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CRIER by Bill Mallonee & Muriah Rose (A Christmas EP 2012)

by Bill Mallonee

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1.
TO REACH OUT TO ME words/music: bill mallonee Mary had a baby boy so she sang a song of grace stars and angels started showing up all over the place it came with angel’s voices and with a star in the night it came with kings and politicians trying to crush out the light Joseph was dreamer sometimes he’d dream of God sometimes his dreams told him to stay sometimes they said: "get outta Dodge." chorus: now, I hear you’re in the business of making all things new that’s some crazy kinda enterprise just 'tween me & you now, I hear you loved the good earth I hear you loved the sea I know you crossed a few of them to reach out to me you opened up a clinic when you came of age healed the sick at no expense ah, you were all the rage you made the rounds at weddings and you always brought the wine you hung with the finest sinners they thought you were divine you took it to the highways you took it to the streets some called you a Savior some called you a master thief you came & sang a song of love you came & preached of peace you told the rich & powerful their wars would one day cease now, everybody lives in chains these days all sad & mean & bored living on a razor of despair and by the edge of the sword you saw where it was leading you never held your breath you delivered your own eulogy ah, but You never really left
2.
GATHER THE LITTLE LAMBS IN words/music: bill mallonee Gather the little lambs in Gather their joys & sighs Gather their mysteries & their unwritten histories may all of their tears be dried melt all the weapons of sadness melt all the weapons of hate close of the distance & our grim resistence maybe it’s never too late when it comes to us living by Spirit well, you were never holding your breath we’re so barely able to hear it so you showed up in the flesh bring in the lonely & confused bring in the orphans & freaks sister & brothers. All we have is each other and hearts with a similar beat bring in the drugged and bedraggled the homeless and well-castled kings bring the deficient and proud self-sufficient let us all find that song we can sing Gather the little lambs in Gather their joys & sighs Gather their mysteries & all of their histories may all of their tears be dried (gather the little lambs in gather the mad wolves as well...) Afterword: We did not "get here" overnight. The "wake-up call" is past. Our children are not safe and have not been safe for years. I believe we live in a culture that embraces violence as an article of faith. Yes, there are "freak-shows," mentally disturbed and desperate people "out there." But even such sad souls are a symptom of the broken & depersonalized land we've created and live in. The price we are paying for cowing to gun enthusiasts and their lobbyists is appalling. Those who would pervert and mis-represent their so-called "2nd Amendment rights," are complicity guilty in these murders. May God give us courage to envision something better & to show us all the better way.
3.
CHRISTMAS IN BABYLON (Bourbon On Breath) words/music: Bill Mallonee it's Christmas in Babylon and what have we here? a planet groaning & driven to tears we've been hedging our bets and draggin' our feet but tonight your heart is a train and it's gathering steam Chorus: all these clamoring voices about life & death we're all bell-ringers in parking lots w/ bourbon on breath now there's the strains of a hymn & a star in the sky and Love's showing up hard in a small Baby's cry even the animals smiled with delight at the child in the stable all ringed with light Mary & Joseph, they held Him close hope of the ages wrapped up in swaddling clothes now suffering & wonder maybe all that you get on this side of the veil...lest you forget life is drifting & falling...and drifting again maybe you're coming home...to someplace you've never been and there's a band of angels, they've tuned up and plugged in awaiting their cue. about to begin God sends us a gift this time every year Ah, it's Christmas in Babylon...and what have we here?
4.
SHEPHERD'S REMINISCE words & music: Bill Mallonee All my best friends are walking wounded All my friends? They are off-cast But they all have hearts deep as well and they now cry at the drop of a hat once all of them were shepherds now they have courage for a staff maybe those who've tasted much of grief can chart the better path CHORUS: now they said they heard an angel choir but i was staring at the embers and it happen all so long ago i really don't remember my companions disappeared that night following a star that burned and me? well, i stayed at my post and waited till they returned they came back drunk on something maybe joy is a libation they were all in one perfect accord 'bout this Light for all the nations Now, sometimes i feel a bit left out but see there was work to do maybe there's reward in heaven for those who simply follow through Now, my friends, they speak of priceless pearls and they speak of first and last All my best friends are walking wounded All my friends they are off-cast
5.
6.
TO REACH OUT TO ME words/music: bill mallonee Mary had a baby boy so she sang a song of grace stars and angels started showing up all over the place it came with angel’s voices and with a star in the night it came with kings and politicians trying to crush the light Joseph was dreamer sometimes he’d dream of God sometimes his dreams told him to stay sometimes get outta Dodge chorus: now, I hear you’re in the business of making all things new that’s some crazy kinda enterprise to give yourself to now I hear you loved the good earth I hear you loved the sea I know you crossed a few of them to reach out to me you opened up a clinic when you came of age healed the sick at no expense you were all the rage you made the rounds at weddings and you always brought the wine you hung with the finest sinners they thought you were divine you took it to the highways you took it to the streets some called you a Savior some called you a thief you came & preached of love you came & preached of peace told the rich & powerful I’ve come to set you free now, everybody lives in chains these days all sad & mean & bored living on a razor of despair and by the edge of the sword you saw where it was leading you never held your breath you delivered your own eulogy ah, but you’ve never really left

about

(Album photo by: Muriah Rose)
Christmas. Most of mankind's grandest hopes are wrapped up in flesh & blood of Him who they call Jesus, the Savior of the world. He came at a time when the ancient world was starving for love. Caste systems were inviolable and military might "made right."
Into that world appears Christ. With a Sermon on some Mountain guaranteed to blow your mind.
People tend to forget just how "disowned" he was. Right off the top. We forget that He was disowned by the authorities both political & religious. God "scandalizes" us by deciding to "appear" among the meek, the lowly, the poor, the marginalized. He "scandalizes" our sensibilities still to this day.
I know at an early age all the joys and expectations of Advent & Christmas narratives (whether they are history or memories nuanced with touches of zealous imagination) somehow seeped into this small child's imagination and have been inspiring him ever since.

Jesus. The Mystery we are compelled to love.
It often happens that the people who are supposed to "represent" Him here do the worst and bloodiest damage throughout mankind's dismal history, I have all sympathy with those for feel they must "turn away" from such representations of Christ, the man of Peace.
Christ seems to "take us where we're at."

I'm convinced He's more concerned about each of us 'learning His heart." And then trying to live it out, however stumbling we may be in our "first steps." We begin, by accepting our acceptance. We begin by recognizing our deep need and broken-ness. An empty cup he seems to be all-too-ready to fill.

Then the simple exchanges of just talking to Him daily & listening become a way of transformation from within and into the world in which we live. We get use to our own skin. And we learn to love the spirits of our fellow travelers. Our brothers & sisters.The world is starving for such manifestations of that Love.
That's some of what these songs are about....
Joy & courage on your journey,
bill mallonee
Advent/Christmas 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Album notes:
I have this very old nondescript nylon string Spanish guitar. It figured deeply and beautifully in the writing of these songs and in the making of "CRIER." (I paid maybe $60 at a pawn shop in Athens, Ga years ago.) It has a neck on it like a baseball bat. Meaning it's just so THICK and unwieldy to grasp that there are just some chords I can't play on it.
You have to wrestle the hell out of it to make music on it.
Call it a friendly "skirmish."
BUT, it is without a doubt, a oddly inspiring instrument. I have used it on numerous WPA recordings. The guitar possesses a wonderful," throaty" tone. Good guitars are mysterious and this one truly is. Not much on beauty, but it's character" bids a closer look.
It's natural 'voice," to my ears anyway, seems to have a sort of acoustic "wisdom" in it. Songwriters live for these sorts of "finds."
It sounds "authentic," worn and humble....
Like it came with the "stories" & songs waiting to be un-packed.

credits

released December 20, 2012

Bill Mallonee:
guitars, acoustic steel 6 string, Spanish nylon string, string & harp arrangements, drum programming, harmonica.

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Bill Mallonee

Bill Mallonee is an Americana artist w/ 80 plus albums over a 30 year career. Voted by Paste Music Magazine #65 in their "Top 100 Living Songwriters" poll. He was the
founding member of Vigilantes of Love. He has worked with Mark Heard, Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, & Peter Buck from REM.
His most recent work, "Lead On, Kindly Light" is a 23song double Cd released Feb 2020.
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