The Workshop
Where the scribbles and scraps gather.
Here is a long-time-coming recording of a song I wrote last fall - the first of what I hope will be many reflections / settings of the Psalms. I always wish my technical skills in producing my songs were better than they are, but such as I have give I thee!
Thanks to Adam Zembower for the generous lending of his mad guitar skills by laying down some acoustic tracks on this one!
Song begins at 2:43
This is a snippet of verse/lyric that came from some personal reflection this evening. I’m all too aware of how often my ego and my sanctification butt heads. I hate how much I hate feeling under appreciated. It bothers me what can bother me. I can get very irritated by my own egotism. It’s in these moments where a prayer along these lines often springs up…
Blessed are the humble
Blessed are the meek
Blessed are the servants
Who take the lower seat
Jesus be my treasure
Father fill my cup
So I can be made lower
And You be lifted up
God who dwelt among us
God who came to serve
God who came to pardon
And bear what I deserve
Strip away my idols
That never satisfy
Bread of life, renew me
And teach me how to die.
I have died with Christ
In Christ alone I’ll live
Loved by Him, I’ll love
Forgiven, I’ll forgive
God has vowed to keep me
From here to heaven’s shore
Faith will turn to perfect sight
And tears will be no more.
A great writing day today - the Prologue is finally finished! (don’t worry - not writing exactly in story order)
I wanted to share a piece of that Prologue with you. This is when a young couple, Henry and Rachel, get married and Rachel sings this to Henry as her vows.
Wherever the journey
Whatever the cost
My love can’t be broken
My love can’t be lost
Your heart is my treasure
Your joy is my own
I look in your eyes
And I’m home.
My love’s not dependent
On riches or fame
Through sickness and hunger
My love stays the same
Unearned and unending
My love will be true
Forever and always
In happy and sad days
No matter what life puts us through
I’ve decided my heart’s set on you.
This is the first complete draft of this song from Prodigal. The first verse and pre-chorus on this song were some of the first pieces written for Prodigal back around 2015, but the second verse, choruses and overall structure weren’t put together until just recently.
In the story, this character, Diggory, has grown up on his family’s four-generation farm and he’s dying to cut some new ruts and finally get away from the farm life and the family realities he associates with it and go seek fame and fortune in the big city.
Joe Sharick, accompanist
I’ve got a tingle in my fingers
Got a tickle in my brain
Got a longing and a burning
Like a hunger keeps returning
Like a harvest that’s yearning for rain
Cause there’s a better life that’s waiting
There’s a fortune I must find
I can’t be the man I was made to be
Until I leave this one behind
And though some think it’s unfounded
I want so much more than corn can buy
Like an eagle that’s been grounded
This I know - I was born to fly
Someday I’ll see
A city skyline through the clouds
Someday I’ll be
A man who stands out from the crowds
Just wait, you’ll see
No matter what it takes
Someday I’ll finally pull up stakes
And show the world the best of me
I’ve got a million dreams I’m chasing
Got a thousand schemes or more
Time to write a different story
Time to rise to heights of glory
Time to find out what lies in store
I’m trading lantern light for streetlights
Trading fields for cobblestone
I’ll forget what my family expects of me
And finally make my life my own
Call me young, naive, or crazy
I know my heart no matter what you say
The choice is mine so don’t delay me
Get on board or get out of my way!
At last it’s clear
What’s right for me is for me to say
Someday is here
A brand new life begins today
Make way for me,
A bright new star flung into space!
Let me be free
To find my rightful time and place
My destiny won’t wait forever
So it’s time to take my chance to go and be
And give the world the best of me.
This was the first song ever written for Prodigal probably in 2013 or so. The character singing this song is Henry - a third generation farmer, widower, and (you guessed it) father of two sons in their late teens / early twenties. While not without its true challenges and trials, over the course of his life and certainly as he's well crossed into his middle aged years, he's grown to not only love the life he's been given, but has found a passionate childlike joy in the simple things in life, a wise perspective on what's truly important, and has achieved a level and peace and serenity with the lot he's been dealt that most of us could only aspire to.
Featuring David Felty
The sunrise throws warm hues across the sky
A bird flies east and cues the morn
The dew drops glisten on the blades of rye
As all creation hails the day reborn
The rustling wheat sounds like the ocean tide
As the hay’s sweet smell comes dancing on the air
And while some might pine for something more, I’m satisfied
I know there’s nothing in this world that can compare
Let the world outside forget me - I don’t care!
Give me hills that roll forever
Give me rivers that run wild
Leave me breathless with the wonder of a child
Give me tender earth beneath me
Give me roots, secure and strong
Keep your trinkets, keep your fame, give me a song
Thought the greener grass may thrill, it won’t last long
So long as sunshine grows the grain
And Providence provides the rain
I know that I am right where I belong!
I’ve learned to savor sweat and calloused hands
Learned that working in the dirt is not unclean
I’ve learned the food tastes sweeter when you’ve churned the land
And every harvest yields new lessons you can glean
As a boy, I worked these meadows at my father’s side
His father and his father lived here too
And when my time has ended, I will say with pride,
”Here, my sons, all I have belongs to you!
Make this farm your own. There’s so much you can do!”
Give me hills that roll forever
Give me rivers that run wild
Leave me breathless with the wonder of a child
Give me tender earth beneath me
Give me roots, secure and strong
Keep your trinkets, keep your fame, give me a song
Thought the greener grass may thrill, it won’t last long
So long as sunshine grows the grain
And Providence provides the rain
I’m reminded by this sight
Every day at dawn’s first light
And I know that I am right where I belong.
