If you write enough songs, one or two will be bound to come out okay. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile. So, here are a few of my favorites.
WEED IT AND REAP: Weed it and reap / Weed it and reap / Your heart is a garden that you must keep / So be on your guard / Awake or asleep / Just seed it, and feed it, and weed it / And you will keep growing / You will keep growing / (copyright 2006 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
SWEET RAIN (Sweet Rain is being used in worship in the U.S., U.K., Uganda, Germany, Norway, and elsewhere, and I am glad. Let it put you in mind of your baptism, when you first died and rose with Him): Holy water pouring from Your skies / Fills a river in my heart cleansing all that's within / Let it wash across my brow and touch my eyes / As I turn away from darkness and lay down my sin / Sweet rain, sweet rain / Let it fall, let it fall / Cleansing, healing / Let it fall over all of us / Let it wash through every room within my heart / May my imagination be purified / In Your body may I fully take my part / Lord hear me and answer me now as I cry / Sweet rain, sweet rain / Let it fall, let it fall / Cleansing, healing / Let it fall over all of us / You see in me the child that You have made / A holy one in Your image I am to be / May Your image in me never fade / As Your healing waters wash all over me / Sweet rain, sweet rain / Let it fall, let it fall / Cleansing, healing / Let it fall over all of us / (copyright 1998 Rand York / Athelas)
Underground Asylum
Words & music ©2009 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music
There are far too many canned incantations That step out on their stages night and day Where the greatest present is the presentation Our ears will itch and so their tongues will say Believe in what you will it’s not essential And we will dwell together in this land Where credo takes a back seat to credentials And acceptance is a line drawn in the sand But things so every often get peculiar And you find someone who doesn’t fit the mold It’s more than just a new day it’s a new year The petals now are ready to unfold
You know just who they are by their appearance And their appearance is much more than just ID It tells the story and secures the clearance To rise up and become who they should be They gather to themselves a thousand sorrows And ponder them within their hearts of flesh As tonight will soon become tomorrow The wisdom they receive will be refreshed With music peaceful, danceable, romantic The flowing cape is clasped across the throat And at the risk of sounding quite pedantic I will now relate what Matthew wrote
When he died the dead were raised And walked out of their tombs This den of dazzling darkness Is no place to lick your wounds So stay awake and guard the night The bridegroom’s coming soon And so the watch will not have been in vain And you will finally stand in sweetest rain
There’s a band of brothers blessed but not surly As the galaxy swirls in the circle pit Santa’s making his rounds six months early Where until you fall there is no place to sit By candlelight you rest in your encounter With a lifelong need of learning to let go So cream the coffee sitting on the counter And dream with people sitting in the glow Of every hope and every disappointment Your critics wag their fingers in the street You broke the alabaster jar of ointment And with your tears you washed the master’s feet
When he died the dead were raised And walked out of their tombs This den of dazzling darkness Is no place to lick your wounds So stay awake and guard the night The bridegroom’s coming soon And so the watch will not have been in vain And you will finally stand in sweetest rain
The witch of Endor has a place to practice Temple prostitutes will make their beds The desert water’s stolen by the cactus But a prophet has no place to lay his head For the words are hard and hardly sentimental A quiet voice confronts you in your cave The shelf that you are on is continental Drifting in the lapping of the waves Your analog response is I am waiting I am waiting for the wine and for the bread This is something more than merely dating And the lover of your soul will break the bread
When he died the dead were raised And walked out of their tombs This den of dazzling darkness Is no place to lick your wounds So stay awake and guard the night The bridegroom’s coming soon And so the watch will not have been in vain And you will finally stand in sweetest rain
AT THE WALL: This world is filled with walls made to cave in / From the walls of Jericho right through to Berlin / They loom over us, threatening and tall / They are made to entrap and enslave / And we hide in our fright, but when seen in the light / They are crumbling barricades / When the morning comes, all things will show their worth / The walls that fall are just the stuff of earth / They are mockeries and shadows / Of an eternally solid thing / When you turn on your heels and discover the real / It changes everything / At the wall I found a reflection of You / I hit what is solid and true / I discovered my boundaries / I was running through the night, the die was cast / I was stumbling in the dark, but moving fast / I did not know where I wanted to go / I was spinning and ready to fall / But my head finally cleared, and I learned what to fear / When I met You at the wall / At the wall I found a reflection of You / I hit what is solid and true / I discovered my boundaries / (copyright 1998 Rand York / Athelas)
BRIGHT SADNESS (a song for Lent): The palms that we once waved have turned to ashes in our hands / We did not stay awake with You to pray / And now a mid-day darkness starts to cover all this land / And the very earth beneath our feet to sway / Remembering we are dust we fall before You now / We weep and we anoint our heads with ashes / Today's the day of turning, today we make our vow / To cling to You until this darkness passes / A flame burns in the darkness to make the sadness bright / A light shines in the stillness to see us through the night / Unfolding hearts before You we are desperate for Your power / To enter in and touch and heal and change us / We release our grip on everything but hold to You this hour / We don't want anyone but You to claim us / A flame burns in the darkness to make the sadness bright / A light shines in the stillness to see us through the night / (lyrics by Rand York. music by Steve Williamson. copyright 2006 Dancing Lawn Music)
SHALOM: The first time that she said Shalom I felt like I could fly / She had raven hair, a ready smile, and an Uzi right nearby / the second time she said Shalom I felt like I could cry / 'Cause the second time she said Shalom I knew it meant Goodbye / Shalom! Shalom! I felt like I could fly / Raven hair, a ready smile, and an Uzi right nearby / Shalom! Shalom! I felt like I could cry / The second time she said Shalom I knew it meant Goodbye / The second time she said Shalom I knew it meant Goodbye / Shalom! (copyright 2005 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL: I sit myself down at the table to sup / At Christ Church Cathedral / Alice is watching my plate and my cup / At Christ Church Cathedral / The Cardinal wanted a shrine to his name / So he founded a school / But the Fidei Defensor found he was to blame / And Woolsey was the fool / She lies on her deathbed surrounded by friends / Watching and waiting / The candles are lit and the prayers never end / Anticipating / The Danes gathered there on St. Brice's Day / They didn't feel safe in the town / But they gave up their ghosts when the Oxen folk came / And burned the church to the ground / He meets his accusers and stands in the choir / A paper crown on his head / The hand that offends is the first in the fire / It burns until he is dead / The King keeps his quarters upon the Tom Quad / His Parliament in the Great Hall / His life and his realm in the hands of his God / The lord and protector of all / The Archbishop has no face and no name / At Christ Church Cathedral / The saints are entombed and the windows are stained / At Christ Church Cathedral / Christ Church Cathedral / The moonlight alights on the lawn / Shadows are deepening / But there is no cause for alarm / At Christ Church Cathedral / (copyright 2003 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
NO LONGER LONELY ALONE: We are no longer lonely alone / Betrayed and abandoned we come / To sit at His feet and ask Him to meet us / And Jesus will carry us home / When your whole world comes crashing in / And it's too hard to find a true friend / When all the explaining would just be too draining / To tell from beginning to end / When you just need someone to be there / And not go away or get scared / Your soul has a lover who can beat all the others / And be trusted -- now that's something rare / When your best friends turn suddenly shy / And you can't read the look in their eyes / When your heart's in your toes and the bitterness grows / Let God wipe the tears from your eyes / When you finally hit the wall / And you find you have no one to call / Just answer that knock on the door, He's been there before / And He'll be there again for us all / We are no longer lonely alone / Betrayed and abandoned we come / To sit at His feet and ask Him to meet us / And Jesus will carry us home / (copyright 2003 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
SWAY: I am lord of my dominion, I am arrogant and proud / I have far too many opinions, and I voice each one out loud / I don't know to listen, I just scratch my itching ears / I don't know how to trust, so I treasure all my fears / The windows all are shut, the doors have all been slammed / I'm not going anywhere, I'm just spinning where I am / I'm starting now to know it doesn't matter how I feel / I'm starting to get desperate, beginning to be real / If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take / If I should live another day, I pray the Lord my soul to sway / Sway me Lord / Rearrange me Lord / Change me Lord / Here's my heart / I know You're bigger than I am, and I'm glad that that's the case / I know I'm not quite ready yet to meet You face to face / So I'll go on walking through this world as long as I have breath / And I'll hang on to this priceless pearl and take it to my death / If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take / If I should live another day, I pray the Lord my soul to sway / Sway me Lord / Rearrange me Lord / Change me Lord / Here's my heart / (copyright 2003 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
UNCLE HENRY: Uncle Henry / Hollywood forgot you even then / But everyone remembers Auntie Em / And Dorothy / Uncle Henry / You spent your life in Kansas counting chicks / But you still took time to make fun of that witch / Elmira Gulch / Uncle Henry / And I think I like you better than the rest rolled into one / You were never agitated, and you didn't cut and run / And you never had a curtain hiding who you are / You loved Dorothy and Em, and you worked hard / Uncle Henry / I wish I could communicate like you / You didn't waste words when a shrug would do / Uncle Henry / (copyright 2001 Rand York / Dancing Lawn Music)
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