Stay, Dear Lord (Junkmail Rosaries)

Collaboration on lyrics with Rose Vinh. Junkmail Rosaries version. Me on vox and guitar, Maggie Garza vox.

CHORUS
Stay, dear Lord, please stay
with those who wake or weep.
Stay, dear angel, stay,
And watch us while we sleep.


Tend your sick ones,
Rest your weary ones,
For your love’s sake.
For your love’s sake.

Bless your dying ones
Soothe your suffering ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

CHORUS


Shield your joyous ones
Fill your hungry ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

Shelter your humble ones
Strengthen your peaceful ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

CHORUS

***

To hear an earlier, bottleneck slide guitar version, click here.

Kyrie (Junkmail Rosaries)

Mr. Mister 1985. Arranged by the Junkmail Rosaries: Chris Baker, vox & gutbox git; Maggie Garza, harmony vox.

Sing Of Mary, Pure And Lowly (Junkmail Rosaries)

Sing of Mary, pure and lowly,
Virgin mother undefiled,
Sing of God's own Son most holy,
Who became her little child.
Fairest child of fairest mother,
God the Lord who came to earth,
Word made flesh, our very brother,
Takes our nature by his birth.

Sing of Jesus, son of Mary,
In the home at Nazareth.
Toil and labour cannot weary
Love enduring unto death.
Constant was the love he gave her,
Though he went forth from her side,
Forth to preach, and heal, and suffer,
Till on Calvary he died.

Glory be to God the Father;
Glory be to God the Son;
Glory be to God the Spirit;
Glory to the Three in One.
From the heart of blessed Mary,
From all saints the song ascends,
And the Church the strain reechoes
Unto earth's remotest ends.


***

Traditional Marian hymn arranged by The Junkmail Rosaries. Chris Baker on vox, guitar, and thumb shaker; Maggie Garza on vox.

Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of the BVM.

For the Feast of the Nativity of Our Blessed Virgin Mary

Hail Mary, Hail Mary
There’s never been a woman so blessed
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Hail Mary
More blessed than all the rest
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Hail Mary
You carried the world’s greatest prize
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Hail Mary
Your womb held our Lord Jesus Christ
Hail Mary, Hail Mary


Hail Mary, Hail Mary
We sinners now need you to pray
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

Hail Mary, Hail Mary
And pray on our dying day
Hail Mary, Hail Mary

***

Junkmail Rosaries. Me singing and playing bottleneck acoustic archtop guitar, and Maggie singing and playing pandeiro.

Introducing The Junkmail Rosaries: Prayin'

prayin’
always prayin’
I’m down on my knees
looking up at Calvary
I’m prayin’

prayin’
always prayin’
there’s joy in my soul
only he can make me whole
I’m prayin’

there’ll be days I may fall
there’s no need to fear at all
there’ll be nights when I’m weak
I’ll keep prayin’ incessantly

prayin’
always prayin’
even in the darkest night
I know that there’ll be light
I’m prayin’

***

The Junkmail Rosaries are me on vox and guitars and Maggie Garza on vox and percussion. This song is a reworking of Waitin'.
Call it our first single.

Pixels & Millimeters

We'll need take a little break
And hear about lite beer
The referee will take a look
At what has happened here.

When we return from
A word from our sponsors,
Instant replay will slowly replay
Detailed answers.

CHORUS
The red flag has been dropped.
The balance of the game teeters.
It's no longer fourth and inches.
It's pixels and millimeters.

If the play doesn't get over-ruled
The home crowd will stand and roar.
But until that final word comes back,
Let's play it again once more.

Remember those leather helmets?
We're so much more sophisticated.
We'd hoped the future would clear things up.
Instead, it's pixilatated.

CHORUS

We hold our collective breath
And hold each others' hands
Hands on his hips, the referee says --
The ruling on the field stands.

CHORUS

***

Just found this one hiding in my SoundClick account. One of my first uke songs, and I'm pretty sure I wrote this during a Super Bowl three or four years ago.

Jesu, Dulcis Memoria

Jesus to cast one thought upon
Makes gladness after He is gone,
But more than honey and honeycomb
Is to come near and take Him home.

No music so can touch the ear,
No news is heard of such sweet cheer,
Thought half so dear there is not one
As Jesus God the Father's Son.

Jesus, their hope who go astray,
So kind to those who ask the way,
So good to those who look for Thee,
To those who find what must Thou be?

To speak of that no tongue will do
Nor letters suit to spell it true:
But they can guess who have tasted of
What Jesus is and what is love.

Be our delight, O Jesus, now
As by and by our prize art Thou,
And grant our glorying may be
World without end alone in Thee.

***

My original arrangement of a Gregorian chant hymn. Lyrics are public domain.

Stay, Dear Lord, Please Stay

CHORUS
Stay, dear Lord, please stay
with those who wake or weep.
Stay, dear angel, stay,
And watch us while we sleep.


Tend your sick ones,
Rest your weary ones,
For your love’s sake.
For your love’s sake.

Bless your dying ones
Soothe your suffering ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

CHORUS

Shield your joyous ones
Fill your hungry ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

Shelter your humble ones
Strengthen your peaceful ones
For your love’s sake
For your love’s sake

CHORUS

***

Collaboration on the lyrics with Rose Vinh!

N.B., Soundclick is reviewing my account as per their "1-user, 1-account" policy. I may get some demos consolidated into one account, but I may not. Feel free to download anything you like.

Noonday Demon

Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil. Pslam 90:6 (Douay-Rheims)

Noonday Demon

Middle of the day
Hottest part of the year
My noonday demon whispers in my ear
My noonday demon whispers in my ear

He shows me the road
And how it stretches out
Whatcha gonna do when the world comes down
Whatcha gonna do when the world comes down

My thoughts zip past
Like bullets flying round
My noonday demon digs a hole in the ground
My noonday demon digs a hole in the ground

Run you can’t run
From your hole in the ground
Whatcha gonna do when the world comes down
Whatcha gonna do when the world comes down

*

A bunch of John Lee Hooker with a bit of Skip James at the end of this one. The song is built around one chord, A for acedia.

America the Beautiful

Commeration plaque atop Pikes Peak

I have an unusual connection to this song. The lyrics come from Katherine Lee Bates' poem, Pikes Peak. The mountain, Pikes Peak, was discovered by Zebulon Pike. My paternal grandmother's maiden name was Pike, and she was related to Zebulon.

Tell Me What I Want To Hear

How do you think I’ll feel
When it falls apart
My face is full of light
But soon it’ll be dark
So tell me right now
What I want to hear
Tell me right now
What I want to hear

Time takes its time
And I don’t mind
I just wish I knew
How much time
I had left with you

How do you think I’ll see
When the light goes out
My eyes are filled with stars
Soon there’ll be doubt
So tell me right now ...


How do you think I’ll be
When I pass this place
My heart is full of hope
Soon it’ll be erased
So tell me right now ...


How do you think I’ll hear
When I’ve heard enough
What good is a song
If it can’t save love
So tell me right now ...

7.2.10

*

I wrote and recorded this around 2am this morning and did the mix this afternoon.