wes tillett

Wes Tillett

So the truth came sweeping from the plain
As a gale unleashing wrath and rain
All because the lot of us were forgettin’ how to blush
So we sit with the lights out and we wait

And sing a song to Adonai
All my love for Adonai

Maybe love must sometimes cause a fright
Maybe love must devastate the pride
Here love’s violence shows love’s truly kindly soul
In His love God suspends love tonight

Sing a song for Adonai
All my love to Adonai
Every shame, every lie, the injustice and the pride—
Hate it all for Adonai

All my love for Adonai
I am a song for Adonai

Wes Tillett’s debut album. 2005. Listen to the songs here. Just click on the name of the song below and you will download the song in mp3 format. Wes’s pick? Song 11–”Think Beyond”

1. life to life
2. be not martha
3. first grey streaks
4. gettin older
5. come what may
6. justice
7. grateful
8. where i’m at
9. flinchless
10. materialism
11. think beyond

If you would like to order “Think Beyond”, here’s how to do it.
Buy one via PayPal: westillett at yahoo dot com. I’ll email you and get your shipping info. Or:
One, email me at westillett at yahoo dot com, or call me and leave a message @ 765.742.6544, or write me at 713 North Street, Lafayette, IN 47901.
Two, tell me how many cd’s you want.
Three, tell me what your mailing address is.
With that information I can then send you a cd with an “invoice.” I suggest a $12 donation for each cd ($10 for the cd, $2 shipping/handling), but it’s entirely up to you to decide whether or not you want (or are able) to financially support my music. I simply don’t want financial restraints to be the reason you are not able to have this cd. With that in mind, if you could care less about the artwork and just want the music, you can download the whole album here for free, burn it to disc, and have yourself a cd immediately.

Life To Life
Wes Tillett (Colossians 1:15-20)

The red is more fully red in you
The blue is more truly blue
Something lies there, innate in every hue
Christ-less eyes can never construe ….there

The summer night is more prone to fit in you
The morning light is more truly new
The little stream is more like a stream in you
The dew is more like the dew

Lord Jesus, You bring my life to life
Your word is my constant light
All meaning, all beauty wing to flight
In you, Lord, my source of life

The gentle turning of wiser lips than mine
The smattered warnings of broken lives
The written pages of wiser men than I
The steady nudging of God inside

I’m in the forest in late October
The harvest scent in my breath
The forest floor is a billion colors
The leaves dance down to their rest
And I run–arms outstretched
And I shout–heart unfurled
For my life is now free
Oh, my life is now full

Your presence brings life to life

mark mckowen—drums, piano
bryan russel—bass, strings
malachi jaggers—guitars
scott greeson—harmony vocals
wes tillett—vocals, piano, percussion

Be Not Martha
Wes Tillett (Luke 10:38-42)

Don’t let me be Martha
Don’t let me forget
To enjoy your presence, Jesus
At your feet to sit
Don’t let me be so busy with
Livin’ my life
I neglect to come to you to
Take my showers of light

Jesus says, “Only one thing is needful and it will not be taken away.
But you are so worried, busy, and upset about all these secondary things.
Better by far to sit at my feet to seek and soak and listen in awe
Than to run blindly with your agenda with which you shut me out of your heart.”

Don’t let me be Martha
Distracted and peeved
Don’t let me think I’m superior
With my self-righteous deeds
Don’t let me look down my big ol’
Self-righteous nose
At all of those siblings of mine
Who take a different approach

He must become greater and I, I must become less

malachi jaggers—guitars, drums, harmony vocals, percussion
eric weiss–bass
wes tillett—vocals, background vocals

First Grey Streaks
Wes Tillett (Malachi 4:2)

Stuck within this maze
Pushin’ through without a concrete clue where to turn
I’m gettin’ red in the face
Slightly embarrassed still I swear it’s just sunburn, sunburn
And the clouds pass over the night
And the moon doesn’t yield enough light

I tell my soul to wait
This restlessness has got the best of me
I’m yearnin’ for the daylight
But songbirds have yet to stir a wing, a wing
And it’s humbling standing still
And the maze has conquered my will

Waiting for the sun of righteousness
In the dark it’s hard to sing
My hope is in the first grey streaks of dawn
And the healing within its wings

My eyes are on the horizon
My Savior raising a blazing sword of light.
Reality is arisin’
I stop straining and claim my Master’s kind of light
And the birds begin their melodies
And I exhale a sigh of belief

This maze is still my place
I’m no longer groping for lights to turn
True light speckles my face
My Lord is now both my bow and stern, bow and stern
And the dawn is building brighter
And the night isn’t much of a fighter

Waiting for the sun of righteousness
The darkness starts to flee
My hope has caught the first grey streaks of dawn
And is healed by His wings

malachi jaggers—mandolin, guitars, percussion, background vocals
mark mckowen—drums
wes tillett-vocals, djembe

Gettin Older
Wes Tillett (Ecclesiastes 9:1-3)

Arizona on the road alone
The miles tick off—pendulum, metronome
You speed me up and then you slow me down

The wind has withered to a breathless hiss
The sun has blistered me to sightlessness
You lift me up and then you let me down

Am I really getting older?
Am I really getting older?
Am I really getting older now?
You build me up and then you tear me down

The road leads on into the endless road
The destinations are the known unknowns
You fill me up and then you drain me down

I came this way because you led me out
Shriveled, I evaporate in doubt
You stoke me up and then you dumb me down

Yet there’s a light…

eric weiss—bass
mark mckowen—drums
malachi jaggers—percussion
wes tillett—vocals, guitars, piano

Come What May
Wes Tillett (Ephesians 5:25-28)

Come what may, you remain
Come what may, you will stay
My life, my love, my sole soul-mate
My life will end before this breaks

Turn your gaze to this face
Turn your gaze, see no trace
Of a love that builds, then peaks, then wanes
My love for you will build, by grace

I have you to hold onto

Let no fear enter in you
Let no fear stop or bend you
For we are not the makers of
This love–this love is of above

Come what may we remain
Come what may we will stay

brienne hooker-vocals
mark mckowen—drums, spoons
wes tillett—guitars, piano, percussion, background vocals

Justice
Wes Tillett (Proverbs 24:11-12)

Hey, I think it’s time that you were awakened
I think it’s time that you were awakened

I said, Hey! You there sleepin’ up there in your dream house on the hill
Do you hear the cries of the desperate poor resounding still? Resounding still.
I said, Hey! You there loungin’ in suburbia in luxury
Have you ever thought of those without enough to eat? Without enough to eat.
I said, Hey! There ain’t many spots on earth like this ol’ USA
Where we can have our fill and throw whatever’s left away
We throw the rest away. Hey, hey, hey, hey.

I wanted to let you know that America is not the norm of the world
I wanted to let you know that there’s blood on you gold and there’s mud on your pearls.
I wanted to let you know that the world as you know it is not the world as it is.
I wanted to let you know that the Christ is returning and He’s bringing justice.

Hey! You who go to church on Sunday so you’ll feel ok
Do you care about the millions dyin’ now of AIDS? Dyin now of AIDS.
I said AIDS. In Africa alone six thousand die each day
Forty million AIDS orphans in the next decade. In the next decade…that’s AIDS
You who say that we should love our neighbors as ourselves,
Don’t you see the interconnectedness of this world’s wealth? I said of this earth’s wealth,
I said, Hey! Don’t you see that what you spend to buy your next TV
Could be given instead to feed a child for the next 10 weeks. I said at least 10 weeks, I said…

Will you hear about the car bombs in Kashmir?
(Comfort is what you are seeking)
Will you hear about the Afghani women’s tears?
(In the abundance of your things)
Will you shut your eyes to all the dead of Sudan’s crusade?
(But really this comfort is your death)
Or the 29,000 hungry children who die each day?
(For you sever yourself from the Life-breath)
Will you come to care about the plight of Myanmar?
Or will you spend your life instead pursuin’ your dream car?

You tell me, “Hey.”
“You’re fogettin’ all about God’s grace.”
“You know we gotta live by grace.”
Brother, I am with you that we all must live by grace
Take it from this sinner: I’ve got no hope but God’s grace
No hope but grace.
But, listen, hey. God has given us His grace so we can live
Lives of sacrificial service, not indulgence
Live lives of love not indulgence.
Live lives of love not indulgence.

malachi jaggers—guitars, drums, percussion
eric weiss—bass
wes tillett—vocals, claps

Grateful
Wes Tillett (Psalm 118:1)

Evening has settled in
And you have sent a complimentary blanket of fog to dim the light
I drive thoughtfully beneath
The steady passing of the brief and artificial glow of street lamplight

Fresh goodbyes are lingering
Pleasantly soft, leaving a bitter/grateful taste on my soul’s tongue
I don’t deserve your love any more than the birds deserve to fly
And sing their songs to you, to summon up the morning glory

Grateful are my thoughts to you
Grateful is the thought of you

Happy is my communion
Tranquil is my union as you weave blessings in and through the catacombs of me
And my thoughts turn to my family
I’m wounded by sincerity and overcome with thanks at my undeserved prosperity

I don’t deserve your love any more than the birds deserve to fly

The moon has woken up
And I quietly refill my cup and drink again a toast to your bright love
I want to be a connoisseur
To swirl around the white flavor, savoring the grace that I am beginning to sip on now

malachi jaggers—drums, piano, percussion, harmony vocals
eric weiss—bass
wes tillett—vocals, guitar