Laments and Lullabies
My 2007 Album.
To download a song in mp3 format, click on a song title below.
My 2007 Album.
To download a song in mp3 format, click on a song title below.
Wes Tillett
Waitin’ for you to smile
Takin’ the longest mile
I broke down just up the lane
Burned out the engine of faith
This might be one of those long and lonely nights
I might not ever get over you
I might not ever get use to callin’ out
To the walls of this empty room
Grinnin’ right through the pain
Sinnin’ with no restraint
Deaf now to every voice
Dumb now in every choice
This might be one of those long and lonely nights
I might not ever get over you
I might not ever get use to callin’ out
To the walls of this empty room
All my prayers seem to get to the ceiling and stop
And I can’t seem to get all the bleeding to stop
There’s a hole in my soul just the shape of you
And the hole seems to grow no matter what I do
This might be one of those long and lonely nights
I might not ever get over you
I might not ever get use to callin’ out
To the walls of this empty room
Wes Tillett
Down on the prairie land fields dwells the family that heals my heart
There beneath the flickering dusk gather the gold-hearted ones my heart has loved
My heart has loved
Down by the Tippecanoe, by the old Hanging Grove School they play their songs
With pleasant voices that lift over the campfires and drift to stars through pine
To stars through pine
And I drink their love like water
I sip their love, sip their love like wine
She bears the fair northern lights in the gleam of her eyes—afire
She sets the table and waits, inviting me to her feast to dine a king
To dine a king
And I drink her love like water
I sip her love, sip her love like wine
Down in my soul beats this sound like a swell of the ground—a marching sound
You shoot your cadence of light to lead your radiant stripes of glorious sight
You are a glorious sight
And I drink your love like water
I sip your love, I sip your love like wine
Wes Tillett
I waste away in work that means zero
A hero? No, no, I am no hero.
I putts away in piles of fresh new clothes
Contributing my life to the zero
And every morning I punch the clock
And every evening my soul just rots
A single friend would alter my whole course
A little laugh, a spark, or a discourse
Would pull me up and back into life’s Source
But as it is I just keep giving away to deceit’s force
But I know that life ends someday
And I know that this all ends that day
Then I’ll be free, free to fly away
To worth, to light, to home
To worth, to light, to home
I sense a change already in the air
My heart is lighter, freer, less despair
I know my work is worthless but for love
For everything is gonna fade and die but for love
And I know that life ends someday
And I know that this all ends that day
Then I’ll be free, free to fly away
To worth, to light, to home
To worth, to light, to home
To worth, to light, to home
To worth, to light, to home
Wes Tillett
Somewhere in this deepest forest
There’s a light that’s shining for us
All we have to do is find the way
All of these competing voices
Offering conflicting choices
Bewilder my wanderings each day
Love me to nth degree, Lord
Show me empathy, Lord
Let me know that you still love me
Pull me through these rugged hills, Lord
Let me do your will, Lord
Let me know that you’re still with me
Somewhere there in the twenty-third chapter
I have read of a pleasant, green pasture
Rolling down to the clear, still waterways
But right here in the shadow of the valley
What I need is your presence to rally
Up to overtake all the evil I see
Love me to nth degree, Lord
Show me empathy, Lord
Let me know that you still love me
Pull me through these rugged hills, Lord
Let me do your will, Lord
Let me know that you’re still with me
Wes Tillett
It’s a dream I’ve had since I was ten:
To be a cowboy ridin’ ‘neath the Grand Teton Mountains
Just a boy and his horse and the open range
I would ride Wyoming in the snow and rain
Then I’d stoke the fire and I’d smoke my pipe
A-frame log cabin, three kids, and a lovely housewife
But I didn’t know then it would have to change
‘Cause I didn’t know then what the world would need
There’s a dream that trumps all my earthly dreams
It’s the very dream of God
The dream that one day every tribe and tongue
Will embrace the love of God
Now I ride on the sky to revive Kashmir
Tryin’ to pray, figure out what I’m supposed to do when I get there
Tryin’ to seek His face while I’m on this plane
So I can save my neighbors from the snow and rain
It’s a dream I’ve had since I was ten:
To be a cowboy ridin’ ‘neath the Grand Teton Mountains
And I didn’t know then it would have to change
‘Cause I didn’t know then what the world would need
No, I didn’t know then it would have to change
‘Cause I didn’t know then You would call my name
There’s a dream that trumps all our earthly dreams
It’s the very dream of God
The dream that one day every people of earth
Will embrace the Son of God
Wes Tillett
Gentle as mist are you
Gentle and mystic, you revive my heart and my flesh with just you
With just you
With just you
Loyal as truth are you
Loyal and truthful, you remind my soul of the faith: one with you
I’m one with you
At one with you
I am alive in you
With you I can rise to heights unknown
You’ve made yourself my home
Yourself becomes my home and I have no rest at all but in you
Home is you
Only you
I am alive in you
With you I will fly to heights unknown
Wes Tillett
11:09 and it’s a lonely Wednesday eve
Every wall is awaiting you
Lonely I wait, lonely I talk to you
On this sterile phone in this pale living room
But soon enough you’ll be here with your verdant eyes
To fill the void, fill the void that grows in me these nights
And soon enough we’ll be here not as two but one
To imitate, imitate the One who gives us life
Aprilled Virginia in her many-splendored gown
Dogwoods and lilacs swirling scent and sight
Beautiful month, beautiful life springing up from the ground
Yet shared with you this beauty would multiply
But soon enough you’ll be here with unfailing smile
To amplify, amplify the beauty of my life
And soon enough we’ll be here robed in gratitude
To glorify, glorify the One who gives us life
And soon enough you’ll be here with your verdant eyes
To satisfy, satisfy this blazing lack of you
And soon enough we’ll be here not as two but one
To imitate, imitate the One who makes one of two
Wes Tillett
White light on the Christmas tree
Wide-eyed you declare to me,
“That is the finest tree that I have ever seen.”
Soft light, we are cheek to cheek
Dancin’ to a Christmas theme
You can’t stop smilin’ ‘bout the awkwardness of me
Later that night I lied awake there thinkin’
And listened to the sound of your there sleepin’
It seemed surreal to be with you that night
Up on my knees so I could kiss your forehead
My soul afloat as though I was transported
I offered up this song of thanks to you my God
I sang
Gloria, gloria, gloria, gloria
I bet it hadn’t been a full three seconds
Before we flipped it and we both went head first
We were laughin’ so hard we could hardly get back in the canoe
Paddled hard and went to rescue our sandwiches
Floated down until we hit the sand beaches
I watched the sun dry all the water off of you
Watched a heron fishin’ there in the shallows
Saw a turtle divin’ into the shadows
This whole wide world takes on a sheen when shared with you
Reminisced ‘bout growin’ up in the eighties
Joked around ‘bout what we’d name our babies
A sense of timelessness pervades my times with you
We sang
Gloria, gloria, gloria, gloria
Gloria, gloria, gloria, gloria
Sometimes at night I lie awake there thinkin’
About the fact that I’m alive and breathin’
I just feels surreal to be alive sometimes
And in those moments I will lift my hands up
And with a tightened throat and eyes all welled up
I whisper up my gratitude to you, my God
I sing
Gloria, gloria, gloria, gloria
Wes Tillett
Need a little violence of love
Just a little aggression of love
Not the violence of, not the violence of hate
Not the violence of, not the violence of war
Just a little violence of love
To cut off our arms of greed
To cut off our legs of pride
To cut out our eyes of lies
The violence of love
To kill off our unjust gain
To kill off our selfish ways
To kill off our fear and hate
The violence of love
The violence of love
Need a little grace with our works
Just a little works with our grace
Not the grace which, not the grace which denies
Not the works which, not the works which divide
Just a little Christ-likeness, love
Christ-likeness, love
And you can only do it, can only do it to yourself
One can only do it, can only do it to oneself
Come, my brothers, do it, come on and do it to yourselves
Come, my sisters, do it, come on and do it to yourselves
The violence of love
The violence of love
Christ-likeness, love
The violence of love