Saint Judas

Undertaker

words and music by Mark Growden

Oh Love, the maker
Love is a thief
Oh Love, won’t you make me
Won’t you make me believe
Oh Love, the undertaker
Diggin’ so deep
Oh Love, won’t you take me
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please

Been on the both sides of a swingin’ fist
Been on the both sides of a swingin’ fist
Been on the both sides of a swingin’ fist
Hit me so hard like a Judas kiss
Judas Kiss. Oh, Judas Kiss
Hit me so hard like a Judas kiss

Down on my knees at the riverside
Down on my knees at the riverside
Down on my knees at the riverside
This heart’s as broken as the raven’s cry
A raven’s cryin’ . Oh, a raven cry
This heart’s as open as the raven’s cry

Oh Love, the maker,
Love is a thief
Oh Love, won’t you make me
Won’t you make me believe
Oh Love, the undertaker
Diggin’ so deep
Oh Love, won’t you take me
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please

Dig me a grave in the open plain
Dig me a grave in the open plain
Dig me a grave in the open plain
Lower me down and pull me up again
Up again. Oh, up again
Lower me down and pull me up again

Oh Love, the maker,
Love is a thief
Oh Love, won’t you make me
Won’t you make me believe
Oh love the undertaker
Diggin’ so deep
Oh Love won’t you take me
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please
Won’t you take me please

Delilah

Words and Music by Mark Growden

You come to me with ropes and knives
But you can set those things aside
Believe me
All you need is your kiss, your eyes
Sing your siren’s lullaby
To slay me
Come slice me like the crescent moon slices the sea

Delilah

I built this wall of 10,000 stones
Just so you could break it down
I’m waiting
You’ve sent a hundred men to try
But none of them could take my life
Delilah
You can have my locks
You can have my sight
You can have my breath
You can have my might

Delilah. Oh Delilah

I built this ladder of 80 rungs
One for every star you strung above me
At the top you’ll find the shears
That in your hands can cut me free
Please send me back to the tailor who fashioned me
Please send me back to the tailor who fashioned me

Oh Delilah

Saint Judas

Words and Music by Mark Growden

Saint Judas, Saint Judas, Saint Judas
You got a shot glass scar on your forehead
You got holes in the soles of both of your boots
You’re a movie where the good guys are bad
And the bad guys are good

You like your whiskey neat
As a military sheet
So you drink it straight from the bag
But the kiss on the lips that whiskey is kissin’
They ‘bout to execute an innocent man

Saint Judas,
With your noose on tight
Saint Judas,
Guide us through the night
Saint Judas
Bottoms up to ya, buddy
‘cuz somebody had to take the blame

You got a stack of cash in your pocket
Oh you sold him for the price of a slave
But at the end of the day which of you is the slave?
You both got your price to pay

Oh, Jericho, it fell to the trumpets
Oh and Heaven, it’s going to fall to the hounds
Oh, but you’ll take your fall like a tightrope walker
But you’ll never hit the ground
No, no. You’ll be dancing on nothin’

David, he’s the Saint of the Poets
Julian, he’s the Saint of the Clowns
Oh well, now you’re the Saint of the Sinners, boy
So won’t you buy us all another round?
Oh buy us all another round

Saint Judas,
With your noose on tight
Saint Judas,
Guide us through the night
Saint Judas
Bottoms up to ya, buddy
‘cuz somebody had to take the blame

Bottoms up to ya, buddy
‘cuz somebody had to take the blame
,
Bottoms up to ya, buddy
‘cuz somebody had to take the blame

Saint Judas

If the Stars Could Sing

Words and music by Mark Growden

When a butterfly flies toward the hands of Love
Love would never rush her
And when she goes to fly away
Love would never crush her

Of course, those dusty wings could never lift me
Of course, those dusty wings could never lift me

If the stars could sing, they’d surely sing of you
If the stars could sing, they’d surely …
If the stars could sing
If the stars could sing, they’d surely sing of you

If the stars could sing, they’d surely sing of you
If the stars could sing, they’d surely …
If the stars could sing
If the stars could sing, they’d surely sing of you

Been in the Storm so Long

Adapted from a traditional as sang by Mary Pickney
New words and music by Mark Growden

Been in the Storm so long
Singin’ we been in the Storm so long
Singin’ oh, give us more time to pray
We’ve been in the Storm so long

The Rain, it is comin’ down
Singin’ the Rain, it is comin’ down
Singin’ oh, give us more time to pray
We’ve been in the Storm so long

The Wind, it is howlin’ now
Singin’ the Wind, it is howlin’ now
Singin’ oh, give us more time to pray
We’ve been in the Storm so long

I’m Your Man

Words and music by Leonard Cohen – Adapted by Mark Growden

Faith in my Pocket

Words and Music by Mark Growden

I thought I saw a shootin’ star
It was a cigarette thrown from a trucker’s window

Life can be as rough as a Mississippi highway
Knock your daddy down for the count one, two, three
The leaves are gonna fall
The geese are gonna fly away
I’m gonna drop my needle in the hay

I’m gonna lay a fat kiss on the cold wet cheeks of Winter
and watch her blush
I’m gonna rub her clammy hands until her icy blue eyes
begin to glimmer
Oh, she make me shiver
Oh, she make me shiver

Life can be as rough as a Mississippi highway
Knock your daddy down for the count one, two, three
The leaves are gonna fall
The geese are gonna fly away
I’m gonna drop my needle in the hay

Oh, I’m gonna lay a fat kiss on the cold wet cheeks of Winter
and watch her blush
I’m gonna rub her clammy hands until her icy blue eyes
begin to glimmer
Oh, she make me simmer
Oh, she make me simmer

Winter won’t you drop bit of Faith in my pocket
Winter won’t you drop of Faith
Winter won’t you drop bit of Faith in my pocket
Faith in my pocket

Everybody Holds a Piece of the Sun

Words and music by Mark Growden

We gotta keep the fire burnin’
We gotta keep the fire burnin’ bright now
We gotta keep the fire burnin’
Everybody holds a piece of the sun
Everybody holds a piece of the sun

Singin’, don’t you worry, no
Don’t you worry no, no, no, no
Don’t you worry

Everybody holds a piece of the sun
Everybody holds a piece of the sun
Everybody holds a piece of the sun

Singin’, don’t you worry, no
Don’t you worry no, no, no, no
Don’t you worry

Everybody holds a piece of the sun
Everybody holds a piece of the sun
Everybody holds a piece of the sun

We gotta keep the fire burnin’
We gotta keep the fire burnin’ bright now

Coyote

Words by Deke Weaver
Music by Mark Growden

Snow’s deep. Blood in my teeth
She’s gone
Wind packs a drift at my back
My paws split, they crack
She’s gone
If I had stepped right, kept her in sight
We’d trot across the lake
I should have smelled cold steel
She’s gone

Dark sky. Snow’s muzzle high
She’s gone
Trap jaw bites into her paw
Sharp ice broke her fall
She’s gone
If I had chewed quick, broken and ripped
Three legs she’d have today
I should have smelled cold steel
She’s gone

Handlebars

Improvised on handlebars by Mark Growden – Friday, March 13, 2009
in the long hall at New, Improved Recording

Inside Every Bird

Words by Mark Growden and Angus Balbernie
Music by Mark Growden

Inside every bird
There’s a smaller bird
Flying faster
And inside that bird there flies another

La la la la, ….

Beneath every wave
There’s a larger wave
Rolling slower
And beneath that wave there rolls another

La la la la la, ….

Behind every word
There’s another word
Spoken softer
And behind that word the sound of laughter

La la la la la, ….

The Gates/Take me to the Water

The Gates – Words and Music by Mark Growden
Take me to the Water – Based on a traditional with new words and music by Mark Growden
Sparked by a line by Jenya Chernoff

If the gates that hold the tears of this world were to open
We’d all be washed away
If the stories those tears have to tell were spoken
We’d nothing left to say

The water is slowly risin’
The water, it just keeps risin’

If the gates that hold the tears of this world were to open
We’d all be washed away
If the stories those tears have to tell were spoken

The water is slowly risin’
The water, it just keeps risin’

The gates can’t take
The weight any more
The river is washing them away
We could swim back to the shore
Oh the tides so strong today

The gates can’t take
The weight any more
The river is washing them away
We could swim back to the shore
Oh the tides so strong today
Time to drift
And pray

Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Lay me down, lay me down at her side

Listen to her callin’
Oh listen to her callin’
Oh listen
She’s callin’ out your name

Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Lay me down, lay me down at her side

Everyone is welcome
All y’all are welcome
Every soul is welcome
Be you a virgin, a whore, a sinner or a saint

Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Oh won’t you take me to the water
Lay me down, lay me down at her side

Take me home
Won’t you take me home

All the Pretty Little Horses

Traditional adapted by Mark Growden

Hush-a-bye, don’t you cry
Go to sleep a-little baby
When you wake you’ll have your tea and cake
And all the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses
Black and bay, dapple and grey
And all the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses

Mother dear, where’s your lamb
She’s layin’ cold in the meadow
Bees and butterflies sittin’ on her eyes
And all the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses
Black and bay, dapple and grey
And all the pretty little horses
All the pretty little horses