1. |
The Baptizer
04:36
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The Baptizer
Are you ready for the sun?
Or were you sleeping on your own?
I had hoped to be the one to raise these bones
Have you heard the stories child?
Did you learn to write your own?
Would you tell it to your children as they get grown?
Here by the river
I’ll stand my ground
And down in the water
I will be found
Sure as the Jordan rolls
Sure as the Jordan rolls on
So you’re ready for new day come
For every mountain to come on down
And for the fire that’s burning up your sacred town
Here by the river
I’ll stand my ground
And down in the water
I will be found
Sure as the Jordan rolls
Sure as the Jordan rolls on
Come let the waters lift up your head
All you you lofty ones, be laid low
Let the valleys raise a highway headed home
1:1-8
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2. |
Oh My Beloved
05:15
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Oh My Beloved
Oh I could see
It was more than it seemed
The light on your face
Was it something you heard
Coming over the river
Calling your name?
“Oh my son, oh my beloved
Come up to the mountain
Carrying your weight
The wood and the fire
All else is in place
And all the world awaits”
It was something like kissing
The way that it landed
The dove on your skin
And though it started so tender
It seemed to command you away
“Oh my son, oh my beloved
Come up from the river
And go into the wild
To places unknown
Where enemies will find you
Let beasts and angels guide you”
I’ve been ready for years
By the waves of the river
For some kind of change
Then I watched you step out
From the edge of the water
You carried your sandals and you walked like a king
Oh please be the one, some of us will see you
Come running from the desert
To call your people home
And bring us back the fire
That burns beneath our bones
That opens up the seeds to grow
For most of my life
I’ve lived out on the edges
On nothing but honey and sand
So take a word of advice
From a pilgriming brother
Acquainted with wilderness
Oh my son, know you’re beloved
Come back to the river
In all that is ahead
The wood and the fire
Remember what was said
And how the light came down
And crowned your upturned head
1.9-12
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3. |
Rope Burns
04:44
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Rope Burns
These hands are for rope burns
And holding off the sun
Setting oars to the ocean
Like a fisherman’s son
Turned to look for my father
This is his father’s boat
And his hands are as old
As these oars in my hands
So why should I swim ashore?
And lose all I’ve become?
Forget my own name
and be anyone’s son?
Are you good for it all?
Are you good for the journey?
Are you good for it all?
And did you know about the loneliness?
‘Cause I’m leaving my nets
And my father behind
Heard them say you’re a holy man
But more dangerous than some
Well are you sure I’m the one
With my fisherman hands?
But you smell like the wood-shop floor
And the sweat of a priest
And you came down to the sea
With fresh dust on your feet
So what if I come ashore
And I take what I’ve become
And put it all on the table
Would you call me on the question
Are you good for it all?
Are you good for the journey?
Are you good for it all?
And did you know about the loneliness?
‘Cause I’m leaving my nets
And my father behind
This is all that I’ve known
Every morning I waken to
This same ache in my bones
And then you come calling
“Come find your way home”
And I feel it awaken too
This same ache in my bones
These hands are for rope burns
1.16-20
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4. |
The Leper
04:19
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The Leper
Oh all you that cry out
“Unholy, unclean”
You untouchable shadows
You face of disease
All you men breaking bread in the gutters
Praying, “Tomorrow we die”
All you daughters and mothers, cast aside
Oh all you ragged holders-on to life
This ends here, where the wretched meet the road
This is taking my chances and leaving for home
I’m stepping out of the shadows
To deal with the light
To beg a man to give me back my life
Oh all you that drive out
The filthy, the weak
You that shove to the shadows
Every wound you can see
All you keepers of hallowed and holy
Standing guard of the door
Let us in to the glory you hide and hoard
The people need a god we can afford
This ends now, as we’re staring at the dawn
This is highway home, tearing at the walls
We’re coming over the thresholds
And into the light
This is someone given back their life
So now I’m where I belong
With a name and a home inside these city walls
While he’s out in the shadows
A man on the road
A healer I know
What I heard, what I saw
That no god, no man
Would touch my skin before
But he took my bare hand in both of his own
Now he’s outside of the city,
Tossed to the night
It’s like he traded in his rights for mine
So if it’s the same old story
That ends well for some
Tell me, when’s the revolution gonna come?
1.40-45
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5. |
Here to Rest
03:36
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Here to Rest
I lift my eyes to
The lines on your face
And the dust as it settles
In your eyes, in your hair
My body’s broken and dirty
My hands are tired
From begging for money
And holding tight to the fire
So lower my body down
But don’t leave me, my friends
You carried your burden
Now you can lay it here to rest
You call me “brother”
Though I feel so ashamed
And they hate you for mercy
I can feel it in the room
But you take my hand in your own hand
And your fingers are strong
You say, “Stand here, my brother
Oh be righteous, belong”
This is more than we’ve ever known
To believe in, my friends
We all carry our burdens
Do we just lay them here to rest?
Oh look at my body now
I needed you, my friends
To carry me in here
But I’ll be walking home at last
2.1-12
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6. |
Breaking the Ground
03:56
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Breaking the Ground
I’m here in the garden
But I’m not out of the woods
And the earth here is hardened
By the wounds that she took
So go easy on me
When you’re breaking the ground
When you’re planting the seeds
May the roots grow deep down
Can you grow in the dirt here
The fruit of your labour?
Out of the cluttered earth
Will you root out the anger?
So that I can believe
That when you’re breaking the ground
You’re just planting the seeds
Where the roots grow deep down
Are you here in the garden
Pulling stones from the dirt?
When you dig where it’s darkest
Can you feel how it hurts?
So go easy on me
When you’re breaking the ground
When you’re planting the seeds
May the roots grow deep down
I saw your hands all covered in dirt
And there was blood caked under your fingernails
But still you dig, though you suffer the worst
As you tear at the earth
As you expose all the dirt
Don’t you give up on me
When you’re breaking the ground
When you’re planting the seeds
May the roots grow deep down
4.1-9
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7. |
After the Storm
03:33
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After the Storm
Jesus Christ
Sleeping in the stern of our boat
Did you cut the lines
And leave us here to waves and to wars?
The people are bleeding
Are you still sleeping?
Can you hear the sound of guns from down below?
Would you stand beside
And whisper now the words that you spoke
Long before our time
That summoned here the oceans we know?
But after the storm
When you’re done speaking
Will you leave us here to row ashore alone?
“Are you so afraid?
Oh you …
Oh are you so afraid?
Oh you, you of little faith”
I could never have known
From where I was, my feet on the shore
What the waters show
What echoes here from ocean’s roar
It’s clearer now
But my heart’s still beating
You are the not the one I said I knew before
Standing on the shore
You are not the one I said
Not the one I said I knew
4.35-41
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8. |
We Always Say
03:41
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We Always Say
Nineteen years we knew him
Man amongst the caves
House him with the dead
Lock him up and tuck away
Still we never saw it coming
How he’d shatter every chain
If you can’t manage to contain it
Leave it outside of the town
We always say
We always say
First thing in the morning
The men had raised the town
“We’ve never seen the dogs like this
And every stock is drowned”
So we got us armed and ready
Sure as hell what did we find
Well now he’s got up out his cave
And now he’s talking like a man
Who’s come to life
Who’s come to life
We got a dead man walking
Now he’s out and good and brave
What will it cost this town
Now that everything has changed?
With so much waiting to get out
Is anybody safe?
We always say
Did you get lost or something,
Magic-man from Galilee?
It’s like you just showed up
To shake our darkness by the teeth
Oh you know we had it covered
We had locks and gates and keys
We don’t need your kind to help us
Running business in this town
No we don’t need
Oh we don’t need
We got a dead man walking
Now he’s out and good and brave
What will it cost this town
Now that everything has changed?
With so much waiting to get out
Is anybody safe?
We always say
With so much waiting to get out
Is anybody safe?
We always say
5.1-20
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9. |
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Don’t Slow Down
Oh don’t you hesitate
I came to plead, I came to beg you
Don’t slow down
‘Cause I’ve been learning how to pray
On hands and knees that bleed and scrape
The cold, cold ground
I’ve done all I can do
To keep her breathing
And I left her at the tomb
I came for someone to believe in
There’s a girl I love
In her mother’s arms
Will soon be sleeping
Oh don’t you turn and face me
I’m in the wings, I’m in the shadows
Don’t slow down
‘Cause I crawled here through the shame
The crooked legs and the quiet anger
Of the cold, cold crowd
I’ve done all I can do
Oh I’ve paid for healing
And I’ve nothing left to lose
I came for someone to believe in
It’s been twelve long years
And I’m all alone
And I’m still bleeding
“Oh talitha koum
Only believe
Oh talitha koum
Only believe
Oh talitha koum”
Oh don’t you hesitate
I came to plead I came to beg you
5.21-43
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10. |
Bread You'll Break
04:29
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Bread You’ll Break
I was hoping you would say,
“Come and rest your weary self
Against my heart, upon the ground
And we won’t speak or make a sound”
We’ve been walking now for days
And we rowed across the sea
Hungry as the burden beasts
With nothing left to eat
Oh how we limp upon our need
And there’s nothing here for miles around
Better look out for your own
So take your brother down the city road
Buy your bread and spend your gold
Would you listen to me now?
You can send the crowds away
We are poor and we are weary, Lord
Let them work and earn their pay
Oh I’ve given all I can today
This is all that I can carry, Lord
Just the bread that’s in my hands
Not enough to feed the hungry, there’s
A meal for me and my own friends
But you can take it from my fingers now
And you can break it like a stone
And when you raise it up to heaven
Speak the words that make it grow
Oh give us bread and feed our souls
Give us bread and feed our souls
Lift the pieces up to heaven
And though you whisper, speak aloud
The bread you’ll break, the prayers you’ll shout
The bread you’ll break
The prayers we’ll shout
6.30-44
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11. |
Even Dogs
04:00
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Even Dogs
Every time they come around
It’s the same damn story
“Shutter windows, keep them out
Wait here with the dogs.”
So it came as no surprise
Your door was never open
Couldn't help but wonder why
You came to town at all
Oh don’t you people see?
Even dogs under table
Eat the children’s crumbs
I’m coming to you needy
But I’m standing up taller
With my eyes cast down
So I’m outside on the ground
And you and I are strangers
Took the courage I had left
And knocked upon your door
My people need you now
We need a healer
So would you just hear me out
And be the one I came to call?
Oh don’t you see
Even dogs under table
Eat the children’s crumbs
There are thousands out here hungry
Will your bread yet be broken
For the ones still shuttered out?
Cause we’re waiting
Oh I’m out here waiting
If you would hear me now
7.24-30
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12. |
This Open Road
04:48
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This Open Road
Not so many days ago
Far from home and that was clear
We met a man along the road
They said he never spoke and couldn’t hear
“Oh come closer," you said
When you called him out
And left us waiting with that unholy crowd
And we didn’t hear a sound
And it was only yesterday
They put a blind man at your feet
Before you opened up his eyes
You took his hand and walked away from me
“Oh look closer,” I heard you say
And then again
But from the distance, I could barely see your hands
And I still don’t understand
And now you wanna know the name
The people whisper when you’re gone
They’re saying soldier, prophet, king
They’re singing all the oldest songs
“Oh my brother, what do you say?”
You wanna know
And it’s just you and me now walking on this open road
We’re travelling on
Well I’ve done all I can to listen
To every word I heard you say
Got my eyes wide open, looking out
For the kingdom and the way
"Oh my saviour,” I want to say
But does it show
That I can barely speak the words for all this aching hope?
All this aching hope
Oh my brother, what do you say?
You wanna know
And it’s just you and me now
Walking down this open road
7.31-37, 8.22-30
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Kristen Mark Westwood Guelph, Ontario
Kristen Mark Westwood is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, educator and producer based in Guelph, ON.
Photography by Jen Squires, 2019.
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