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
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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