
What I'd done
Once I knew the grand design
I knew it all in whole and part
But when I tried to speak
Every word became a lie
So to the jagged earth I fell
I left my pretenses on high
I slept a thousand years
And somehow I still don't feel well
Oh creation
I was young
How could I know
What I'd done
All these works that
I made to stand
Must come down now
By my hand
And those who fly upon the wing
Or drag their bellies over stone
Learn to navigate the places
They were never shown
And I remain here wondering
Whether you are wandering home
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2. |
Ghosts
05:08
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In the beginning was the word
A name unspoken and unknown
We are but beasts that walk the earth
In wretched ignorance we go
So raise your empty hands up high
And say a prayer you will be found
Within the arms of some sweet by-and-by
Before you go beneath the ground
For all the years of my life
What do I have to show
With every breath we are dying
We are already ghosts
Now all the dark clouds gather round
And our way is rough and steep
Will there be room for me by your side
Or have I fallen too far beneath
For all the years of my life
What do I have to show
With every breath we are dying
We are already ghosts
There is no place I am heading
I have not already been
The path of all creation
Is quickly crumbling
If god himself should tell me
Every secret he knows
It won't make heaven above me
We are already ghosts
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3. |
Buried
05:43
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I recall when your blood was drawn
Into a seal of regret
I lay weakened for so long
My mind filled with visions I can never forget
Let's unwind this endless chain
Let's make some meaning in our hard-earned pain
That which you make just might leave
And the thing you summon to fill the void often ain't what you seek
Oh my ancestor
What message do you carry
Oh my forbearer
What burden do you bear me
Don't look back on where we walked from
No one can mend what was always undone
Take my hand, walk past these gates
It's high time we buried this terrible weight
Oh my ancestor
What message do you carry me
Oh my forbearer
What burden to you bear me
Oh progenitor
How did it grow so heavy
Will we ever learn
Before we both are buried
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4. |
The Gilded Table
04:16
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One day I will take my place around the gilded table
One day I will find more fortune than my bones can bear
Till that day I'll meet this world best as I am able
Till the day I see you on the silver stair
Winter's cold has left me feeling desperate to find shelter
Winter's cold has left me and now I am all alone
Yes I may be lost along the muddy ways I wander
Yes I may be lost but I am still upon the road
Ride on till your shadow grows long
Keep stride till the light is gone
If you should falter stumble and fall
Know your faith will guide you
Ride on
We all wander searching for some way to be delivered
We all beat our wounded heels upon the hollow earth
When the day begins we pay the price of being sinners
When the day dies we have nothing left to show our worth
Ride on till your shadow grows long
Keep stride till the light is gone
If you should falter stumble and fall
Go by faith through darkness
Ride on
One day I shall take my place
One day I will be where I belong
Till that day I see you standing there
I'm gonna ramble on
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5. |
Fate
07:01
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I always tried to heed the advice
My old weary grandmother said
The day you decide to give one man your life
Is a day you will always regret
But I was still young and just green in this world
When his family came to my town
And like god in the sky bound our hands in his mind
I knew it was fate I had found
He was tall pale just as plain as can be
With a terrible look in his eye
He told me my voice was more beautiful than
Any sad siren's lullaby
And in the spring all the sparrows would sing out their songs
In the name of our love
And when the rains fell on the home that we build
It felt just like blessings from above
But one night he kept me up waiting so long
I demanded to know where he'd been
He stumbled in his breath smelling of rye
And explained to me what he had seen
A sea-faring vessel with seventy men
All a-joined in a laboring song
And he kissed me goodbye and told me not to cry
For he'd come back to me before long
For seven seasons I swallowed my tears
That no prayer or penance could quell
I cursed his name and I called on the sirens
To drag his ship right down to hell
And when it was plain he'd forgotten my name
And had left me to languish on land
I put up my hood and walked out to the wood
With a sharp kitchen knife in my hand
Every muscle I cut from the bone
And I gave as a gift to the earth
My marrow I fed to the sparrows who swore
They'd remember my name in return
And both of my lungs I gave to the wind
To blow out a tempestuous breath
And both of my eyes I gave to the night
Now they shine from the firmament
Finally spirit flowed out of my form
And it came as a terrible flood
Every wave on the most distant shore
Bore the bright crimson stain of my blood
Up in the sky shone the bright golden eye
And it gazed down from high overhead
Upon the sight of the sea yawning wide enough
To swallow seventy men
Beloved grandmother know that I never took
None of your visions in vain
I am not one to go looking for love
Or to think I could outrun my fate
But in this world there is no way to turn
From the path we are destined to tread
And I have found that from birth we are bound
By a shimmering unbroken thread
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6. |
Dead God
03:46
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If you want to find faith you must empty your heart
Make it hollow as an old home
Make it echo like a chamber
If you want to find faith you must empty your heart
For you know that the light only shines in the dark
If you want to see visions you must go blind
Gouge your eyes like an enemy
Walk the world like a dead man's bones
If you want to see visions you must go blind
For you know that the dark gives us unending sight
Tell me what shall I read upon your headstone
Just a poem in a long dead tongue
Just a prayer to a long dead god
Tell me what shall I read upon your headstone
Tell me what will you leave that can never be known
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7. |
Home
07:58
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Now all the dust has settled
Upon what still remains
I hear the county calling me
Back the way I came
No gate is closed before me
No lock requires my key
But every light is dark
And every room is empty
I have been following a ghost
I turned my back on all I know
I saw the bright sky swallowed whole
In jagged jaws of blue and black
And something on the night air told me
I've gone too far now
Can't go back
I feel it sigh among the pines
I see it's silver eye above
I know the black dog crying out
Is my own flesh and blood
I have been following a ghost
I turned my back on all I know
Are you all my sisters
Brothers every one
Do you know the unseen roads
We walked from
Are you all my daughters
Are you all my sons
Do your veins run with the blood
Of wild ones
The ridge of my spine cuts my flesh like a knife
Now I can finally breathe
I gaze through cataracts of unblemished white
Now I can finally see
I have been following my ghost
Somehow I found my way back home
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Esther Ann Gove Oakland, California
Esther Ann Gove is a songwriter in the dark country tradition of Townes Van Zandt. Her lyrical songs marry the gritty, surreal storytelling of the American folk revival with the brooding influence of doom. The result is a sparse yet immersive sound, with a weight that drags the listener down into their own depths, and a bold, shimmering voice to guide them through. ... more
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