1. |
joshua maiden
04:05
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My name is Joshua Maiden
I am a Navajo man
in the ways of my fathers
I once lived off of this land
My children have grown white
they no longer let me roam
I am the penned-in stallion
inside the old folks home
so I sing to buy my supper
of caring human hands
that touch with hesitation
like I am half a man
Bless me, powers of the four winds
White corn, make me whole
Yellow corn, call my lover’s spirit
Take me where the fluted grass still rolls
My name is Joshua Maiden
I was born in 1895
and I have sucked upon the pebbles of this earth
when she gave me no rain to keep me alive
My children are in the city
they do not see me for I am blind
the nurses hear me chant and wonder
what songs of drama might lurk behind
My name is Joshua Maiden
I grew up poor but I filled out proud
my withered hands curl
my eyes grow wide
my toothless grin spreads
and I sing out loud
My children see me old and hopeless
my buckskin split
I’ll make my deathwalk soon
but I am far away from this sleepy tied-down stupor
I crouch and pick the scent up
on a lone hunter’s noon
Bless me power of the four winds
White corn, make me whole
Yellow corn, call my lover’s spirit
Take me where the fluted grass still rolls
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2. |
lady of the tower
03:52
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3. |
anygood
04:08
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4. |
bitter blood & envy
02:50
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5. |
childhood's end
05:15
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When I was a little boy
I played in fallow fields
And winds like this
Blew cotton clouds
Above the ground
On which I kneeled
I knew no want or hunger
‘Though I never had as much
I knew of love no greater
Than my sweet mother’s touch
I had few friends to call my own
Yet who I had were such
That I recall them again and again
Before Childhood’s End
Then suddenly my world fell down
My clothes no longer fit
I came into a cold grey dawn
I was told that “This is it.
You’ll fight for what you should have
‘Though you never will arrive.
Instead of being happy,
You better struggle just to survive.
And every day you’ll battle with
Just so you can feel alive,
Like you did, my friend,
Before Childhood’s End.”
So now that I am all grown up
I’m free to take my place
Become one of my boyhood dreams
And join the human race.
But racing for more marbles
Or for a bigger toy
Reminds me of my younger days
When I was just a boy.
So maybe of all the things we seek
It’s just to find the past again
Blustery blue and fallow fields
Before Childhood’s End.
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6. |
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7. |
teaching the blues
02:22
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8. |
that we are gone
04:56
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9. |
three sins of lancelot
07:14
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I thought of you when the leaves were changing
when I was changing
you entered my dreams
arranging
sitting next to her
you introduced me as your best friend
a bit of irony which you did not intend
I caught the silent glance that signaled
the forming crust of frost
upon the panes of glass between us
moments murdered what was once our happy commerce
now forced like hope
between lines of tragic verse
written by the King of Sorrows
with a chest of gold tomorrows
whose court is empty and barren
with none to rule who for a time was
entertained by this one captive
first a knight, then a knave, then just a fool
unhappy freedom in trying so hard to please you
but freedom still takes me through this veil of tears
with food enough to nourish through the winter
better than our friendship did through the years
And every seventh season,
like a plague upon my crop
you telephone or write a card
and I wish that you would stop
there's nothing to be gained by this bold adventure
but my harsh memory of your censure
The many silent months that passed so slowly by
the wind against me blew a wood chip into my eye
I do not cry for drunken summers
asleep on your front lawn,
or inside your father’s auto
as he left for work at dawn. . .
too much hashish and tequila
too much jazz and poetry
without which
unsedated
I would have surely seen
that this court was empty
None to worship and adore you
You became a silent vision
Lancelot was made insane
by betrayal and indecision
left to walk the world alone
as a caricature of need
his pull is very strong on me
but so are the hurts that made me bleed
And I do not make friends with men easily
mistrusting trust, just a few can be with me
who do not yearn to seduce my woman
or betray me in some other way
or enact their noble thoughts and deeds
while hiding hate that may have made
the bond between us more true
the secret anger
the secret anger
that grew in you
Three sins did Lancelot commit
and visit on his friend
his lust, broken trust, and
no words
for friendship's end
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10. |
wrong way to show it too
05:22
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I would walk across the water for you
If I thought that you would change.
If I really do not matter to you,
Why do you act so strange?
The sun might burn me easily,
But still I only stare,
Wondering where you've gone to now
When even the dogs beware
Of the wrong way to show it too.
Your voice is like a stalk of wheat
Gone dead in the heat of drought.
Are you really trying to act so sweet?
Is that what you're about?
And am I here to wish you well
And hanging by a thread
Between dreams you won't admit to now
And a walk amongst the dead
With the wrong way to show it too?
A Sunday morning christening
And a phone call from the moon.
You might just be that far away,
Like the echo of a loon.
I mourn the summer never known
In a year that never passed
On a day I never spent with you
We both knew would be our last
And the wrong way to show it too.
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david edward walker Indianola, Washington
"With a style that encompasses urban and rural images, rich metaphors, spiritual themes, moving ballads, and ambitious
fingerstyle guitar work, David Edward Walker (aka 'David Folks') is a singer-songwriter with special ability to reach listeners on an emotional level."
~ Music Hound,
The Essential Folk Album Guide
"Spilled poetic love." ~ Dirty Linen
"Folk Hero."
~Detroit Monthly
... more
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