folk music

The Valley of Shadow

This song, from the days when I had time to make such recordings, I have not shared before. I always have felt that my recordings are more a like “sketches” or fragments of ideas (what would it be like if…) than any finished songs. I admit that I’m self-conscious of this material, from the engineering, to my voice, and the songwriting itself. But it has sat gathering dust. As an artifact of the story it should be laid out in the light. AMDG

If you listen, thank you for listening. If you read, thank you for reading. If you see, thank you for seeing. Go On, V

Yeah, though I walk through a Valley of Shadow
Under the curse of the Angel of Death
I have a shepherd I ever follow
Down to the breaking of the pure waters edge

He leadeth me; unknown and known
I fear no evil, stick nor stone
My bell, my window, He surrounds me
Staff and trumpet, rod and stone

Daisies and yarrow grow in the meadow
Hyssop in the margins and cactus I fear
Stones stand like monarchs guarding my ankle
Trees whisper ceaselessly, the Ancient is near

Fare thee well hear my spirit
Fare thee well near my heart
Dust to dust the grass is brittle
Boney legs of shattered stalks

The horns of the oxen surrounding the temple
Elders and children stand patiently near
Their eyes are clear, pure little windows
Deep endless wells shining with tears

Gazing on a white and a flame
Growing tall a name and a name
The Universe sings a singing
Calamity unmade and made

The last will be first sorrow will wither
The fattened ones will starve looking for bread
Quiet songs once lost, now will they listen
Bow, swings the scythe, I am low, I am low

The cross is raised over the valley
The mountain, he shudders away to the sea
The bison returning, blasting to splinters
Five for the cross triumphantly

Fare thee well, Valley of Shadow
I see a fell of silver and gold
Five for the cross, echoes through the skyway
Feet ever lightly touch little ground