Song #36: Bliss (You Take Me There)

Love has the capability of taking us - or rather opening us - further than we could ever hope to go on our own.

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LYRICS:

There's a bliss that most will never know
There's a depth that most will never go
There's a place for which the angels groan
Now I know, I know

You take me there

There's a touch, makes me glad to be alive
There's a path into the heart of God
There's a taste thick like the richest spice
Now I know, I know

You take me there

Going deeper, pure surrender
Going deeper, pure surrender

You take me there

Song #22: You Just Are

Friends who have followed my music over the years may possibly recognize this week's song. "You Just Are" is a piece I wrote and performed with the Trev Diesel band 6+ years ago, but since I was never able to record it, I decided to bring it in to the One Love, One Year anthology.

While most of my songs are thematically specific, this is one of the most vague that I've posted. I'm not going to go into specifics about my interpretation of these lyrics except to say this: it isn't so much about human/relational love as it is about the "capital-L" Love that holds the universe together, helps us know who we are and gives our lives direction.

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LYRICS:

seems like only yesterday
we were standing on the frontier of our future
three friends and I taking rides in a beat up old car
and Sammie slinks low in her seat
and turns up the music.
(we think she'll go far
and shoot like a star over this pitiful city)

will you know it when you see it?
will your eyes be opened far
when forever meets you in the present
melting time and space and suddenly
you just are
so love, child, love

and she held on dearly to all that we were
even if at times making us all a little bit batty
and her daddy woke up before the sun did every day
and drove all the way to the city
and now we know, we know what they were living for

Song #16: Warriors

"Some men will go in once, twice, even three times. But a warrior is in this for good... 'I'm not going anywhere. This is my place in the battle. This is the hill that I will die on.' The universe is so vast and so ageless that the life of one man can only be justified by the measure of his sacrifice." [John Eldredge / others, Wild at Heart]

"Rise and rise again / until lambs become lions" [Robin Hood]

We live in interesting times as it relates to masculinity. On one hand factors like political correctness and new age pop psychology have asked us to tone it down, making men safe, soft... nice. On the other hand there seems to be a resurgence in the reclaiming of timeless masculine virtues such as moral integrity, leadership, character, decision making, presence, adventurousness and dependability.

The thing is, there are so many traps for men. It's simply not hard at all to give into apathy, boredom, going for the easy lay, quick surrender or waiting on others to do what we would not. I've seen men fall all around me, bodies everywhere from poor choices or a lack of presence; Hell, I've fallen myself. The truth is we all make poor decisions. And there's freedom and grace there for sure. The ultimate question is what do we do then?

Fortunately, I've also been blessed to be surrounded with some key men who have intentionally chosen a life of integrity and uprightness, no matter the personal cost. As John Eldredge has written - most men want to be knights, but most do not want to bleed like one. This song is for those who do.

On a production note, this track won't be hitting the pop charts any time soon. It takes nearly 6 minutes to flesh out and is of a quite different scope than what I normally write (except for maybe "The Attic"). That said, it's a perspective that needed to be shared and it took an epic-sized arrangement in order to give it the weight I felt the subject deserved. I wish I had more than a few short hours this week to give this song more attention, but such are the "rules" of this project.

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LYRICS:

when the bullets start to fly and they will
when the passion fires die and they will
when the storm threatens all that is known, what then?
where are the warriors? where are the men?

when the pain casts a shadow on love
when the fruit dangles just within reach above
when all around they're taken down in their sin
where are the warriors? where are the men?

and they will be called oaks of righteousness

when a wife is growing tired of being used
when she longs to have her heart be pursued
when all hope is drying up once again
where are the warriors? where are the men?

while the world looks for a leader to steer,
lesser men are taking shelter in fear
who will rise and go to fight or defend?
where are the warriors? where are the men?

and they will be called oaks of righteousness

---

what's your heart worth to you?
where's your peace of mind?
either way you're going to lose sleep
but you lose less when you do things right

we will stand; we will not be moved

we are the warriors

---

and they will be called oaks of righteousness