Vic Chesnutt

All right, you don't want to fuck
I'll just go on downstairs
And listen to Vic Chesnutt
Up close a crow isn't all black
And neither is the night


If you are the woman I see
How come you can't be she?
If you are the woman I see
How come you won't be she?


They say to ask for what you need
But then . . . .
They say to ask for what you want
But then . . . .
Nobody gives you anything
Do they?



Being the flame must be all consuming
Everyone wants to get near you 
        all the same
I'm sorry for all this priestly contumely
I hate it when you don't address me by my name

Outside it's so cold the trees are exploding
But in here you could die of exposure
I been alone now so long I'm kind of imploding
And I'm all too used to this kind of disclosure

I said I wanted to write a song about Vic Chesnutt
But really I want him to write one about me
I said I wanted to write a song about Vic Chesnutt
But really I want him to write one about me
How cool would that be
How could that be

You are the woman I see
So how come you can't be she?
You are the woman I see
So how come it's only her you won't be?

All right, you don't want to fuck
I'll just go downstairs and listen to Vic Chesnutt
Up close a crow isn't all black
And neither is the night

Vic Chesnutt, Vic Chesnutt, I'd take a bullet for you
And you know that is true
Hey, you know I'd take a bullet for you
For all the good that would do
Hey, hey, I'd take a bullet for you
But I wouldn't take two 

Kind of a Prayer

Go to sleep now
Without even dreaming
Pretend the Lord holds you safe in his hands
I wish for you: a brand-new world
Each day in your blue eyes gleaming
Compassion for all the children of man
Stern judgment for the jailers
Mercy for the kept
A harvest of wildflowers from every place
Where Jesus walked and wept
A place in someone's heart
To shelter from dangers
Courage to take the part
Of the harried unwelcome strangers
It's own room for sorrow
Sanctuary for Blue Bear
Again tomorrow another day lived
As some kind of prayer

Stay with me now
While there's still time
Imagine there will always be enough
For extra innings
With the pennant riding
Light sufficient to call the season's bluff
I hope for you: Eternity in an instant
Love in a glance
The hazards of fortune
A second chance
The power of words
Truth to power
Songs of the birds
The days and the hours
Its own room for sorrow
Sanctuary for Blue Bear
Again tomorrow another day lived
As some kind of prayer


Go from me now
The time is come
Make believe it always does
I wish that you may always
Find your path home with an old song
Just as true as whatever was
May you know: Winter in the rose
Lights on the bridge
Horses in the snow
Stars over the ridge
God's eye for color
The Buddha's gift for form
The poet's way with chaos
Blake's place in the storm
Salvation in a moment of clarity
Hope as a deep well
The grace of charity
Joy like ringing a bell
Illumination as in a mirror
Pride in your name
Never to hide your face
To burn like a flame
It's own room for sorrow
Sanctuary for Blue Bear
Again tomorrow another day lived
As some kind of prayer


Come back to me whenever
You feel the need
Ah, you know I'll always be here
Act as if we wrote the lines
Like there's no other way to be
There ain't nothing to fear
May you learn: to wait for that which will not wait for you
Never to talk to iron
That to seek is to worship
That to wander is to find
To envy the ragged their appearance
In the waiting rooms of the Lord
That redemption cannot be taken
At the point of a sword
There's no profit so great
As the wages of sin
The moment and the universe are made
Of what we carry within
To make room for sorrow
Sanctuary for Blue Bear
Again tomorrow another day lived
As some kind of prayer

The Whereabouts of Angels

 Where are all the angels
 That used to flock when a little boy prayed
 And watch over him in the night
 Whenever he was afraid?


 Where are all the angels
 Who lived with William Blake
 Who guided his hand and his heart
 So he wouldn’t make a mistake?


 Where are all the angels
 Who danced on the head of a pin
 Who pulled my neighbors from the rubble
 When the roof caved in?


 Where all the angels
 Who bear sweet princes to rest
 Whose flowered breath reassures us
 Even the smallest lives are blessed?


 Where are all the angels
 When the lights go out
 When the night is long and there is no sleep
 And my soul is shackled with doubt?


Where are all the angels
Who used to fly above me all night and day long?
I been looking and looking
Please don’t tell me you’re gone


Where are all the angels
Who used to fortify my soul?
Maybe they don’t come around no more
Once you start to get old


Where are all the angels
Who hang out everywhere music plays?
I’ll tell you what, I’ll make you a deal
If I keep on singing, will you promise to stay?


Where are all the angels?
Where are all the angels?
On high
On high
Right besides
Right besides
Within
Within
Listen
Just listen
Listen
Just listen

On the Ward

 Horse-headed horror hanging in the corners, make-believing
They cut me right down the middle, and I crossed over
They used clamps to hold me open, but the substance had long ago seeped away
Nothing to find there now but innards, them too leaking slowly
Scrape the wound, consult the bandage, find neither the highway nor the sign
I'm oppressed by the paper's glare, and I wonder how does darkness cast its shadow
I'm not gone yet, but I'm not getting up
Pretty nurse's hand up your thigh
And nothing moves, just the line
Drip the dream back into you
No one sleeps alone
Television burning through the night as I make my shuffling rounds
Dangling from a coatrack, urine in my hand
The old ones say little, they never sleep
Time enough soon for that, I guess, though I don't dare ask
Ah, you'll be leaving here soon, they heckle
But even tourists get killed sometimes I think
Especially if they don't know the lay of the land
Darkness's shadow is no bigger than a rat, scratching around
Less easily frightened, a small little thing, furtive and brave, silverfooted ferret phantom
No bigger than your shoe
Slyer than a fox, but damp
Winged like a bat, but earthbound
Moves every time you do, and keeps its distance
Can't be trapped with mirrors
No sadder or more restless than you are
Just here, just like you
Lives in the corner of your eye
There is something underneath
I've seen it
There ain't nothing wrong with being high
And there ain't nothing to be afraid of
Not junk, and not pain
Everyone's got their own definition
Whatever makes you dream

Order (A Perfect World)

                              If cats lived on rooftops
                         Pigeons would be scarce as mie