Lyrics
All Lyrics and Music written by Nathan White except:
Wolves [pt. 1] - Lyrics, Nathan White; Music, Nathan White, Ryan Benjamin and Matt Runda
The Streets of Nazareth - Lyrics, Nathan White; Music, Nathan White and Johnathan Willis
All Songs Copyrighted by Nathan White
Canticle of the Sun
Divine heralds sing light to flood these streets in the canticle of the sun.
A song written before these streets were ever lain.
Spheres of light come rolling down,
Only the broken can swallow them whole, let that burning turn them around.
Let us kneel here with our faces to the east,
And through that window watch those doves come flying in peace;
Bearing in their beaks sweet pieces of this freshly baptized earth.
And when that morning tide of liquid light comes singing in,
Let me stand a naked child before that Sound once again.
Canticle, canticle of the sun. (4x)
Wolves [pt. 1]
V1. Wolves outside the gates of my heart,
Heat, blood, hunger and thirst.
I set them free to ravage this country,
They left wound and fire in their wake.
Predatory heat. I feel my inside blister.
And I can’t remember how it all came to be.
V2. Good Shepherd, find me lying here.
Fearful, wrecked by my shame.
Here where I cannot remember my name—
Will you call it out?
Will you call it out?
Predatory heat. I feel my inside blister.
And I can’t remember how it all came to be.
Bgvs. Find me here. Find me here…
V3. So I curl up outside my door, I’m
Lost, burning down on the floor, and,
Where have they gone? These companions of fear?
Have they abandoned, abandoned me? I—
Locked the door, threw away the key, now,
I need someone to find me.
Find me here. Find me here.
I Shall Be at Peace
(for my brother in spiritual arms, Vinnie)
V1. Here I stand, my feet in desert sand.
I haven’t reached the Jordan yet,
But I’ve passed through the first waters of death,
An army at my back.
V2. Pillar of light and flame at the helm.
The lords of darkness rage in unseen realms.
Beneath the dust of a passing age, now;
But bathing in the dawn.
The dawn of a new song.
The music marching on…
Chorus. And I, And I—
V3. There is a sorrow reaching to the edges
Of a frayed and tattered heart.
Amidst the reaches of the heart’s far country,
My name has come apart.
But, see him run from afar—
To weave beauty from the scars.
Chorus. And I, And I—I—
Bridge. The waters lap the Jordan shores with sounds of healing.
Still, my ears lose the song—so far from home.
But through the long night comes your voice on wings of angels,
And these tongues of fire will lead me on.
Chorus. And I, And I shall be at peace.
Psalm 73
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon the earth, that I desire besides You.
My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart.
And my portion forever.
Mercy Child
(for Ramona Alicia Gaytan White, I love you Mom)
V1. And I saw my pain in her eyes, though it took some time to finally see it.
And there was shame there too, from battles fought but never won.
There, through the years, one sees the ashes,
Of isolation, loneliness and other lies,
That choke out joy and sight and friendship,
Until vision collapses on itself.
V2. Yes, it is I that stood before me. Into my own eyes I stared.
Her fields of joy bend to the ground beneath winds that bring winter over soils once rich with spring.
So all seems lost for her and for me.
Yet in loss we inhabit the same space.
And this heart that once cast stones at weariness,
Now sees in her, its own face.
Bridge. For there is none so great to cast tablets of stone, not in pity nor righteousness nor hate.
But go and learn mercy, child, go and learn mercy, child! Learn to give what you so eagerly take.
And when you look in her eyes, when you look in my eyes, find that you are not alone.
For we are one in our weakness, and in our need we are lame; and only mercy can carry us home.
Chorus. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Bless-ed are those who mourn, whose hearts are lame.
Bless-ed are the merciful,
For they shall receive more than they gave.
Blessed are the humble who conquer in peace,
For they are the sons born in his Name.
The Streets of Nazareth
V1. Here in the streets of Nazareth tired feet trudge on.
Amidst these weary roads worn with cares and strife.
A man could hope to build his life down here, but his hand keeps feeling forced,
To brandish plowshares into swords and guard what’s rightfully “mine”.
V2. And so the children run the tattered streets in laughter and in play,
While sirens bellow overhead with teeth like fangs.
The bloody sun comes up again, casts red on unsettled seas,
Where Leviathan’s belly aches for the prey.
Chorus. Beneath the skies of Nazareth,
The sun will rise in healing and laughter.
Bridge. Between these seas, on this little hill of earth, Let some light come fallin’ down.
Let it shower hearts of night while all the world is crumbling all around,
And only children stand with brightness in their eyes,
Here in this no name town, Who among us will call the sun,
To lift his head, and break this darkness with his golden dawn?
Chorus. Beneath the skies of Nazareth,
The sun will rise in healing and laughter.
V3. Here in these streets the chaos captures peace, drives it tortured in the ground,
Until pieces, broken pieces are all that remain.
But there I see a brown-haired boy kneel with bloody hands,
To gather broken peace and love it back together again.
A Song for Moses
V1. Oh my child, this is going to hurt more than you know.
And break you on the rocks of the mighty oceans of unrest into which you have come.
Your little heart will be grieved, and it will surely be broken in two.
Chorus. But you are the gift of a Love no enemy can kill.
And Love still goes with all the might and gentleness,
Of an infant into a world under a tyrant’s reign.
In the darkness, I will help you call His Name.
V2. And you my son, you are an arrow piercing fast into the night.
You will pass through seas of hate; through the wicked’s angry land with fiercest joy,
A steady faith, and an open hand; from the fires of Love from which you were made—until you’re made again.
Chorus 2. So come now my little love, and let your face shine bright,
With the joy of your Maker in your eyes,
And when the burden bears so heavy and you fall down on your knees,
I’ll get down on my knees and help you call out His Name.
Bridge. So come now my little love, and let your face shine bright with the joy of your Maker!
Push back the darkness with the Light, with a heart that breaks with cleaner sight each time it wakes.
For the mighty ones have fallen in the wake of the meek.
Scepter of the King
V1. A flaming sword now guards the way from peace and rest and Life and Day.
For I grew wise in my own eyes. Forsook His Word, consumed the lie.
Now alien from God and men, in hate I plot my brother’s end.
Oh who will raise me from this grave, and breathe in me Life once again?
V2. From a blesséd Virgin’s womb, like a bush of fire unconsumed,
Comes the Uncreated Light, descending with the Father’s might.
Now toward the gates of Death and Hell, I see Him go to where I fell.
He bends so low—the earth—it quakes, then on a Tree, I see Him raised.
Chorus. O’ heart, rejoice! Up now, and sing!
Behold the cross, the scepter of our King!
V3Long ago I stood beneath a tree whose fruit became my death.
But now, behold!, death on a Tree—the break of Day and victory!
The Tree of Life has pierced through Death; has pierced through Hell, with Light and Breath.
It is the scepter of the King, by which he slew the Enemy!
Chorus. O’ heart, rejoice! Up now, and sing!
Behold the cross, the scepter of our King! (2x)
Ole’ Jacob’s Song
V1. Heard a story ‘bout a man who wrestled an angel,
And that angel were overcome.
And in the mornin’ that man got himself a new name,
An’ he limped off into the risin’ sun.
Pre-Chorus 1. And sometime the night fall fast, and, sometime it fall heavy, sometime, you know it overcome.
But sure as the sun come a-risin’, you know the man with faith will walk on into a new dawn,
And he’ll bless the night of pain, that gave him a brand new song, and he’ll sang,
Chorus. O’ Lord, ya turned my mournin’ to laughter,
Ya gave me beauty fo ashes, ya took my pain,
And gave me a new name.
And though my strivin’ made me weary in my bones,
Ya taught me fightin’ and believin’ in the Word you gave would surely break and man in two, but make him whole again.
V2. Heard a story ‘bout a people and they was in chains, now,
Lord, you took their chains and ya set-em free.
And though they saw the mighty works of the Lord, um hmm, ya know,
The hands that was in chains made an idol even though they was free!
Pre-Chorus 2. Now Dear Lord the night’s fallin’ fast, and, It’s fallin’ heavy, Lord, we’re overcome by the works of our own hands.
But sure as the sun come a’ risin’, ya know the Man of Faith, will lead us on into a brand new Dawn!
So let us bless the One whose shame gave the world a new song! Now let’s sang,
Chorus 2. O’ Lord, ya turned our mournin’ to laughter, Ya gave us beauty fo ashes, ya took our shame, and Ya gave us a new name.
And though our strivin’ made us weary in our bones,
Ya taught us that the fight was already won,
Lord ya took these weary bones, and made’em Your own, and made us whole again.
V3. Now listen brother listen sister, to what I say now,
You know we wear the same skin, we from the same family.
We gotta learn well from ole’ Jacob’s story, now,
Lord ya got me outta Egypt, but ya gotta keep on gettin’ that Egypt outta me!
Pre-Chorus 3. Now dear Lord the night’s fallin’ fast and, we fallin’ heavy, down right atch yo’ feet. We aint a’ lettin’ go.
And sho’ as the sun come a’ risin’, ya know that yoke of a slave that’s been a weighin’ us down,
Brothers, we gotta cast that thing to the ground,
And broken by our foolish toil, hold fast to Him who overcome the world! Now let’s sang,
Chorus 2. O’ Lord, ya turned our mournin’ to laughter, Ya gave us beauty fo ashes, ya took our shame, and Ya gave us a new name.
And though our strivin’ made us weary in our bones,
Ya taught us that the fight was already won,
Lord ya took these weary bones, and made’em Your own, and made us whole again.
Love's Reach and Fill
[A Paschal Hymn]
Imperfect love, lift fledgling wings.
Lift drooping head and voice to sing.
Set gaze on Christ who suffered loss,
Immense descent, then further down,
Down to the cross. †
And further still, O watch and see.
Into the ground he falls like seed.
O grave you know not whom you meet,
A body took, but face to face,
Tis God you greet. †
This Ardent Love, it will not cease,
To stoop so low that it might reach,
That trembling hand in Hell's dark womb,
That every soul in prison gain,
Life from the tomb. †
Well-pleasing Son, the great abyss,
You entered in, no soul to miss.
That all might hear the glory of,
The wounded God's self-offering,
The Sacred Blood. †
Pay not an ear unto the lie!
Look not to man's approving eye,
Heart look to Christ! And fix your gaze,
Look at his side, his nail-scarred hands,
God knows your name. †
O Sacred Blood, O Love aflame,
Receive me as an offering,
And by your holy fire and zeal,
O Love me Lord, Love me until,
Love has its fill. †
Imperfect love, Love comes to you
To tear you down, then make you new.
That broken hearts might, God, receive,
He makes his Bride the temple of,
The Trinity. †