1. |
Chattanooga
04:25
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I really wish that I would’ve
Gone to the park with my guitar
To sing a song of freedom
And wounds becoming scars,
but I
Let laziness get to me
Lacked intentionality
And slept
In a ratty dive bar
I drink a couple of beers with my buddy
We speak of sorrow,
Social anxieties, and the like
There’s something special here
We know that the Savior’s near
And we walk
Now in Chattanooga
In this dark hotel room
Dwelling on fear and doubt
and suicide
But I don’t know why
Sing the doxology
Softly and quietly
And cry
Oh Lord, I’m feeling weak
And it’s gonna get worse,
But I hear You speak,
“It’s all worth living for”
“It’s all worth living for”
Oh Lord, I’m feeling weak
And it’s gonna get worse,
But I hear You
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2. |
I Hear You
01:38
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3. |
Are You Okay?
05:03
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Are you okay?
It’s not like you to not pick up
I’ll call your mom
Try to find you at work
Fighting morbid imminence
I need you safe
I can’t pretend to be so tough
Soon we’ll be deeply in need
To discover innocence
Nantahala
Went rafting with the teens
Hyper focused
To get us safe downstream
Soon enough
Brother, you’ll see what I mean
Fall has come
And our willful ignorance must be swallowed up by urgency
You are okay
You’re not dead, can’t say the same
For your phone
Or even our friend
Rising early to mow lawns
Come Saturday
You’ll feel ashamed of your new job
Someone’s son drowns in his thoughts
But we must row on
Jacksonville bound
I couldn’t help but cry
Every desolate stretch of 75
You sent a song to me
Sang of how we would die
“Young birds flying”
I walked these Florida streets, watched for God to come and break the sky
Everything around is shaking
Spinning all around
Will the Earth realign?
I’ve never felt a breeze more sacred
Stretch my spine across this concrete
Pleading for life
Wake us up
Good God, wake us up
(Won’t You wake us?)
Wake us up
Good God, wake us up
(Won’t You wake us?)
Take us up
Good God, take us up
I’ll remember Perry, Georgia
But not for the annual fair
For the tears we shared
in the parking lot
of that Sonny's BBQ
And how I wanted to
be anywhere but there
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4. |
Minute Break
02:05
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Sit back and meditate
Like a line cook on a minute break
Extending the life of a cigarette
Meditate
Lie down and meditate
Like a cool cat on a winter day
Beneath a sunlit window pane
Meditate
There’s so much
To consider now
Mercy and kindness
Seek and you’ll find this
You’ll be alright, kid
Put on the mind, kid
You’ll grow in time, kid
Just breathe
Sit back and meditate
Like a line cook on a minute break
Extending the life of a cigarette
Meditate
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5. |
West Lawrenceville
03:57
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In the light
You’ll find me there
Out back
By the trash, unaware
Of the eyes
In my direction
Questioning the countenance
Of affliction
Put the phone
Up to your ear
And let me hear
My very tears
These melodies
Accompany me
Quiet now
On the bathroom floor
Breakfast in motion,
Laughter, commotion
Outside the door
Psalms in my palms
Feeling the weight
Of it all
Thinking of faith,
And fate,
And fatal flaws
Don’t put the gun
Up to your head
Fight the Good Fight instead
These melodies are whispering lies
Let’s sing of home
Let’s make a fuss
Of Light and Life, Belief and Trust
These melodies accompany us
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6. |
Little Sparrow
02:22
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Sing your heart out
Little Sparrow
In the morning light
In the meadow
When the moon don’t shine
When it’s pouring down
Sing your heart out
Little fellow
Little fellow
Little fellow
Sing your heart out
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7. |
Young Birds
06:02
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I'm looking at the trees now.
How they move and how they sway.
I can hear a gentle whisper,
as if they were trying to say,
"We feel the wind beneath our branches.
We dance beneath the moonlight's glow.
We do not know where it comes from,
or where it wants to go."
I'm just a young man
sitting on the roof.
They say all is random,
but I don't see the proof.
Marveling at the vast blue sky,
silhouettes of birds above.
Another day, another seed
for every sparrow and every dove
Singing, "We're just some young birds
flying through the sky.
Today is a good day, even if we die."
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8. |
Decatur
04:01
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i wake up
at witching hour
from a nightmare
a fear encounter
my hope devoured
family fleeing
shifting ravine
the last to leap
the first to feel
nothing below my feet
i shake it off
off to decatur
say dad i love you
i'll see you later
i hope I'll see you later
i meet a man
with skilled hands
but there's a darkness
that heavily hangs
in the air it heavily hangs
i work hard
until the morning
water and coffee
my life supporting
then i find myself mourning again
mourning again
mourning again
again
and again
i think of mom
saying there is a reason
for every painful
and joyful season
there is a reason
but right now
i can't believe her
Am I a John?
Am I a Peter?
Or tragic creature?
now this truck
is shifting gears
while my mind
is sifting fears
like a full time job
but this drive
is a slice of heaven
when i just listen
to the wind
rushing the cabin
and in my heart
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9. |
Ruach
02:31
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Ruach Ha Kodesh
Ruach Elohim
Ruach Ha Kodesh
Ruach Elohim
driving towards the light
and I'm feeling like
any moment now
there won’t be no more nightmares
the sound of 85
and a summer sky
all i know right now is
i don't have to be scared
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10. |
Did Ya?
04:25
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it's a massive cliche
to reminisce
on the good ol days
but we're gonna do it
anyway
sometimes is feels poetic
sometimes it feels prosthetic
regardless we hear
the same refrain,
"this is not the way
that you thought
it would turn out
did ya?"
i met my first best friend
on the bus
in the first grade
we talked dragon ball z
and tony hawk games
we vandalized our neighbor's house
we called him don, he was a grouch
in retrospect, i hope he was okay
"this is not the way
that you thought
it would turn out
did ya?"
this is not that complicated
kids will be kids
and when grown ups get to fighting
there is a shift
and the heart sees it right to harden
and reject the gift
yet when overwhelmed by forgiveness
the words hit different
"this is not the way
that you thought
it would turn out
did ya?"
you didn't think that it would turn out this way
you didn't think that it would turn out this way
you didn't think that it would turn out this way
you didn't think that it would turn out this way
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11. |
South Atlanta
01:49
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We’ve been up for 30 hours
We haven’t taken showers
All in the name of hustle
Praise the grind
Praise the struggle
Will these bones ever break?
Will these bones ever truly break?
Hands aching in the silence
Thinking of the violence
In the mouths of the hopeless
We need peace, we need wholeness
Will these tongues ever praise?
Will these tongues ever truly praise?
I wish that I could pray
Pray in this ice-cold parking lot
And I wish that I could fly away
Far, far away from this chaos
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12. |
For Words
02:37
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I wish that I could pray
Pray in this ice-cold parking lot
And I wish that I could fly away
Far, far away from this chaos
Far, far away from this chaos
Far, far away from
I wish that I could pray
Pray in this ice-cold parking lot
And I wish that I could fly away
Far, far away from this chaos
Far, far away from this chaos
Far, far away from
(Please stay)
(Please stay)
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13. |
Lamb's Ears
04:39
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"So soft," he reflected, holding the leaf to his face. It was Saturday. He had mowed the lawn for his grandparents.
And he knelt by the Lamb.
The fur-like hairs pressed into his cheek.
Felt the familiarity.
Felt the longing ache.
The Lamb's Ear plants lay hugged against the front of the house. Underneath the window. To the right of the black-eyed Susies. Next to the walkway that leads to the front door.
Soft, supple, a pale green; full and growing.
"My wife loves those. They surround one of our oak trees.
They always grow back, you can't kill them."
You can't kill them.
(Death be not proud, you cannot kill them)
You can't kill the Lamb.
My grandparents were the last to see him. I was told that before he left he bent down and felt the softness of the plant, held it to his face, commented on the fur-like leaves.
Green Oak's spring plants had just been delivered. Every row was green and blooming with life. I asked if they had Lamb's Ears. A lady with white hair and smiling blue eyes led me to them.
"Oh, it's cold. I need to get home to cover my own garden," she commented, weaving in and out of the nursery aisles.
I picked out two, one for my grandma, one for my mom. A golden hue draped over the foliage from the 6 o'clock sun. I set them on the counter, money in hand.
(Death be not proud, you cannot kill them)
"My wife loves those Lamb's Ears. We have them surrounding an oak tree. They always come back, you can't kill them," remarked a neighboring customer.
Soft to touch
You can't kill them
Green and blooming
You can't kill them
Even if you tried
Even if you wanted
Memories
You can't kill them
Only sleeping
You can't kill them
Victory over death
You can't kill them
Victory over death
You can't kill Him
Death be not proud
You can't kill Him
the Lamb died
Resurrected
Brought back to life
You can't kill Him
You can't kill them
Assurance solidified
Death for death
Life for life
And that Lamb died
Once and final
Once, for all.
You can't kill Him
You can't kill Him
You can't kill them.
(Death be not proud, you cannot kill them)
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14. |
Oakland
03:29
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Can we find a place to stand and be warm?
Expose our hearts beneath the winter sun
Reveal what we should and shouldn’t adore
And in the process, become one
It's a remedy to be
with you presently
looking for the shine of eternal gold
Though the grave
is deafeningly loud
there's another sound
shaking up the earth
and the waves abound
Can we step out in the rain and be washed?
Soak in mercy in a time of loss
It's hard to know when we will go to join the slabs and stones
But like a seed, we'll sprout and grow
It's a remedy to be
with you presently
looking for the shine of eternal gold
Though the grave
is deafeningly loud
there's another sound
shaking up the earth
and the waves abound
Can we find a place to stand?
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15. |
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I could lay here for several hours
and feel the weight of absolutely everything
I could call myself names upon names
exist like this all my days
What will change?
What will change?
I could question if i can trust you
or what it really means to desecrate
I could convince myself
that you don't love me
and I'll forever be a waste of space
What will change?
What will change?
I don't need a breakthrough
or a fuzzy feeling
I don't need a word
my ears would find appealing
give me a shower and a meal
give me a hand to hold to heal
sing me a song, tell me a joke
these are the things i need the most
the things i need the most
give me a shower and a meal
give me a hand to hold to heal
tell me I'm wrong, tell me the truth
these are the things I need from you
the things I need from you
Heal us, Emmanuel
Heal us, Emmanuel
Heal us, Emmanuel
Heal us, Emmanuel
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allen odell Atlanta, Georgia
"Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing"
Allen Odell's music aims to evoke that very description
through the combinations of lyrics, melodies, and rhythms that range from down-tempo, droney, and introspective to bright, quirky, and self-deprecating.
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