CITY OF REFUGE

CITY OF REFUGE

I got a mother, I got a father
Diamond lace and a stark white collar
She looks good, He makes the dollars
I’m just free to do what I wanna,
oh, I gotta run, run run, I gotta run

Momma’s at ease in socialite graces
Poppa remembers the names with the faces
I can speak on the topic of religion
I just can’t seem to make a clear decision
So I gotta run- run, run, run to the City of Refuge
I gotta run, I gotta run

Momma’s got a lover, Poppa’s thinks he’s sober
Pray on my knees the clouds keep rolling over
torn diamond lace, and booze on his collar
They never ask if the secrets pull me under
Under white sheets where all I do is wonder
When I’m gonna run- run, run, run
Run to the City of Refuge
Where everyone is made new
I gotta run, I gotta run

Where there’s a mother, where there’s a father
Adam’s on the roof and Eve is in the gutter
Eden’s on the far side where the circle started
To run with the Gods you gotta run harder
Run run run
Run to the City of Refuge
Where everyone is made new
Where our burdens lay in the towns where we came from

BRING ME MY QUEEN

Take all my money Take all my dreams
I’ll swim all across your ravaging seas
Just don’t play me the fool
Don’t make it all new
It’s time time time time time
Bring me my queen

She takes all my love, takes all my notions
Tears them all down til the earth loses motion
Bring me my queen (2)

She takes all my love, takes all my notions
Tears them all down to the ground
Oh, bring me my queen

She takes all your friends
Takes all your lovers
Buries all their bodies in her heart’s deepest cover
Just don’t play her the fool
Don’t make it all new
It’s time time time time time
Bring me my queen

She takes all my love, takes all my notions
Tears them all down til the earth loses motion
Bring me my queen (2)

She takes all my love, takes all my notions
Tears them all down to the ground
Oh, bring me my queen

DREAMS OF NECTAR

The first day I stepped foot in this fair country
Border man took my paper, told me I would be free
Border man took my paper, told me I was now free

Walkin’ out into the open air, well, what did I see
Birds flyin on a west wind, sure an omen for me

Opened up my momma’s suitcase, saw the holes in my shoes
Kicked off my old home soil knowin’ I couldn’t lose
I kicked off that dried-up soil knowin’ I couldn’t lose

Wear my hands down on three jobs from morning thru night
Weary eyes don’t see the difference’tween the dark and the light
Weary eyes don’t see the difference’tween the dark and the light

10 years later poppa wrote me sayin mama had died
Wish that I could see her face now, the hope in her eyes
Wish that I could see her face now, the hope in her eyes

I’m just old now, all alone, in a land of fertile lies
I see my unborn babies, tired birds in the sky
I see my unborn babies, tired birds in the sky

Before I die grant me one thing, grant one thing to me
Don’t let me dream of nectar, make me the fruit on the tree

LAST TRAIN

Rails don’t run in circles
Like this gun they only shoot straight lines
Can’t stop trying to bend the ground I’ve covered now
And the clock ticks louder when I try to slow it down

None can judge the things I done here
I did what I had to do, and just a little bit more
Rows of faces who would never see me anyhow
I’ll hitch to Juneau ‘fore they figure it out

Can't you hear that last train come rollin'
Come to carry old days away
Can't you hear the hard times and high times
Slippin away

A sideways rain won’t hurt ya, Like memories it only sharpens time
He had the lost look of an angel in a broken town
And I could just as well have thought to never come around

Love didn’t have it in her
Dark and heavy like a twisted child
Spilt the waters of a rough and trashed out sea
Left me running on the frontage road off Highway 3

People lie for a reason
Like the law they make up your mind
Police never found me when I needed’em anyhow
And I sure don’e need’em now

BURN THRU

It started out simple, started out clean
like a starlit night, smell of rain

But the days stacked up and the air grew thin
Gravity pullin. pullin me down in
Push up from the bed, feel my feet hit the floor
Dreamt I was runnin thru a field of fog
Now there's shandows in my tracks but I ain't lookin' back
at the rest of you

Hey I’m trying so hard to see the light, see the light
To see it burn thru
Hey I’m trying so hard to see the light, see the light
To see it burn thru, hey hey hey
I’m not going down with the rest of you
I’m not going down with the rest of you

No you're asking for answers, you want a clarion call
But your drowning in echoes, bouncing off walls
I ain't no prophet, I got no horn to blow

So let the darkness fall, let the sky char to black
Let the animals out, let the plague come back
I say now rock me in the morning burn my body out
til the light comes thru, til ya gotta shout

We all want something else, we all want something else

THE BALLAD OF TREASON

This kiss is a crime
Let’s not waste time
The cover of night is breaking
They even the score
We capture 5 more
Make a forbidden offering

Our heads are two states
Let’s pull down the gates
Declaring freedom
Send out our armies
Bring death to our colonies
Our harmony drowns out the cries of our generals

Climb up to a treetop
I’ll be on a mountaintop
Looking for you across the valley
The birds pull you higher
While the sky’s on fire
Crying for the dying daylight
I need you, I need you, I need you

Our bodies are pyres
Waiting for fire
The judge and generals claim jurisdiction
The faithful assemble
The crowd starts to tremble
The gavel it rises and begins to fall

Treason proclaimed
Pyres burst into flames
Two souls ride the sparks into the blue

This world is a shackle
Let’s shout til it rattles
Bring down the walls of Jericho

DIVINE BELL

On this road of life you have harbored pain and strife
standing at the gates of hell
Oh, but when you hear it ring it will end all suffering
It’s God’s Great Divine Bell

Hear it ring
Hear it ring
All the joy that it brings
How loud must be the sound to turn this world around
To God’s great Divine Bell
To God’s great Divine Bell

You have washed your hands of sin in the blood of the lamb
But you drank from Satan’s well
But when you here it toll heaven and earth are gonna roll
To God’s great Divine Bell

This world’s gone wrong and it won’t be long
Till man shall fall
But I’ll pay no mind to that earthly chime
When I hear that Divine Bell

BRIGHT MORNING STARS

(traditional gospel)

Bright morning stars are rising
Day is a breakin in my soul

And where are our dear fathers
They're down in the valley a praying
Day is a breakin in my soul

And where are our dear mothers
They've gone up to heaven a shouting
Day is a breakin in my soul


ABIGAIL WASHBURN & THE SPARROW QUARTET

A FULLER WINE

Dark sky’s here, no one’s near Except I think I feel you
Sun comes round, and no sound Except the ringing blue
all too loud
Everywhere I go I look for you
Do you look for me where you go too?

Coldest day is here, skies are clear
Except your blinding constellation
Still you fall behind the west

Except this beating tune in my chest
Everywhere I go I look for you
Do you look for me where you go too?

Tomorrow is here, I’m further near
Except this losing revelation
You are closer yet in my mind
They say the tardy fruit’s
A fuller wine
Everywhere I go I look for you
Do you look for me where you are too?

STRANGE THINGS

There are strange things that happen everyday
I said there are strange things that happen everyday
There is one thing I do know, things are happenin’ never happened before
Strange things are happenin’ everyday

Well ships are sinking in the ocean
Planes are having collusion in the air
Well people you may not believe it
But there’s something wrong somewhere
Well no matter where you go, hear about a thing you never heard before
Strange things are happenin’ everyday

Some poor wish that they were dead
Some are glad to be alive
We have some who are killin’ eachother
Some are commitin’ suicide
Well there is a better way if you just fall on your knees and pray
Strange things are happening everyday

My God is riding on the water
And he’s riding through the stormy land
Well, people you better get ready
Do as my God command, he says
As you see me go today, I’ll be back the same old way
Strange things are happening everyday

GREAT BIG WALL IN CHINA

You can tell a flower to bloom
On the other side of the moon
But for you and me it’s hard to see her glory in the sun
Even if she climbs high into an ashen sky
A fading light far out of sight
will signal her blooming day

So a spaceship we must build
Set off from our window sill
The journey’s long to carry on, especially in the dark
Even if we ask a distant star where the blooming flowers are
She may shoot us back on her jumbled ray
To the land from whence we came
but from space we’ll see

They built a great big wall in China
Built it up to the pearly gates
I wanna land right beside her
Hither come what may

The storyteller stands
Upon the city gate and says,
“I too have seen a coming dream
I talked to stars,
got close to mars,
got shot back to where we are
I wish all could see what I have seen
The trembling light of a distant flower in the night

They built a great big wall in China
Built it up to the pearly gates
Gotta take down the banner boys
Hope it’s not too late

OH ME, OH MY

Grain falling from the sky
What a vision oh me, oh my
Leave the chaffe for a bitter rain
The gods knew you’d call my name

No, I don’t know why, I don’t know why,
No, I don’t know why you love me
No, I don’t know why but, oh, you do

Spider crawling up my thigh
What a vision oh me, oh my
Laid its silk along my vein
The gods knew you’d stake this claim

Thistle hair and a mangey train and no one no one no one else to blame
Laden steps on a drifting plane and two more two more steps
and I’ll make my way to you

Celestial body in your blinking eye
What a vision oh me, oh my
Stayed its course to ease my pain
The gods knew which stars to hang

CAPTAIN

Oh the water, oh the water, so clear and blue and free

Thought I heard old big leg Lula
Calling me boys, singing come on home

If I can just make it through January and February
I’ll march on through boys, I’ll march on through

Oh the water, oh the water, so clear and blue and free

I asked the foreman what time of day it was
He was so hard-hearted, he just walked away

I asked the judge what be my crime
He said if I don’t hang you I’ll give you 99

If you wanna please your captain
Sink’em low boys, raise’em high
Sink’em low boys, sink’em low boys
Sink’em low boys, raise’em high

Hail the Captain, hail his gun
Hail the chiefman and his prodigal son

I’ve seen him preaching, and I’ve seen him run
I’ve read his bible, I don’t owe him none

I don’t owe him none boys, I don’t owe him non
I’ll be a witness to the rising sun

If you wanna please your captain
Sink’em low boys, raise’em high
Sink’em low boys, raise’em high

BANJO PICKIN’ GIRL

Goin’ around this world baby mine
Goin’ around this world baby mine
Goin’ around this world, I’m a banjo pickin’ girl
I’m goin’ around this world baby mine

Goin’ to Tennessee baby mine
Goin’ to Tennessee baby mine
Goin’ to Tennessee don’t you try and follow me
Goin’ to Tennessee baby mine

Goin’ around this world baby mine
Goin’ around this world baby mine
Goin’ around this world, I’m a banjo pickin’ girl
I’m goin’ around this world baby mine

Goin’ to Chattanooga baby mine
Goin’ to Chattanooga baby mine
Goin’ to Chattanooga and from there on to Cuba
Goin’ to Chattanooga baby mine

Goin’ to North Carolina baby mine
Goin’ to North Carolina baby mine
Goin’ to North Carolina and from there off to China
I’m goin’ off to China baby mine

I’m goin’ across the ocean baby mine
I’m goin’ across the ocean baby mine
I’m goin’ across the ocean no, now don’t you change my notion
I’m goin’ across the ocean baby mine

SUGAR & PIE

They been thinking all day and the day before
But now they’re tired don’t wanna think no more
So they call you sugar and they call you pie
They say you’re pretty and they get you high
And that’s alright with me
Nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ fine

He been drinking all day and the day before
Got so tired, he’d never drink no more
So he went down to 5th street and MLK
Bought some cocaine and there he stayed

I sat up all night and the night before
Thought he’d come back, sure as I was born
So I turned on the TV, watchin’ reality crime
Strapped’er up, wait for the end of time
But that’s all right with me
Nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ fine

I been sorry all day and the day before
But now I’m tired, don’t wanna hurt no more
I’m gonna get on a plane, go up to the sky
Clouds won’t bother, won’t ask me why

So call me sugar and call me pie
Say I’m pretty and get me high
Nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ good, nothin’ wrong with feelin’ fine

IT AIN’T EASY

I know, I know, I know you
I know you know you know me too

So, when the sun went down
And I lost your eyes
I prayed to God let the light
Shine off you again
It ain’t easy leavin’ you

Without a sound
I remove your crown
Your green dress glows
As the stars go round
I pray to God let the darkness
Cheat the dawning light

So, when the sun went down
And I lost your eyes
I prayed to God let the light
Shine off you again
It ain’t easy leavin’ you

I know, I know, I know you
I know you know you know me too


SONG OF THE TRAVELING DAUGHTER

SOMETIMES

Lonely lake in Minnesota
Dying tree in Ashtabula
Rains came in yesterday
Fleeting hearts are here to stay
Sometimes I change my mind
Sometimes I think its fine

Crying boy in Baton Rouge
Troubled men in this town too
Passing strangers touch my sleeve
All I do is think of me
Sometimes I change my mind
Sometimes I think its fine

Burning house in tupelo
Devil's fire from down below
Politician sang to me
Someday girl we'll all be free
Sometimes I change my mind
Sometimes I think its fine

ROCKABYE DIXIE

Me and Dixie, we'd waste away
Sleep thru the night and all the next day
Sleep thru the sun, rain, and moon
Here in this room

Oh, rockabye my Dixie child
Oh, rockabye my Dixie child

Me and Dixie, we rolled and dreamed
Time held us alone in this world it seemed
Then morning broke and awoke
You from me

So, come back Dixie, I’ll rock you to sleep
Back to our dreams, our twisted sheets
Cradle your fading stars
In my arms

COFFEE'S COLD

Some folks say the times are hard
I just say oh my lord
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

Every seed that I do sow
harvest time nothin's grown
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

Fore I have ten dollars saved
I'll be resting in my grave
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

I been broke a thousand times
no one cares to spare a dime
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

When I lay my burden down
peace nor comfort have I found
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

Angels I am on my knees
but you'll never sing for me
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

Some folks say the times are hard
I just say, oh my lord
Coffee's cold and I been sold for half a dollar bill

RED & BLAZING

I must've been four when you touched my arm
Skies were red and blazing
I heard a moan in the elms above,
and I knew that day was ending

I knew you'd seen your happiest day
when the next morn the birds were singing
We felt the same cold from the earth

It took the moon to hold the tide
and set our hearts a-spinning
You'd wait for dark to never come again

I'll turn my back to the calling sun
if you'll rise and meet me
I'll walk the road I took from you

Oh, stay a while in the red skies blazing
Touch my arm and feel my burning
for the day you left for the elms above
to meet those birds a-singin

SINGLE DROP OF HONEY

If a single drop of honey would bring you to me
I'd break that sweet rock open
And hold it out for thee

She asked him for a penny
He gave her a dime
She asked him to stay forever
He said, "all will come in time"

She prayed for him to come back
He sent a voice true
She barely heard the words
He said, "I'm not so far from you"

She grew old holding on
He called her from afar,
"You desire more than men are able
Find me in your heart"

EVE STOLE THE APPLE

Old folks told me you’re not coming home
Old folks told me gotta move along
Like a ripe ol' fruit on a borrowed vine
I hang around, oh, lord, I hang around

Eve stole the apple from the tree good lord
I know she could be me, I know she could be me

Big brother told me I got something wrong
Big brother told me sing a different song
Like a tolling bell in its final hour
I'll make a sound, oh, lord, I'll make one sound

Another man done gone he sang this song good lord
I know he could be me, I know he could be me

'Round the mountain there's another shore
'Round the corner there's another door
Like a bleeding man on his native soil
I'll stand my ground, oh lord, I'll stand my ground

They nailed him to the cross for no sin good lord'
I know he could be me, I know he could be me

They nailed him to the cross
Another man done gone
Eve stole the apple
From the tree good lord
I know she could be me
I know she could be me
I know she could be me

WHO'S GONNA SHOE YOUR PRETTY LITTLE FEET

Who's gonna shoe your pretty little feet
Who's gonna glove your hand
Who's gonna kiss your red ruby lips
Who's gonna be your man

Poppa's gonna shoe my pretty little feet
Momma's gonna glove my hand
Sister's gonna kiss my red ruby lips
I don't need no man

Fastest train I ever did ride
Was a hundred coaches long
The only woman I ever did love
was on that train and gone

On that train and gone boys
On that train and gone
Only woman I ever did love
Was on that train and gone

Who's gonna shoe your pretty little feet
Who's gonna glove your hand
Who's gonna kiss your red ruby lips
Who's gonna be your man

Poppa's gonna shoe my pretty little feet
Momma's gonna glove my hand
Sister's gonna kiss my red ruby lips
I don't need no man

I don't need no man
I don't need no man
Sister's gonna kiss my red ruby lips
I don't need no man

THE LOST LAMB

Translation:

Zai na yaoyuan de guxiang
In that far distant land I call home

Wo shiluo liao yi ge gulao de meng
I lost the ancient dream

Yi ge youshang de meng
A sorrowful dream

Zai na yangyu wo de difang
In that place that raised me

Wo fenbian buliao muse he chenguang
I cannot discern the growing shadows of dusk and (first light) the first faint rays of the morning sun

Wo yanjuanliao chenmo he sixiang
I’ve wearied in the silence and searching

Feng nanchui you zhuanxiang beifang
Wind blows south and turns again north

Jianghe ben hai, hai que bu zhang
River flows to the sea, yet the sea does not rise

Wo xin manliao choucheng
My heart is filled with melancholy

Yu lai you shi qing bu jiuchang
The rains come, clear skies will follow soon

Fuzu tianbuman linghun de kewang
Even fortune and good blessings cannot quench the soul’s thirst

Zhihui dangbukai yongsheng de shuangjiang
Wisdom cannot relieve us our eternal lot

Wo,
Wo shi
Yi zhi
Mitu de gaoyang
I am a lost lamb

Shei neng ying wo zouchu mimang
Who will lead me from this haze?

Nar you wo chongsheng de xiwang
What will bring me hope again?

O, muyangren ah
Oh, shepherd

Ni zai hefang?
Where are you?

NOBODY'S FAULT BUT MINE

Nobody's fault but mine
Nobody's fault but mine
If I die and my soul be lost
nobody's fault but mine

I had a mother who could pray
I had a mother who could pray
If I die and my soul be lost
nobody's fault but mine

I had a mother who could sing
I had a mother who could sing
If I die and my soul be lost
nobody's fault but mine

Nobody's fault but mine
If I die and my soul be lost
If I die and my soul be lost
nobody's fault but mine

HALO

Dark is the night
Gray is the day
It's cold outside
but his halo lights my way

He says to me
I wanna light you up
I wanna light you up
in the dark and the day
My halo's bright
Follow the way

It's hard to see
It's hard to say
I'm without knowing
but his halo lights my way

The water is wide
This side I can't stay
I don't know where I'm going
  but his halo lights my way

SONG OF THE TRAVELING DAUGHTER

Translation:

World sits outside the door
Men wai you ge shijie

A voice in your heart is calling
Xinzhong you ge shengyin

The ends of the world await
Sifang jiu deng ni lai

Traveling daughter
Younu

Feel the sunshine on your face
Lianshang gandao taiyang

Starlight guides your feet
Jiaobu suizhao xingguang

Earth and Sky will carry you
Tiandi zai ni zouyou

Journey after journey
Zoule yi shan you yi shan

One mountain to the next
Zhe shan guole ne shan lai

Voice in your heart is calling
Xinzhong you ge shengyin

SONG OF THE TRAVELING DAUGHTER

Translation:

Deep in the night
I hear the darkness
Bones tell the body
rest in its arms
I hear the calling
of life's sweet embrace
resting too soon

Deep in the night
I feel the stardust
Blue tells the heavens
fall from the sky
I feel the shadows
of time's own longing
falling away

Deep in the night
I pray a candle
to tell the snowfall
wait for sunrise
I pray a halo
of man's cold morning
holds to the light

I pray a halo
  of man's cold morning
holds thru the night

MOMMA

Momma, please tell me truly
Even though life ain't what it should be
Where can I go to fix these things inside

Cause, momma, it's hard to feel free
When it's you running thru me
Just take me now or throw away the key

And so it goes...

Life isn't easy and truth's a dreadful beauty
And everyone wants to know where they go
When they die

Momma, I can't help feeling
That this pain is of your willing
Cool rain from a cloud of strickenine

But maybe, just maybe
This soul will die before my body
And I'll live on earth in peace for evermore

And so it goes...

Lately I've thought about me
Separate from your woeful morning
And I can see a light ringing thru the sky

It sings of coming glory
Strangely tied to this awful story
It lifts the heart and gives us wings to fly

And so it goes...