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Our Desert Ways

by The Olive Tree

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1.
Come join me out on the porch Read me a psalm or two I got the chords, if you got words, baby we can sing I know the stakes I’ve read what that paper brings But still if we don’t move I swear I’m gonna go insane I’m going back through those tall woods Past that old house I’m gonna lay it all back down And wade in deep You know I’m looking to drown You can bring on that new heart Those new hands That mind free from debt Let that river roll Let that river roll Way on to the end These hinges coming off Paint chipping from the walls I called a friend of mine, he’s gonna give it an overhaul This ain’t no place for pride No ancient dead beat road I saw it once or twice, I’m gonna leave all the maps at home Come down to threshing floor We are beggars, yes it’s true Nothing shielded, Nothing stored Till its passing through
2.
I was 18 years old Driving midnight all alone A teenage valley of dry bones You breathed on me You breathed on me My mouth filled with laughter I became like those who dream Dove and starlight together Oh, how you wooed me Oh, how you wooed me Milk for infants, meat for men Honey dripping down my chin I grew strong as I tasted And now I’m wanting I am wanting A larger portion -- In early evening you forget You are an eternal project The sculptor’s block—not finished yet I know you’ve got weak knees You’ve got weak knees Ask for more and you’ll receive Daily repent and believe Eat and drink and be merry Truly, truly Truly, truly Fountain rush and flow again Remove whatever is stopping it Lose your life in the current He is holding He is holding A larger portion -- The invitation is on my desk The wedding banquet of the Lamb Babe, grab your heels and that white dress Let’s get ready Let’s get ready We’ve got our whole life to prepare Light the lamp and comb your hair All that rises converges there My Beloved My Beloved Where I end and you begin Further up, and further in Let your heart be lovesick with The desire for The desire for A larger portion
3.
Laid all the pages out And there put his name down Mailed off his hopes and his safety net The last of the applicants The face of a good man spent Sold off his Harley for a few months rent He said, “that’s the last one babe, Here’s to hopin the bow don’t break” Gave her long kiss and went on to bed Caught with a clouded mind and a chip stack fading fast Taking on water, and out of range Looking ore the heights with the Spirit in your chest You got room to breath and a torch to raise Call it a saint’s last stand The grit of three piece band Turned up the amps till the bar flies sung Then one particularly dreary day He and his girl well they stole away Got out of Jersey before the wars begun
4.
It was just before the dark began to roll He drove out of town to pay the toll It’s easier to bear burden when you know just what’s coming round the turn In his mind the lines upon her face And faded photographs of give and take Sitting by the fire trying to figure which to keep and which to burn Late night talking tables for two Leaves a’swirling afternoons The light there in the lantern, the pleasure of a gentle word With a headlight busted out Sunday night roaming round Searching for where the trails from your dreams begin Brother come home You aint alone Knocked down when the winds came in Polished up my talk there at the meet and greet The holding patterns on my hands and feet I stole your gold and pawned it off for my new love, this religious sophistication I took a saw and cut two roads and not one in between Called one the socialist boulevard, called the other one heart street And on their own I traveled both, but I forgot your name and your words there at the intersections With a headlight busted out Sunday night roaming round Searching for where the trails from your dreams begin Sister come home You aint alone Knocked down when the winds came in There’s a question tantalizing every bleeding heart alike It asks, “How much can I see it now?” Some will wait an evening, some a whole lifetime till they can point it out You make a guess on what’s to blame for what gets served Take a risk or two just to keep your nerve Put a prayer up top to clean the slate, the car back on the interstate, and your back to work. Is it written in the swirls of wind and rain? Is it locked within the human soul the same? Can you get down at the base of it, take on what we’ve made of it, and recreate? Driving one headlight Dead on a Sunday night Searching where the trails from your dreams begin Brother come home You aint alone Knocked down when the winds came in Sister come home You aint alone Knocked down when the winds cam in
5.
Took a little trip, took a little time Walked along the moorland road Past a sheep fold, through the old wood I hummed a folk tune soft and slow Where the path met the fallen stone wall, I felt the memory in the plotted ground Nature’s bonfire burns on Its mortal beauty dwells deep down Deep down Took a little trip, took a little time Walked under the Quickbeam sun Where the river dances, the trees clap hands A trout rises and the ripples run Couple-coloured skies dazzle in the air They grow the green from a heavy cloud When the light broke it struck a hillside I saw it and I laughed out loud Out loud The heavens and the earth surround You hear your footfall on the holy ground It unfolds slow, the fire-flash grows Imparts what my heart should know Somehow Took a little trip, took a little time Walked along the moorland road In the fresh mud, on the gritstone There’s a story being told Flesh is like grass, and grass is like flesh Underneath there’s a steady groan Beauty is not spent—Oh praise Him! All ye creatures here below The heavens and the earth surround You hear your footfall on the holy ground It unfolds slow, the fire-flash grows Imparts what my heart should know Somehow
6.
Texarkana 03:54
Back in the burnt grass, want to make the scene last, so a few can disappear I got too far inside my head, found I was the only one there Honey aint it tough to dish out any love when you’re busted up deep inside So outside Texarkana I switched out my banner for one that said ‘Do or Die’ By which one did you begin Which voice do you recognize Smoke by day, and fire by night Keep running till caught alive Often it’s a sad line, it can set the day right, make you up a somber home The reasons to hurt are a million and one, and you sure can’t leave them alone I was crawling around, under the ground, afraid I would leave the dark ignored But outside Texarkana I came to understand that the light can weigh so much more
7.
In her heart are the highways to Zion In her heart are the highways to Zion The paths run straight and she is the wide-eyed pilgrim In her heart are the highways to Zion I want to walk on them With bare feet so I can feel the sand I’m gonna take my time Smelling the flowers and watching the skies In her heart are the highways to Zion In her heart are the treasures of wisdom In her heart are the treasures of wisdom They reflect bright colors when the sunlight hits them In her heart are the treasures of wisdom I want to search through them For silver and gold, and for sapphire gems The unknown caves explore Dive for her pearls down on the ocean floor In her heart are the treasures of wisdom In her heart dwells the Spirit of freedom In her heart dwells the Spirit of freedom And they do a dance of mirth and holy union In her heart dwells the Spirit of freedom I want to enter in Join hands as the music begins Step back and watch them go Delight in the mystery and warm from the glow In her heart dwells the Spirit of freedom In her heart are the treasures of wisdom In her heart are the highways to Zion.
8.
Lisa 05:58
She raised four kids, the ebb and flow she saw Called them all a kiss from God, and loved their flaws It was nothing like a draw, two doves and two outlaws One still at home Well she sang out loud and drank her coffee strong Worked pain into her hands and hours long Married 18 years young, 37 came undone A love on loan She took route 1 in the middle of the night Got a call a stranger said something wasn’t right Her son was nowhere to be found Then there were needles on the ground She helped him home She said, there aint no hole that aint got its own way out He was 65 with a cane beside his knee Save the dog, had not much company But a couple old guitars One ancient rusted car They all had names He was losing hearing quick form his left side Still he could recognize more than most combined He’d say not every voice has sound Trade it up and traded down He heard it all And he heard, there aint no hole that aint got its own way out The altar stone The burning stack Led away To be led back You look around The many tracks In the passage way There aint no hole that aint got its own way out Well today cut Galilee up straight in two I was swearing up storm bout who I knew the rain it came down like a wall I ran past the rooster’s call and heard the door And someone told me, there aint no hole that aint got its own way out
9.
Hold a couple years then, say a prayer and let them go See the almond branch swept, over the ocean low Your resurrection eyes now, turning it all upside down Half a mind to run and, half to turn around We were like lightning burning, on a plain that no one sees, Faded faster than it started, along with all its the heat An answer for your yearning, forever there will be These chains like a robe of love A glance from the Father’s face Bring down what is held above Through all our desert ways Started over every morning, bring down the water from the shelf Pulled off all that honor, yeah and put it on someone else Her heart could catch you from a distance, through the gale sent back your own Not a single word was wasted, put them all inside a song If nothings like you left it, well, no it never runs too far The mercy we are after, it finds you in the dark On either side of every door, hailed it with a steel guitar
10.
If it sounds just the same, well I’d probably like it With three chords dropping hard and a broken heart on the page Get me out of this game, put me somewhere in Dallas Where the sun never sets and the smile you can bet’s gonna stay It’s a sure-fire risk, handing over the keys To your padlocked heart when your eyes from the start are blind So wipe off your eyes and Take in the light again Where well never dries, no the flow never thins No matter the miles, no matter the land Sometimes you kneel and sometimes you stand I spent a hundred years wandering out through the nightland When there was no more to waste turned it round and made haste for the day With the wind did he ride on this old thoroughbred The sky gave a crack and he swung off its back and he said So wipe off your eyes and Take in the light again Where well never dries, no the flow never thins No matter the miles, no matter the land Sometimes you kneel and sometimes you stand Throw me back in the fire, there’s so much left to refine here And don’t take me out till I’m clean, simple, and true Like an old country song that I wish I had written Just three chords dropping hard in your heart and speaking the truth So tell me that story in the morning and evening The Gospel aint information, the Gospel is food

about

The title, "Our Desert Ways", comes from a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, whom we have gleaned from through and prior to the making of this record. This record is about life this side of the resurrection. It is about revelation, romance, beauty, idols, motorcycles, feasts, famine, highways, friends, sin, pride, redemption, steel guitars, work, lack of work, water, faith, doubt, and faith - all found in the desert with a whole lot more, all found along the road to the other side. These are the songs we sang driving down it last year...

credits

released July 24, 2012

All songs written, recorded, and produced by Ben & Scott Cunningham
Guest Musicians...
Miller Cunningham: vocals, "Highways to Zion"
Marissa Hunt: vocals, "A Larger Portion", "Lisa"

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The Olive Tree

Meet the collaborative songwriting effort of two brothers. Currently based out of New Orleans and Madison, Ben and Scott Cunningham grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. They love alt-country, the key of G, acoustic guitars, fishing, Jesus, and the world he created. For 15 years and running, together they write and record songs about these things, calling this effort The Olive Tree. ... more

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