Psalm/Psong for April 5 – “Ships” by Redbird

The musical collaborative Redbird released a live album in January this year. And this psong is on it. However, it was also on their debut release back in 2004, so maybe I’m cheating. Redbird is Jeffrey Foucault, Kris Delmhorst, and Peter Mulvey. Didn’t I just say that Foucault (and Delmhorst) should be more widely heard? Why yes, I believe I did. In this video, Redbird covers a psong by a songwriter’s songwriter, Greg Brown.

Lyrics to “Ships”:

Mariyln Monroe was so tired,
she was so tired, she was so tired
City girl lost in a field of rye
and see what she has done

Now she’s out on a boat on the ocean
turning around and around
Sail for a dress and her hand on her breast
out on the rolling sea
out on the rolling sea

John Wayne was so sick
he was so thick, he was up a crick
Cowboy lost in a long steel hall
and see what he has done

Now he’s out on a boat on the ocean
turning around and around
Lashed to the mast and free at last
out on the rolling sea
out on the rolling sea

Elvis Presley was so fat
they gave him all that, just to stand pat
Jaguar lost in a living room
and you see what he has done

Now he’s out on a boat on the ocean
turning around and around
The dolphins gather to hear him moan
out on the rolling sea
out on the rolling sea

And will you rock the boat, Mr. Presley?
Will you let us see it, Miss Monroe?
Will you save us, Mr. Wayne, sir?
We come so far to go back alone
We come so far

All the long ships are sailing away
with one little candle to light the way
’til they come to a place where the sun goes down
and they all start turning around
and they all start turning around
they all start turning around

Psalm/Psong for April 4 – “4 & 20 Blues” by Jeffrey Foucault

Jeffrey Foucault has a new album coming out in a few weeks. Late last year, though, he collaborated with the poet Lisa Olstein on a record called “Cold Satellite.” His album before that was a collection of John Prine covers. Like Sexsmith, Foucault should be more widely heard than he is.

I’ve barely scratched the surface of “Cold Satellite,” and I didn’t have time to scour the Internet for videos of psongs from it. So, here’s a juicy psong he wrote a while back, “4 & 20 Blues.” I particularly love the line “I got one taste of the apple/And I wanted the whole damn tree.” The bonus of this video is hearing and watching him sing with his wife Kris Delmhorst, who is one of my favorite singers/songwriters of all time. I’m not just saying that because she and I went to the same college (albeit 10 years apart). Later this year Delmhorst is releasing an album of covers of songs by the band “The Cars.” THAT should be a blast.

Lyrics for “4 & 20 Blues”:

Four and twenty blackbirds sitting on a fence
Four and twenty years and I been trying to make some sense
But it don’t look too good mama
Don’t look too good for me
I was wading in the water but I only got washed out to sea

Four and twenty blackbirds flying through the sky
Four and twenty years and still I’m barely getting by
But it don’t look too good mama
Don’t look too good for me
I was toiling in the fields
But the whirlwind is all I did see

Four and twenty blackbirds crowing up above
Four and twenty years and I been in and out of love
But it don’t look too good mama
Don’t look too good for me
Well my cup runneth over
But it never seems to satisfy me

It’s four and twenty thunder
Four and twenty rain
I just walking on the rails
I just keep grinning at the train
But it don’t look too good mama
Don’t look too good for me
Oh my cup runneth over
But it never seems to satisfy me

Four and twenty blackbirds crowing on a wire
Four and twenty years that I been caught up in desire
But it don’t look too good mama
Don’t look too good for me
I got one taste of the apple
And I wanted the whole damn tree

"I know when I know nothing I will always know your name"

Might as well close out this crazy week with a couple of great love songs by a lovely couple, clearly doing what they were born to be doing. I love that both these songs refer to him as her “midnight ringer.” I love in the first video when the camera pulls back to include both of them and right around 1:40 she starts mouthing the words to what he is singing. Mostly, I just love how they sound together. May we all be so lucky to a) do work that expands our spirits rather than extinguishing them and 2) find another whose voice, in whatever form, blends beautifully with our own.

It’ll be a little slow here in Bloggytown this weekend as various subsets of our families roll in for SweetP’s institution as the 12th rector of this amazing and unique parish.  More news about all that after Sunday.  Remember to learn, laugh, and love, in whatever order works for you, or, if you prefer, all at once.  Peace out, homeslices. I’ll see you around you around you around…