Devil in the Detail

[[ A blues song about the actualities of figuratively selling your soul. The devil is an empty belly. ]]

There was a man selling whisky.

There was a man selling cigarettes.

There was a man selling fast cars.

There was a man handing out regrets, handing out regrets.

And what did I have?

I had these fingers.

I had this voice.

I had this guitar.

I had no choice.

There was a girl from across the roadway.

There was a woman in a dark saloon.

There was a woman consumed my heart

Under the moon, under the moon, under the moon.

And what did I have?

I had these fingers.

I had this voice.

I had this guitar.

I had no choice.

The devil is an empty belly.

The devil is sleeping on the floor.

The devil is working enough to get by.

The devil is being poor.

And what did I have?

I had these fingers.

I had this voice.

I had this guitar.

I had no choice.

There's a devil at the crossroads,
at every intersection,

when you leave home forever behind.

And if you find a Jesus,
if you ever find a Jesus,

you will find him in your bread and wine.

third rail talking

when you walk

underground

electric train

roars by so loud

your soft flesh  

and bones frail

when you walk

that dark tunnel

you cannot walk 

without peril

you will touch

the third rail

then it's the

third rail talking

it's the

third rail talking

from your mouth

third rail talking

touch the third rail

and the third rail

will loosen 

your tongue

will loosen 

all your tongues

that face 

you see in the dark?

swimming up 

out of the dark?

that voice 

you hear in the dark?

it's the

third rail talking

it's the

third rail talking

from your mouth

third rail talking

touch the third rail

and the third rail

will loosen 

your tongue

will loosen 

all your tongues

what god

What God has sent us

is not a pestilence or plague, 

is not the water rushing in like a wall.

What God has sent us

is not a pestilence or plague, 

is not the water rushing in like a wall.

What God has sent us

is nothing,

nothing at all.

What God has sent us

is not swarms of biting insects,

is not a plague of vile things that crawl.

What God has sent us

is not swarms of biting insects,

is not a plague of vile things that crawl.

What God has sent us

is nothing,

nothing at all.

Dear God. if you must,

even send us your agony,

take from us the first child we bare.

But dear God, have mercy,

if we share in your agony,  

make it a clear sign you are there.

What God has sent us

is not the worm in the garden,

is not the temptation and the fall.

What God has sent us

is not the worm in the garden, 

is not the temptation and the fall.

What God has sent us

is nothing,

nothing at all.

Dear God. if you must,

even send us your agony,

take from us the first child we bare.

But dear God, have mercy;

if we share in your agony,  

make it a clear sign you are there.

Clear Water

I will go to the river

where the water's cold and clear

I will go to the [ only ] river

where the water's cold and clear

Push a boat out on the river

and hope to float far, far from here

I will roll to the ocean

where every river ever flowed

I will roll to the ocean

where every river ever flowed

Lose my self on the ocean

and watch the stars roll down below

[[

secular gospel -- gospel without gods, or with many

human spiritual

]]

[[

Simple blues, but it can be nudged into something better, maybe. 

- Not "I'm going down" like every other blues song, but "I will go to the river" in declaration, like Yeats' "I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree".

- Not "Lose myself" but "Lose my self" like a soul returning to the great sea of souls. Harder to hear than to see, but still possible.

- Literally, take a boat to the ocean and lie back to look up at the stars from horizon to horizon. That alone is lovely to contemplate.

- Figuratively, die. Merge with the infinite. You are above (or among) the stars. 

- No god, no soul. 

]]

fearsome blues

[[ still working on this ]]

[[ parenthetical bits are backup singers in gospel choir style ]] 

[[ this stanza is the core of the song ]]

Up in a cumulonimbus

Snug in the thunderstorm

God tosses bolts of lightning

Keeping his throwing arm warm

God is the updraft (lifting, lifting)

And we are (we are, we are...)

we are the downpour

[[ the rest is the rest ]]

God is the sunlight through honey

God is the moon on the bay

God is a firefly under a leaf

God is the Milky Way

God is the seven continents

God is the seven seas

God is the multiple mouths of the Nile

God is the Pleiades

[[ now we are small scale ]]

God is your hidden diary

And your anonymous call

God is your deathbed confession

God is a voodoo doll

[[ and growing bigger  ]]

God is a grilled cheese sandwich

God is your average weird

God is an excellent climbing tree

God is a trendy beard

God is the jism of -ism

God is the grist for the -ist

God is an anthropomorphism
God cannot really exist

[[ shift gears musically and raise the pressure ]]

God is your evolution

God is your ma and pa

He is a she if you want her to be

God wears a push-up bra

[[ and now we are in the human realm, big style ]]

God is the locomotive

God is the Golden Spike

God is the Suez and Panama

God is the turnpike

God is the spinning jenny

God is a spacewalk, live

One god is one too many
God is the Saturn V

[[ step into a swamp and sing like it  ]]

God is an alligator

God is a crocodile

God knows the difference between them

God knows it's in the smile

two dirt roads

Let's take a walk: 

here was the church,  

here was the bridge, 

here was the tavern, 

as fine a road 

as you could walk

on any other day

Rest your head 

here in this meadow, 

each leaf and flower 

once was a soldier 

as fine a man 

as you could meet

on any other day

Come Judgment Day,   

how many souls

will stand up in this meadow

rise up into the air

and straight into the sun?

Come Judgment Day,

how many souls

will walk out of this river

rise up into the sky

and burn gold in the sun?

The names they call 

these places now

could never say

what happened here

Here in this place,

a crumbled church,

a broken bridge, 

a burning tavern, 

at the meeting 

of two dirt roads

as fine a road

as you could walk

on any other day

you might have met

your oldest friend

come the other way

at the meeting

of two dirt roads  

Come Judgment Day,   

how many souls

will stand up in this meadow

rise up into the air

and straight into the sun?

Come Judgment Day,

how many souls

will walk out of this river

rise up into the air

and burn gold in the sun?

Come Judgment Day,

how many souls

will stand and stare  

at the meeting of two dirt roads?

how many souls

will stand and stare

at the meeting of two dirt roads?

Five-and-Dime

Verse 1:
Here comes the river,
taking a new way,
way she never took before.
Old mother river
looks in my window.
Old mother pounding at my door.

Chorus:
There's a reason
(there is a reason)
put that cemetery on a hill.
This river
(old mother river)
she will never have her fill.

Verse 2:
Here comes the next town,
tumbling down river,
one lost shoe at a time.
One empty beer can,
one bent umbrella,
then the whole whirling five-and-dime.

rain on the mountains

[[verse 1]]

I am come down from the mountains...

Mountains, rumble in my blood
I'll break the bank
in every town
along the way

I am the flood (I am the flood)
And I will wash
(And I will wash)
wash you all away

[[verse 2]]

I am come down from the heavens...

Rivers, gather in my heart
We'll break the back
of every doubt
we meet today

Before we tear this world apart
And I will wash
(And I will wash)
wash you all away


[[verse 3]]

I am the bolt from the blue...

I am the answer to no prayer
You will be struck
before your ears
can hear my thunder

I am plucked out of the air
To lift all boats
(To lift all boats)
or send them under

[[refrain]]

Do you know how far
this rain has fallen?
Do you know how far
this river has run?

Do you know this sun
will burn it all away?
Do you know this rain...
will come again?

[[fade]]

||: ||: rain on the mountains :|| x3
there's a flood coming down :|| xX

[[This one is Flood personified -- the "I" is the flood and storm and so on. It's secular gospel, with plenty of room left for a religious interpretation if that's what you wanted to do with it, though the religion in question could as easily be Zeus & Co.]]