Get all 17 Sam Steffen releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Too Much of a Good Thing, Poor Thing, Maxims, Mantras & Moral Tales, Say When, Unravelled Tales - Volume 2, Unravelled Tales - Volume 1, Roubles and Kopecks, Nothin to Write Home About, and 9 more.
1. |
Absalom Pt. 1
05:36
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King David and his concubines begat between them several sons
And of the lot, none there were more handsome than the one they called—
Absalom was brother to a younger sister named Tamar
In all the kingdom that was known, none there were more fair than she
Tamar was prized by many men who meant to win her as a bride
Not exempting the king’s firstborn, Amnon was what he was called.
By feigning he was ill one day, Amnon lured Tamar to him
And when she came to nurse his cold, he seized her strongly by the arm
“Why have you taken hold of me? Wherefore this sudden strength of yours?
Do you intend that I should lie with you? What ever do you take me for?”
And what Tamar refused to yield, Amnon cruelly took by force
And hoping he was someplace near, Tamar called out her brother’s name:
A——————Absalom!—where, O where, can you be?
A——————Absalom!—would that you were here to rescue me
When Absalom received the news that Amnon had his sister raped
He was angry but he did not act, he said, “Let us see what the king will do.”
When David did receive the news, bitter and angry did he turn
But no penalty would he dole, for Amnon was his firstborn son.
So Absalom conceived a plan to take revenge upon Amnon
And when two years had run their course, he held a banquet at his house.
And all the while he hid his hate he felt for Amnon and his Sin
Meanwhile caring for Tamar who resolved to show her face no more.
When Amnon was drunk with wine, Absalom shouted, “The time has come!”
And all his servants rose at once and Amnon with their swords did slay.
And as he fell beneath their blades, outnumbered and without defense
And as his spirit left his flesh, these words was Amnon heard to say:
Absalom!—with my last breath, your life I’ll curse
Absalom!—this death is bad; may yours be worse
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2. |
Burn It Down
04:33
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God made the world in six short days
On the seventh he took a rest
On the eighth he woke up in a mood
Said, “I wonder what I’ll do next—”
He watched men work together
To build a tower that went up a mile
When it seemed there’d be no stopping them
God grinned and said, “I know, I’ll—
Burn it down—down—down—down
Down—down—down
Burn it down—down—down—down
Down—down—down
When God made ready to destroy
Humble Abraham stepped in
“If there’s one worthwhile man living there
Let me find and show you him.”
That the search would prove a futile one
It couldn’t be long denied—
And when the time had come and gone
Abe surrendered and replied:
Chorus
Samson was the strongest man
That ever walked the earth
He loved Delilah even though
She was a Philistine by birth
She betrayed him for her people’s sake
And cut off all his hair
It grew back in his captivity
And then he burst right out of there, to
chorus
Old John Brown was tried and hanged
By now his story you’ve probly heard:
How on the scaffold he did stand
To speak his final words:
“When law and conscience don’t agree
That’s when you’ve gotta stand and fight
I don’t regret a single thing I done—
Because, God knows, I was right!—to”
Chorus
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3. |
Little Girl Soldier
06:51
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I could see through the rearview
I was no longer near you
I could no longer hear you
no matter how hard I tried
you seemed to be distant
here and gone in an instant
just to stay for a short stint
just along for the ride
you asked for directions
and you took up collections
didn’t need no protectin
your plans were all drawn
I could tell you were tired
Not exactly inspired
Though you know I admired
How long you held on
Don’t make me remind you
To not look behind you
Cause the light it’ll blind you
You’ll be turned to salt
But I couldn’t help it
I had already felt it
My heart, it had melted
It wasn’t my fault
Now you know the old story
Of the power and the glory
He always told before he
Returned to the sea
Of the little girl soldier
Who stood on the shoulders
Of the giant who told her:
“You’ll never be tall as me.”
Now I’ll ask for forgiveness
If you will not bear witness
In health or in sickness
Til death do us part
But I cannot be for you
And I will not ignore you
I can only implore you
To carry in yours my heart
Chorus
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4. |
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
06:23
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Once pon a time in a faraway place there lived two young boys with their father
One was in charge of keeping the sheep, in charge of everything else was his brother
The shepherd was told to keep his eyes peeled, to look out for wolves with their cunning
Was told if he saw anything that looked strange, to yell, and the villiage’d come running
For a while he did just like he was told, but he found the watch rather boring
So one quiet night he raised the alarm while the entire villiage was snoring:
Wolf! There’s a wolf! O, somebody help!
Somebody please, I ain’t lyin
Get up from your beds, you been sleepin too long
Cant anyone hear me cryin?
So up from their beds the villiagers arose, hoping to prevent some disaster
But when they got to the boy with their pitchforks and blades, they found he was dyin of laughter
“You idiot boy,” his father exclaimed, “Didn’t I raise you to know better?”
Than to behave just like a fool? Why can’t you be more like your brother?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “won’t happen again,” and on he went pologizing
But the very next night when the town was asleep, a cry from the fields it came rising
Chorus
So up from their beds the villagers arose, hoping to prevent some disaster
And when they got to the boy with their pitchforks and blades, they found him there dyin of laughter
“Fooled us again, shame on us,” they said, “We really ought to have known better,”
And they all went away shaking their heads, wishing the boy was more like his brother
The very next night, a wolf, it appeared; the boy saw it but he raised no holler
He managed to chase it away from his flock into the house of his brother
Chorus
But no one got up tho the screams they all heard, thought, “it’s only that boy who’s been
lyin,”
and everyone slept with wax in their ears while the innocent one went on dyin
next morning the father asked his son, “Son, tell me, where is your brother?”
the boy replied, “How am I sposed to know? Am I my brother’s keeper?”
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5. |
Only Human
06:27
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Death was out riding his horse in the desert
When he happened upon two traveling men
One of them saw his face in the distance
And took off back the way they had come
When Death made his way within range of the other
He tipped his hat and said, “it’s alright—
He said, “I’m only surprised to find him all the way out here
We’ve an appointment in town tonight,”
Now I used to know where it was I was going
My life had purpose, direction and aim—
But somewhere I lost my defense against knowing
That in the end you wind up losing the game
You can never escape it, outrun it, outsmart it
It’s like a storm that’s hanging over the sea—
O but cant I be devoured without being required
to worship what’s swallowing me?
maybe you’re a little more discerning
and you already know what I’m still learning
and you’ve extinguished what I’ve been burning
a long, long time, to know
but given the option between staying and moving
saying and doing
begging and choosing—
I’ll do whichever brings me quickest to ruin—I’m only human, you know
I am the prodigal son’s younger brother
Who stayed home and tended the flock
Who, despite having dreams of his own to accomplish, stayed
Only to wind up the laughingstock;
I am not perfect—no one is perfect
But perfection plagues the rational soul
That is always trying to realize that trying
To realize isn’t even the goal
Prick my finger—I will show you my bloodline
Tickle me, and I may smile
Poison me and I’ll accuse you of something
And die, reluctantly, after a while
I feel the want of generations before me
I pre-curse all the sorrow to come
For all of our time here, we have done nothing—
So long as work is yet to be done
But maybe you’re a hair more saintly
Or maybe you just don’t hear so faintly
But we’re all sorta rotten—ain’t we?—
And we reap the seeds that we sew—
Given the option between hurting and healing
Standing and kneeling
Buying and stealing
I’ll do whichever keeps me under the ceiling—I’m only human, you know
Jesus Christ was sent here to save us
With a message and a couple of tricks
wherever he went he encountered a creature
that struck him as too broken to fix
he once asked to please be relieved of his mission
he said, “nobody here understands,
Everyone thinks I’m chosen and special
I keep telling them, I’m only a man—”
He died on a Friday, lay dead on a Saturday
On Sunday morning he rose
When they rolled the stone away from his coffin
all they found were what remained of his clothes
two fellas out on their way to Emmaus
saw him and said there’s more to retrieve,
jesus said, “even if you manage to get their attention
you’ll have to die just to make them believe,”
but maybe you’ll be more successful
when your angel pulls you in to wrestle
and you won’t have to sink the vessel—just to make still waters flow
but given the option between staying and leaving
giving and recieving
nothing and grieving
I’ll take whichever staunches the bleeding—I’m only human, you know
And so here we are on the eve of adventure
The brink of destruction, the moment of goodbye
Nothing is happening, but a faucet is leaking
And darkness is filling the sky
And you want to know if tomorrow I’ll be here
Right where you leave me, here in the door like this
And I want to know if this isn’t your clever way
Of telling me my chance has been missed
So go to your bretheren, return to your battlefield
Take whatever strength you got left
Your cards are all showing now, you’ve been holding them clumsily
Close to the wound at your chest
Perhaps you’ll think less of me, but perhaps that’s reality
And you ought not to go building up myths
Sometimes the tools that you use to escape yourself
Become the chains you imprison it with
But maybe I’m just too ill-tempered
Sophomoric and self-centered
To recognize that the race I’ve entered
Has been traveling much too slow
But given the option between flying and falling
Lying and sprawling—crying and bawling
I’ll do whichever proves itself as my calling—I’m only human, you know
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6. |
As Long As You Are There
03:56
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I could be outcast, outnumbered and outlawed
I could be downcast, downwind, and downtrod
I could be discovered and then proved a fraud
By any of your circus geeks
I could be at sea without a sail
Boat could capsize in the gail
I could be swallowed up by Jonah’s whale
Carried down ten thousand leagues—
just as long as you are there
To help to see me through
Just as long as you are there
Lord, what couldn’t I do?
I could be tempted, tested, tortured, hazed
Moved to speak unfalsely any number of ways
I could be undone in the sentencing phase
By the highest so-called authority
Incriminations could be unfurled
Accusations could be spewed and hurled
It could be me against the entire world
I’d still be in the majority
Chorus
If I was limp and didn’t have no crutch
If I was sore and couldn’t bare your touch
If for whatever reason it just got to be too much
It got to be more than I could endure
If I lost that which I could not retrieve
And only felt what I couldn’t perceive
If I knew you weren’t –I’d still believe
Anyway, that you were
chorus
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7. |
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My name it is an epitaph, my tale it is too sad to tell
For I have done the hangman’s math, when I leave this earth, I’m bound for hell.
I started out a fisherman, I spent my youth beside the sea
Until one day a shepherd came, said, “Put down thy nets and come with me.”
He folded me into his flock and taught me how to serve the poor
My faith in him was like a rock, until it wasn’t anymore.
For many years I followed him, one lost sheep wandring with the rest
But alone to me he’d often said I was the one he loved the best.
And as we roamed the country fair, and preached the good news from on high
The authorities, they did declare, “He is gaining strength, and so he must die!”
And late one night I dreamed a dream, an angel came and spoke to me
He said I was the dark machine that was mentioned in the prophesy.
He told me how to play my part, said, “Altho you love him to the rind,
You must betray him in your heart, so that he can save mankind.”
And when I wakened from my spell, my faint resolve began to grow
But whether it was from God or Hell—that is something I will never know.
I sought the high-priest to inquire, “What will you give for Jesus Christ?”
He gave the sum and went no higher, “Thirty silver pieces for his life.”
At supper on the final night, he spoke and said he already knew
He’d been betrayed and he’d lose the fight, he said, “I know that it was one of you.”
Around that room, denials poured as all our faces turned to red
“It wasn’t me, I swear, my Lord,” and Jesus: “Yeah, so you have said.”
That night I brought the sentries round, and as if to add insult to my sin,
When I kissed him on the ground, they paid me right in front of him.
He went before the judge and court, was mocked and sentenced then to die,
They hung him up upon the cross where he was flogged and crucified.
And worst of all that did transpire, worse than any guilt I own
Worse than hell’s eternal fire, were his last words to me alone:
As he was tortured, stabbed and maimed, as blood from his fresh wounds did spew
He looked at me, and said, “Be not ashamed—for already I have forgiven you.”
And saying that, he hung his head, as if to pray or give a nod
And when someone cried: “Enough—he’s dead,” they knew he was the Son of God.
No trial am I made to stand, no jury aims to see me hung
But I don’t think people understand just what it is that I have done.
I didn’t do it out of hate, out of malice, greed or jealousy—
I did it cause it was his fate, and because it was my destiny.
My name, it is Iscariot, I betrayed the Savior, Jesus Christ
My conscience cannot carry it: Thirty Silver Pieces for my life.
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8. |
Lord Have Mercy
04:53
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It’s seven degrees, I got no place to go
This time tomorrow, it’ll be ten below
Sun’s going down, it’s starting to snow
Lord have mercy on me
Lord have mercy on me
I’ve made my mistakes and I’ve got my regrets
Dug my own grave as I was placing those my bets
And now I ain’t got the money for to pay off my debts
Lord have mercy on me
My friends want me placed under arrest
My family agrees, and thinks it’d be for the best
To whom can I turn, now? There’s nobody left—
Lord, have mercy on me
Have mercy on me—tho I now am trembling
And did not do my daily share
Have mercy on me—and in thy remembering
Recall how frequent was my prayer
others came to me, helpless, I kicked them to the curb
I took offense at their entitlement, gall and their nerve
I know this, now, is justice, it’s what I deserve, but
Lord, have mercy on me
I have fled every place that I might’ve stayed
Conceded to fold right when I should have played
Is this here not the fate of which I’ve been so afraid?
Lord have mercy on me
It’s one thing I’ll mention of which I’m ashamed
I can’t seem to shoulder my own share of the blame
Stead of pitying myself, why can’t I just change?
Lord, have mercy on me
Have mercy on me—tho the cost were too high
And the debt one more I could not repay
Have mercy on me—so that rather than die
I can turn the favor someone else’s way
Wherever there’s injustice, there’s histry to blame
I profit from the system I been fighting to change
But how can I be free when my brother’s in chains?
Lord Have Mercy on me!
I feel like the ending is about to begin;
Ceiling’s coming down and the wall’s closing in
The wind’s picking up; the light’s getting dim
lord have mercy on me
The future’s been told in decipherable font
the past is a vessel the dead failed to haunt
teach me know what it’s important to want—
Lord, have mercy on me
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9. |
Never Too Late To Learn
05:06
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They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks
Opinions are too hard to turn
But I say try it and see what sticks—
It ain’t never too late to learn
I used to want to play the guitar
I thought I couldn’t cause I didn’t know how
Then I tried and I tried and I tried and I tried and—
I think I’m getting the hang of hit now
chorus
Our government’s got the strange idea
That private healthcare we all can afford
I guess the lawmakers have never either never been sick—
Or else they’ve never been poor
chorus
Our government’s got the funny idea
that they’ve met all the public school needs
with teachers making less than a decent wage
there’s plenty left for the war overseas
chorus
There’s folks in this land who are full up of hate
Seems anger is all that they’ve got
They spread their harmful and hateful ideas
Exactly the way they were taught
Don’t know about you but I’m starting to think
Maybe everybody’s to blame
Instead of trying to be right all the time
Why don’t we try being nice for a change?
chorus
Some people think it’s too early to say
Some people think it’s already too late
Some say it’d be easier to move the sea with a spoon
Than to change the mind of the State
Politicians got mouths, some got ears
Long as you got the money to burn
That’s the only time you’ll hear one of them say
“It ain’t never too late to learn”
Chorus
Jesus arrived at the banker’s hall
Their tables he did overturn
He said, “I guess none of y’all’ve caught on yet—
But it ain’t never too late to learn”
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10. |
Absalom Pt. 2
08:01
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When Amnon’s life was smothered out, Absalom to his horse did take
For he knew that when his deed was known, he’d be the enemy of the state
And so began his long career as a fugitive and a refugee
Wherein he learned a thing or two about how common people lived.
And as he roamed from town to town and shared the campfires of the poor
He more than once revealed his tale and made his royal bloodlines known.
In time he gained some confidence, and did a reputation earn
For seeming just as fit to rule as, if not moreso than the king.
And into his mind there came a thought, which he did often speak aloud
“I wish my father wasn’t king—would that it had been me instead!”
When David did receive the news, bitter and angry did he turn
But no penalty would he dole, for Absalom was yet his son.
So David stood before his throng and asked the crowds that he could see
“Who among you would challenge me?”—the reply returned resoundingly:
Absalom!—what else is there now to discuss?
Absalom!—he has won the hearts of all of us!
And so it came that Absalom conspired to overtake the throne
He raised an army of good men, it numbered many thousand strong.
When David did receive the news, a sadness overwhelmed his heart—
For though he’d been to war before, he’d not yet fought a son he loved.
So when the day of battle came, the King gave the orders to his men:
“though treacherous, my son is mine—if captured, please do spare his life.”
And as his men prepared to ride, King David said, “I will go, too.”
But Joab, David’s right-hand-man, replied, “No such thing shall you do.”
And forth both armies rode that day, their conflicts to resolve with war
and both sides suffered massive loss—twenty thousand died in all.
And Absalom among them died, his life concluding in this way:
As he was riding through the woods, he was clotheslined by an oak-tree branch
And tween the earth and sky he hung, for some while struggling to get loose
When upon his dangling form, rode Joab, David’s right-hand-man.
And as the men of David’s force recalled to him the oath they made
Joab recounted all the slain, and said “—with this man’s life a debt is paid!”
And saying so he took three spears and stabbed them through the young man’s chest
and in this way was slain the son their beloved king had loved the best.
Then Joab sent two messengers back home to tell the tale world-wide
The first, that they had won the war, the second, that Absalom had died.
And all the people cheered with joy to know there had been victory
But David simply hung his head and wept bitter tears of misery
“What’s the cheering of ten thousand strong? What’s all the joy of battles won?
Compared to this deep grief I feel to be deprived of my beloved son?
Absalom!—my son, my son! My son is dead!
Absalom!—would it had been me instead!”
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Sam Steffen Boise, Idaho
Sam Steffen is a Pennsylvania-bred, Boise-based singer-songwriter whose songs are the torch-wood for a new generation of folk music that has learned from the best stuff in the tradition and aims in spite of everything to keep the human spirit alive and kicking. A versatile musician and skilled finger-picker, Sam is at heart a story-teller, and a prolific one. ... more
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