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When The Waters Were One

from MOONDOG by Joseph Huber

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***Inspired by a poem written by one of my favorite poets, Wendell Berry, called 'Burley Coulter's Song for Kate Helen Branch.' The original intent was to write a song for this poem until I found that it had already been made into a song by the writer/fiddler, Laurie Lewis. So, I wrote my own, which became 'When The Waters Were One': a song in the spirit of one reflecting on falling in love under the open skies to the sound of the fiddle. I think Berry's poem's story ended well. I don't know if mine does.***

lyrics

WHEN THE WATERS WERE ONE

Well, the evening rains washed out the riverbed,
and the red clay had gone painted the river red.
And I stood just as shaggy as a hickory stem.
Are your eyes still as bright as I remember them?

Today the self-born are mocking the growing and the dying,
While their whims play games with this heart of mine.
For we both took to flame like a sun-soaked pine
Takes to firelight high in the summertime.

We graced the fiddle with a dance
And the song that we sung
Served to remind that we're not yet unyoung,
And the music rolled through us like a river runs
For a river knows that the waters are one.

Around a circle of flame where the living draw near,
The dead whisper a good word in a ready ear
Of the love they'd make if only they were here,
And the chance they'd take before it disappears.

But seems all was found just a little too late,
While hope lies hiding all alone in wait,
While the rhythm in my head pines for the way
That we danced the way we did the day...

We graced the fiddle with a dance
And the song that we sung
Served to remind that we're not yet unyoung,
And the music flowed through us like a river runs
For a river knows that the waters are one.

And as I closed my eyes ‘neath a waking sky
with my head down on the ground,
I prayed the morning light would bless what the night
Had found in between this old world and a dream.

As you walked through the field in the open air
You were caught in the field of another's stare.
I was finding how hard it can be to bare
A pain that gains all the more you care.

Now I find beauty only in death upon a stage,
And the rhythmed string of lonely words
Hurled upon a page,
While the river rolls on through every age
Just the same way that it did the day...

We graced the fiddle with a dance
And the song that we sung
Served to remind that we're not yet unyoung,
And the music rolled through us like a river runs
For a river knows that the waters are one.

credits

from MOONDOG, released July 12, 2019
Written and performed by Joseph Huber.
Eston Bennett: upright bass

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Joseph Huber Milwaukee, Wisconsin

After 7 years of hard touring and playing banjo with the influential streetgrass group, .357 String Band, Joseph Huber has found an individual voice that covers a vast range of influence. Playing all the instruments, from fiddle to harmonica to banjo to tambourine (and as many as he can at once) he amazes and entertains, but also reveals substance. His songs are lyrical, but he knows a good hook. ... more

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