Get all 5 Cameron DeWhitt releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Get Up in the Cool Vol. 3, Get Up in the Cool Vol. 2, Get Up in the Cool Vol. 1, Cameron DeWhitt, and Foxglove Inc..
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The skin on my knuckles is cracking and bleeding;
this winter is foreign, it's dry and it's cold.
I fell down the stairs holding plates and glasses;
my hands will not heal, though two months have passed,
and it's hard to be patient with the wounds that last.
I pick and I scratch; I can't leave them alone.
The skin starts its stitching, but I keep on complaining,
though, I call it prayer. A voice is there, saying,
"See, I am doing a new thing!
Do you not perceive it springing up?
I am making a way in the desert!
I am making a stream in the wasteland!
Forget all of the former things!
Do not dwell on the past;
I am doing a new thing!"
Your love is an illness that's growing inside you,
as murderous as the love of the Lord.
The wrath in your heart can flare up in a moment.
Your jealousy's righteous, but you gotta learn how to hold it!
The God of Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac
once nursed his hate like a lonely man:
(Spare us, Lord...)
he'd burn to the ground whole cities of lovers
(please stay your hand...)
who lusted for others. Now he stays his hand, saying,
"See, I am doing a new thing!
Do you not perceive it springing up?
I am making a way in the desert!
I am making a stream in the wasteland!
Forget all of the former things!
Do not dwell on the past;
I am doing a new thing!"
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2. |
Clear a Way
03:46
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I keep a disheveled home;
I can't afford to pay someone
to get rid of my trash.
I'm all empty cans and wrappers;
I'm all twist ties and stains,
but I'm gonna clear a way for you.
I'm gonna push the mess to the sides;
we can deal with it later.
But you won't have to tiptoe
through my house when you come.
When I last cleaned my house,
when I put the demon out,
he came back with all of his friends.
When I purge and purify,
it's always in vain,
but I'm gonna clear a way for you.
I'm gonna push the mess to the sides;
we can deal with it later.
But you won't have to tiptoe
through my house when you come.
I heard you were coming through.
I can't remember
the last time I invited you in.
Well, I'll be stories and excuses,
I'll be bitter ashamed,
but I'm gonna clear a way for you.
I'm gonna push the mess to the sides;
we can deal with it later.
But you won't have to tiptoe
through my house when you come.
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3. |
When Your Soul Embarks
04:18
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When I was younger, I wanted someone
to share a tragic death with me,
'cause love was a dark pit. When I hadn't met you yet,
I thought God was shoveling dirt on me.
I'd have followed anyone into the dark those days,
but I got my knuckles bruised, anyway.
Your widower grandfather was missing his lover;
he spent eight months as a bachelor
making his mind up. He chose to stay with us
when he found a woman to share his love.
He was justified to wander into the dark those days,
but he chose to stay behind, anyway.
Love of mine, someday you will die,
and I may or may not be close behind,
or far ahead of you. Just know that I love you
and I'll follow as far as I'm meant to.
But I won't swear to follow you into the dark that day.
If fear is the heart of love, then here I'll stay.
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4. |
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Your hands, your healing hands are tender
enough to make a proud back bend, a haughty neck bow.
But when your fingers touch my shoulder,
I want to run, I want to put up a fight.
Your love, your sympathy is a burning coal.
My hands can soothe with such abandon
that in a twinkling you'll feel fine, when what you need is pain.
My arms always outstretched to hold you
when you should run, when you should put up a fight.
My love, my sympathy is a blindfold.
Our hands are brave and startling liars;
they fashion wonders of this world, but they don't have power.
When we come to it, we'll confess
that all we know is how to run and put up a fight.
Your love, Your sympathy is a buried hope.
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5. |
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When we met, you were a clueless kid, you had a stupid haircut,
you were soft around the edges, but you were bold,
and your kisses stirred desire. When you taught me how to make love,
my cheeks were hot with bright blood.
But the way you searched my body
had a longing, an intensity
that wasn't meant for me.
When we met, you were on the run, hiding from the rule books.
You needed an accomplice, and I was there
to dress the wounds of shame, to keep you safe from judgement.
I couldn't keep you safe from justice.
My healing hands were doomed to fail,
'cause in your heart's a sword and scale.
It wasn't meant for me.
When you left to scale the rocky peak, to meet the God of Abram,
to learn the fate of our friends... You returned,
your mind was full of rules, your hair was white and flowing,
your face was grim and glowing.
A law was written on your heart
while I was trying to play the part
that wasn't meant for me.
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6. |
What Happened at Horesh
04:23
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7. |
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Driving into the parking lot, sharing my heart
with my brother, Joseph.
Choking on the sounds, tugging at the sore parts
for my brother, Joseph.
What awaits you at the shore line?
We can find it in the valley.
Keeping you at arm's length before you depart
breaks my heart. Forgive me, brother Joseph.
Fidgeting in the driver's seat of my care
next to my brother, Joseph.
Trying to talk in a steady voice is proving hard,
talking to my brother, Joseph.
God has called you to the Far East.
But with you gone, where will He send me?
You're tearing at my roots by traveling so far,
but I trust your heart. Blessings, brother Joseph.
Shedding tears and clasping hands in my car
with my brother, Joseph.
Standing in the rain where we are parked,
holding my brother, Joseph,
laughing at our clichéd romance,
sober with the short lived closeness.
Sharing you with the world is a good start
for my selfish heart. Go change it, brother Joseph.
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8. |
Peace Song
03:41
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"Lord, make us instruments of Your peace" we sang.
The vibraphone, it rang the dissonant chords, arranged
to unsettle the way we think about peace.
"It's not an easy thing," I remember thinking.
Well, it'll take more than a couple altered chords,
and may well take much more before I make my mind up.
'Cause now that I am living for myself as well as someone else,
I have more than I'll give up.
"Lord, make us instruments of Your peace" I prayed
when I heard my father say, "Measure your love this way:
not by whether you would die for your lover,
but if you would make another die in place of her."
Well, it took more than a few words from my dad
to take stock in what I had. Now I can't make my mind up.
'Cause now that I am living for myself as well as someone else,
I have more than I'll give up.
"Lord, make us instruments of Your peace" rings out.
The courtroom silence, loud. Your mother makes a vow,
"I forgive you for this thing you have done, for taking my husband
from me, my daughter and sons."
Well, it'll take more than a drunk man in his car
and a family full of scars for me to make my mind up.
'Cause now that I am living for myself as well as someone else,
I have more than I'll give up.
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9. |
Birds of the Air
04:56
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"Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sew nor reap
nor gather food in barns,
yet your heavenly father feeds them"
when he's not watching them fall.
On highway 8, I saw your friend,
so I swerved around and hit you instead.
You lay there on the ground,
still making breathing sounds.
I chose to take your life away.
"Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sew nor reap
nor gather food in barns,
yet your heavenly father feeds them"
when he's not watching them fall.
In David's room, he watched you die.
Your heart sped up, then stopped marking time.
You lay there on the ground,
you made no breathing sounds.
You had to give your life away.
"Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sew nor reap
nor gather food in barns,
yet your heavenly father feeds them"
when he's not watching them fall.
I never met you, but through your sons
and daughter beautiful (whose heart I've won).
They tell your stories, friend,
they've survived your absence,
but fathers weren't meant to die that way.
"Look at the birds of the air,
for they neither sew nor reap
nor gather food in barns,
yet your heavenly father feeds them"
when he's not watching them fall.
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10. |
Adventure Song
04:21
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I wish I could say the nightmares have gone away,
that when our heads rest in one bed
I soundly sleep and gently wake.
I wish you could quell the terrors that shake my faith,
but with you here, there's more to fear;
when I'm alone there's less at stake.
Now I see, the rift between
what I want and what I need
might never cease expanding.
So if you'll help me pack my things,
we'll venture through this valley
and ford the rivers winding.
I wish I could match your feelings with sympathy.
You've tried explaining what's to gain
by spending your time crying.
I wish I could understand, but it's beyond me.
Though my heart's cold through, I will hold you;
you can have my body heat.
Now I see, the rift between
what I want and what I need
might never cease expanding.
But I will help you pack your things,
we'll venture through this valley
and ford the rivers winding.
I wish we could say the sex has come easily,
that we've been Venus and Adonis,
basking in our ecstasy.
I wish we could say we've earned the looks and the winks
to the extent that they were meant.
We're not there, but we're trying.
Now I see, the rift between
what I want and what I need
might never cease expanding.
So let's sit down and pack our things,
we'll venture through this valley
and ford the rivers winding.
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