Eliza Gilkyson is another artist with a lifetime of superb songs -- here are a few of my selections:
Rose of Sharon
I am a rose of Sharon
A lily of the valley
As a lily grown among the thorns
Love in this world has found me
As an apple tree among the trees
That grow deep in the forest
My lover's form in comely
With life and limb most joyous
Rise up my love and come away
The rain is over and gone
Your love is the fruit of my darkest day
And I am your Rose of Sharon
His gentle hand lies under my head
His shoulders turn to face me
I shall not stir him from my bed
While he doth so embrace me
Oh bring me wine to pass the time
Though none but him can soothe me
I am my beloved's and he is mine
Desire for his pleasure moves me
Rise up my love and come away
The rain is over and gone
Your love is the fruit of my darkest day
And I am your Rose of Sharon
+++++
Hard Times In Babylon
I light a candle in your name
Long past midnight, memories bright in the freeze frame
And I'm asking myself why
I see at the Marriott, funny little grin
Driving those drums like a chariot
Did it hurt too much to try?
Woody you were my hero
A shoulder to cry on when I bottomed out at zero
In the hour of the wolf, just before the dawn
Hard times in Babylon.
O.K. so you had to go
Take a walk on the wild side
Down to the valley of the shadow
But it just don't seem like you.
Well you could have called out
There's not a man or woman gathered tonight in the big house
Wouldn't run to pull you through.
An incident so grievous
20 years ago you would have thought this is the way you
would leave us
In the hour of the wolf, just before the dawn
Hard times in Babylon.
Got to hang together when the air's this thin
Hand out the masks for the oxygen
Live for something
We're coming upon a time in our lives
When the little dreams live but the big dream dies
Not for nothing, Not for nothing
I know that love don't end
Nothing I can do is gonna bring you back or let me see
you again
In the hour of the wolf, just before the dawn
Hard times in Babylon.
In the hour of the wolf, just before the dawn
Hard times in Babylon.
+++++
The Beauty Way
My father made a pretty damn good living
Playing music on the Beauty Way
He’s gonna die with some money in his pocket
Wish I could do the same today little darling
Wish I could do the same today
Doe eyed kid and a little transistor
Tuned into Wolfman jack
I picked up a guitar heard the sirens whisper
And I never looked back little darling
And I never looked back
I worked the clubs along the Sangre de Cristos?
Polished the diamond in the rough
By the time I hit L.A. I was hotter than a pistol
But you’re never hot enough little darling
You never really hot enough
I felt the lights on the big, big stages
The fire burning in my soul
I’ve had those nights when my guitar rages
But it’s not something you control little darling
It’s not something you control
Redtail diving for a rat on Sunset
Coyote picking through the trash
Oh I wish I was lying like a cat in the sun
‘stead of working like a dog for the cash little darling
I’m only working for the cash
Sometimes I wish I could unplug this cord
And my soul or my money I could save
Oh but every time I say I’m gonna quit the Beauty Way
I hear my bones just turning in their grave little
darling
Bones turning in their grave
hey yeah yeah
hey yeah
hey yeah yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah yeah
+++++
Tender Mercies
Across the world she tapes explosives to her chest
steps into a shopping mall
a life devoid of all of mercy's tenderness
really isn't any life at all
Tender mercies,tender mercies, come before despair
shine down all your tender mercies
it's every mother's prayer
Down below the factory along the riverside
children swimming in a poison pool
playful afternoon of unintended suicide
gone before they ever knew
Tender mercies,tender mercies, come before despair
shine down all your tender mercies
it's every mother's prayer
Across the world she holds her loved ones to her chest
lays them down and listens at the door
everybody safe and warm among the truly blessed
how can we even dare to ask for more
Tender mercies,tender mercies, come before despair
shine down all your tender mercies
it's every mother's prayer
+++++
Sanctuary
Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow thou
thou art with me
though my heart's been torn on fields of battle
thou art with me
though my trust is gone and my faith not near
in love's sanctuary
thou art with me
Through desolation's fire and fear's dark thunder thou
thous art with me
through the sea of desires that drag me under thou art
thou art with me
though I've been traded in like a souvenir
in love's sanctuary
thou art with me
Through the doubter's gloom and the cynic's sneer
thou art with me
in the crowded rooms of a mind unclear
thou art with me
though I'll walk for a while down a trail of tears
in love's sanctuary
thou art with me
++++++
Man Of God
The cowboy came frm out of the west
With his snakeskin boots and his bulletproof vest
Gang of goons and his big war chest
Fortunate son he was doubly blessed
Corporate cronies and the chiefs of staff
Bowin' to the image of the golden calf
Startin up wars in the name of god's son
Gonna blow us all the way to kingdom come
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the teachings of a man of god
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the preachings of a man of god
Coalition of the willing and the judgmental
Patricians, politicians, and the fundamentalists
You never have to tell them how the money's spent
You never have to tell them where their freedom went
Homophobes in the high command
Waitin' for the rapture like it's disneyland
Hide all the bodies from out of view
Channel all the treasure to the chosen few
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the teachings of a man of god
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the preachings of a man of god
If I could I surely would
Stand on the rock where moses stood
Look out people now we're gonna get fleeced
By a wolf masquerading as a man of peace
Jesus said blessed are the meek
Jesus said you gotta turn the other cheek
Jesus said help the poor and the weak
If he lived today he'd be a liberal freak
All the money changers would be out on the street
Weepin and wailin and gnashin their teeth
Me I'm waitin on the reckoning day
When the whole world gonna rise up and say
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the teachings of a man of god
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the preachings of a man of god
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the teachings of a man of god
Man of god, man of god
That ain't the preachings of a man of god
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