All songs by Emily Scott Robinson
except The Fairest View
by Emily Scott Robinson and Lizzy Ross
and The Water is Wide (traditional)
Hymn for the Unholy
[Verse 1]
In the quiet of the new year, we will let our old dreams go
And when the spring comes, if we’re ready, we can plant new ones to grow
But in the silence of this ending, we will gather in the snow
And it’s okay if, for tonight, dear, there are things you do not know
[Verse 2]
‘Cause we are standing on a mystery, we are spinning through the sky
Like the ones who came before us, into the wildеrness we fly
Therе’s so much we have no hand in, but look how hard we try
I think the gods are laughing with us, I think the stars are standing by
[Verse 3]
‘Cause I’ve worn diamonds to the party, I’ve worn borrowed, I’ve worn blue
And I’ve done every single goddamn thing I swore I’d never do
Here’s a hymn for the unholy, for the savage and the true
You have only got one life, dear, heed the voice that calls to you
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 4]
Maybe there’s a different ending to the fantasy you spun
All the breaking and the bending, half your life out on the run
All that time you think you wasted, look how many miles you’ve come
There’s still air you’ve never tasted and songs you’ve never sung
So in the quiet of the new year, we will let our old dreams go
And when the spring comes, if we’re ready, we can plant new ones to grow
But in the silence of this ending, let us gather in the snow
And it’s okay if, for tonight, dear, there are things you do not know
[Outro]
Oh, oh, oh
And it’s okay if, for tonight, dear, there are things you do not know
Appalachia
[Verse 1]
Oh, my heart for Appalachia
Oh, my heart for these blue hills
Oh, my heart forever captured, beating still
Many nights I lay here sleepless
Many nights I watch the stars
Many nights I make my way home from afar
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 2]
Oh, my heart swept down the river
And though it all be washed away
It’s not the first time I’ve had nothing or knelt to pray
My people came from pain and famine
A hundred days on a dark sea
Do you think I’d let some wind and water tear the roots from me?
[Bridge]
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
[Verse 3]
Friend, come inside for a cup of coffee
Come inside for a dry bed
Come inside and let me feed you, rest your weary head
These mountains stood before we found them
And they’ll outlast our children, too
I promise spring will paint the hills in mountain laurel blooms
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 4]
Mend our hearts and mend the harrow
Clear the barn and sweep the floors
Light the lanterns, tune up the fiddle, swing wide the doors
And we will dance with all our sorrows
We will sing through all our tears
We’ll tuck our babies into their beds and hope for better years
[Outro]
We’ll tuck our babies into their beds and hope for better years
Sea of Ghosts
[Verse 1]
I dream you in our old life
High up on a hill
Reading poems by the firelight
Looking younger still
Your notes are in the margins
Your shadow’s in the mirror
If you’re looking for a love that lasts
You can haunt me here
Oh-oh
[Verse 2]
Meet me in the coming night
Find me on the trail
Whispering my ancient vows
Under green boughs and ivory veil
Ankle-deep in water
Walking up the riverbed
Singing my song of supplication
For to steal you from the dead
Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Mm
[Verse 3]
Time will tear the petals
From the sweetest rose
I will cut my silvering braids
And bring them to the crows
For to meet you in the morning
For to reach for you in bed
If you’re searching in a sea of ghosts
I’m the girl who’s wearing red
[Outro]
For to meet you in the morning
For to reach for you in bed
If you’re searching in a sea of ghosts
I’m the girl who’s wearing red
Oh-oh
Oh-oh-oh-oh
Cast Iron Heart
[Verse 1: Emily Scott Robinson & John Paul White]
Got left out rusting in the rain
Weathered a whole world of pain
But with a little love, it’ll shine like new
I give my cast-iron heart to you
I’m not a brand new thing
Got a lot of salt and seasoning
People think we’re past our prime
But I say we got here just in time
[Chorus: Both, Emily Scott Robinson, John Paul White]
I believe in love that deepens
Every season comes around again
Comes around again
[Verse 2: Emily Scott Robinson & John Paul White]
When you wake up just after dawn
I will make your coffee strong
Put butter in the frying pan
And come and kiss your calloused hand
I’ll waltz you all around the room
My first of May magnolia bloom
My sunsеt girl, my pretty bride
With lines around your hazеl eyes
[Chorus: Both, Emily Scott Robinson, John Paul White]
I believe in love that deepens
Every season comes around again
Comes around again
[Verse 2: Emily Scott Robinson, John Paul White, Both]
You make it long enough in life
Your heart’ll break a thousand time
Why would you do it all alone?
Walk with me this last stretch of road
We’re beaten up and broken in
We’ve tasted our own medicine
Maybe we’re a vestige of the past
Or maybe we’re just built to last
[Chorus: Both, Emily Scott Robinson, John Paul White]
I believe in love that deepens
Every season comes around again
Comes around again
I believe in love that deepens
Every season comes around again
Comes around again
Comes around again
Comes around again
[Outro: Emily Scott Robinson, ESR & John Paul White]
Got left out rusting in the rain
Weathered a whole world of pain
But with a little love, it’ll shine like new
I give my cast-iron heart to you
Time Traveler
[Verse 1]
This week’s been good, your nurses say
You wake up somewhere different every day
Your hair is curled and your nails are done
You always said a little lipstick never hurt no one
Today, you’re back in 1953
In a dress and heels on a football field, homecoming queen
Grandpa throws the winning pass for Webster Groves
And you tell me you’re in love, your mother doesn’t know
[Pre-Chorus]
The doctors call it cognitive decline
Typical for eighty-nine
But I think you’ve got a secret power
So you don’t have to go back and relivе your darkest hours
[Refrain]
You’re a time travеler
[Verse 2]
I think about how young you were at twenty-three
When you had your first rupture with reality
You rocked your baby daughter in a wooden chair
You started hearing voices that were not there
The doctors gave you pills that made you tired
Shocked your brain right through with electric wires
You came home smiling, if sedate
After that, for fifty years, you barely ate
[Pre-Chorus]
There’s a darkness in our DNA, some fraying strand
So if you wanna fly away sometimes, I understand
[Refrain]
You’re a time traveler
You’re a time traveler
Mm-mm
[Verse 3]
Now everyone you’ve ever loved is here with you
Your mama and your sisters, and you papa, too
Ancestors and angels all around the room
And I see the thinning veil that you’re passing through
You held me on the day I came into this world
Now I hold your hand, like you’re the little girl
From dust to dust, with all this good love in between
Now all you want is to look out at the dogwood trees
[Refrain]
You’re a time traveler
A time traveler
You’re a time traveler
Dirtbag Saloon
[Verse 1]
Linda’s is open on Fridays and Christmas
She lives in the back, it’s a cash-only business
She charges for singles but pours you a double
Everyone drinks here and no one makes trouble
[Verse 2]
We got miners and ranchers, rednecks and hippies
Hotshots and cowboys, poets and lefties
There’s one thing that this whole damn bar can agree on
We live here ’cause we don’t like concrete and neon
[Chorus]
And if it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
Get your last round in at the Dirtbag Saloon
The rich folks are squeezing us right outta room
If it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
[Verse 3]
I wish we could live here in sweet harmony
But they tore down the rentals and clearcut the trees
To build their ten-thousand square foot second homes
Ah, but who’s gonna serve them their champagne and snow?
[Chorus]
And if it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
Get your last round in at the Dirtbag Saloon
The rich folks are squeezing us right outta room
If it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
[Fiddle Solo]
[Verse 4]
I carved out a life between river and stone
Under wood-smoke and bright stars, these hills are my home
And don’t get me wrong, yeah, I sing for my rent
Maybe I should stay quiet, I need every last cent
[Verse 5]
Now Linda jumps up on her velvet pool table
Yells, “Settle your debts, kids, get out while you’re able”
The house lights are up and there is no doubt
It’s the last call for good times in the town that sold out
[Chorus]
And if it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
Get your last round in at the Dirtbag Saloon
The rich folks are squeezing us right outta room
If it ain’t gone yet, then it’s going soon
[Outro]
If it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
If it ain’t gone yet, it’s going soon
Bless It All
[Verse 1]
Bless the friend who has you over for a cup of tea
Bless your mama’s Corning Ware from 1983
Bless this little rental house, maybe one day we can buy
We’re poor as dirt right now, but time’s still on our side
And bless the year you learned that everything you learned was wrong
The year that God was quiet, and in his absence, you were strong
To tell the whole damn story, it’s gonna take a thousand songs
One day we’ll sing about it, bless it all
[Verse 2]
Bless the big oak table passed down through the family
Bless your nana’s hooked rugs that you take outside in spring
Bless those sticky hands and fingerprints you have to clean
Bless the way their hair curls ’round their ears in little rings
And if you do it right, you hope that they will never know
How hard it really was, how close you were to the bone
And thank God for your sister, who picks up those midnight calls
One day you’ll sing about it, bless it all
[Chorus]
Bless it all
Bless it all
One day we’ll sing about it
Bless it all
[Verse 3]
Bless the year you lost your job and the creditors came calling
Bless the envelope of cash you found hidden in the closet
Bless those night you fought and wondered if you’d ever make it
Bless every room you walked into not brave and had to fake it
And bless the ups and downs of this big Ferris wheel ride
And bless the starting over and the swallowing your pride
And bless the bright red maple on the first blue day of fall
One day we’ll sing about it, bless it all
[Chorus]
Bless it all
Bless it all
One day we’ll sing about it
One day we’ll tell the whole truth
One day we’ll sing about it
Bless it all
Time for Flowers
[Verse 1]
I went walking down the road
With a heavy heart and miles left to go
When I came upon a woman in a field on her knees
Singing ancient songs and sowing wildflower seeds
[Verse 2]
Tell me, what’s the point in planting pretty things
In these days of darkness and disease?
The world is burning, have you not heard?
And she smiled and said, “Honey, I’ve lived long enough to learn
[Chorus]
“The time for flowers will come again
Maybe in one year, maybe in ten
There are days despair will win
But the time for flowers will come again
[Verse 3]
‘Cause I have witnessed funerals and wars
Worried mothers, empty shelves, and empty stores
The storms will rage and the winds will blow
And you are gonna find out that you’re stronger than you know
[Chorus]
And the time for flowers will come again
Maybe in one year, maybe in ten
There are days despair will win
But the time for flowers will come again
[Verse 4]
And when I woke up this morning, something deep had shifted
The sun was coming out and the clouds had finally lifted
It’s time to fix what’s broken, all the willing and the able
And when our honest work is done, we’ll gather at this table
We’ll hold each other’s babies and pour each other’s wine
And promise to remember that your fate’s bound up in mine
The skies are clear now, the moon is new
Let’s raise a glass, my friends, we’ll make it through
[Chorus]
And the time for flowers has come again
I know it seemed the world would end
There were days despair did win
But the time for flowers has come again
The time for flowers has come again
The Water is Wide
[Verse 1: Emily Scott Robinson & Duncan Wickel]
The water is wide, I can’t cross over
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
[Verse 2: Emily Scott Robinson]
Down in the meadow the other day
A-gathering flowers, both bright and gay
Gathering flowers, both red and blue
I little thought what love could do
[Verse 3: Emily Scott Robinson & Duncan Wickel]
There is a ship that sails the sea
She’s loaded deep as deep can be
But not so deep as the love I’m in
I know not how I sink or swim
[Verse 4: Emily Scott Robinson & Duncan Wickel]
For love is gentle and love is true
And love’s a pleasure when first it’s new
But love grows old and waxes cold
And fades away like morning dew
[Instrumental Break]
[Verse 1: Emily Scott Robinson]
The water is wide, I can’t cross over
And neither have I wings to fly
Give me a boat that can carry two
And both shall row, my love and I
The Fairest View
[Verse 1: Emily Scott Robinson]
Let us play one more, my friend, did you bring your old guitar?
I will sing so clear and high you can hear it from afar
I saw you last in younger years, in the light around the fire
Tell me, where’s the fairest view? Is it Heaven or North Carolina?
[Verse 2: Emily Scott Robinson, ESR & Lizzy Ross]
You tended the tomato rows in the garden that we grew
We were all in love back then, in Cedar Grove in June
And you called the steps and we danced that night and many more to come
In the old tobacco barn, all the ancient songs were sung
[Chorus: Emily Scott Robinson & Lizzy Ross]
And the church bells are ringing
And your sisters are singing
And the fiddles and the forest
And the creatures are the chorus
[Verse 3: Emily Scott Robinson, ESR & Lizzy Ross]
Sugar maple’s leafing out and the baby’s almost here
You’re not getting older now, in the greening time of year
You came to me in dreams last night, wild-haired and sparkle-eyed
Tender one, oh, winged heart, true and free you fly
[Chorus: Emily Scott Robinson & Lizzy Ross]
And the church bells are ringing
And your sisters are singing
And the fiddles and the forest
And the creatures are the chorus
And the church bells are ringing
And your sisters are singing
And the fiddles and the forest
And the creatures are the chorus
