The Waiting
The Waiting

note: click on a song title to view lyrics
1. Never Dim
2. How Do You Do That
3. Put The Blame On Me
4. It Is Enough
5. My Pride
6. Hands In The Air
7. Number 9
8. Better Off As Friends
9. Heaven Is Home
10. No Time For That
11. Indian Summer
12. Beautiful Blood

Shepherds' staves are crooked
Leading every crooked way
All the sheep block their doors
They're pulling down their shades
The faithful looking in their mirrors
The fateful growing old and gray

But I look at You
Your eyes are clear and bright
I see your face
It's an amazing sight
Your glory, Lord
Is still a burning light
The light that all our faithless hands
Could never dim

Think I feel the sunset
Think I smell the death of day
People laughing at a funeral
People dancing at a wake
And all the seasons blend together
This birds loosing feathers everyday

And everybody's tired and scared
And begging unbelief
But You have yet to break a sweat
No You're not afraid
You're not afraid
You're not afraid

Think I feel the sunset
Think I feel the close of day
Shepherds' staves are crooked
Leading every crooked way
People laughing at a funeral
And people dancing at a wake

(cooo cooo cooo...)
Maybe I could understand
How you called the darkness light
Maybe I could understand
How you made the waters flee
Maybe I could understand
How You gave all creation life
I'm an educated man
It's not too hard for me to see
But there's sumething about You
That confuses me yet
First You forgive
And then You forget

How do, Lord
Oh do, Lord, tell me
How do you do that?
How do you do that?

It's not too hard for me to see
How You woke the sleeping daughter
I'm holding my degree
Think maybe I could understand
And I've know Your forgiveness
For each and all of my days
But the way You've forgotten
Leaves me truly amazed

You know the hairs on my head
Yeah, You named every star
But I'm bowing on my knee
At how forgetful You are

You forgive, you forget
You forgive, and then You forget
You forgive, You forget
You forgive

Another day with you
I'm getting fitted for a millstone
It would've been better
Had I left you alone
So if Jesus finds you begging unbelief
Put the blame on me

I never failed to cry for you
I never failed to pray
I guess that failed to matter
To your blue eyes today
As they saw me stealing justice like a thief
Put the blame on me

Don't blame the truth
If you love the lie
Don't blame the deacon's gun
Don't blame a preacher, prophet, or a priest
But if it makes it easy
Put the blame on me

If I told you where to look
But failed to tell you what to find
If I led you down a road
That had a twisted center line
Or if I fed your dark sensibility
Put the blame on me

Don't blame your doubt
If you fear belief
Don't even blame your pain
Don't blame a burden only you can see
But if it makes it easy
Put the blame on me

Don't blame the truth
If you love the lie
Don't blame the deacon's gun
Don't blame a preacher, prophet, or a priest
Don't blame your doubt
If you hate belief
Don't even blame your pain
Don't blame a man
Pinned naked on a tree
Who died perfectly deperate
Who loves you desperately
No, Put the blame on me
Put the blame on me
Put the blame on me

There's something about the sorrow showing on your face
Something so tender and contrite
I know you're tired of being in this place
Your every daydream turns to night
And you've worked and strived and struggled
Until your fingers they've turned blue
From digging deep into the heart
Of what you can and cannot do

There's something about the hesitation in your step
Something so beautiful and scared
There's something hard about the truth that you accept
And still you find a Savior there
So don't you despise the road
Should it drive straight to the Son
He's got His reason to receive you
And doesn't need another one

The Blood, it is enough
For every man, woman and child
To be reconciled
The Blood, it is enough
For those of every shade of skin
To begin again

There's something about the way you cry yourself to sleep
Something so destitute and poor
Sweet is every tear that's running down your cheek
How each one clears the way for more
So if it drives you to the Savior
Then don't disconnect the pain
He's got one excuse to hold you
And never let you go again

Everybody has tarried
In a barren land
Even in a devil's den
But if the cross that you carry
Should slip from your hands
Get on your knees
And pick it up, pick it up, pick it up again

The day's divided my attention
Like a thousand days before
So as darkness falls around me
I'm in need of something more
For the wretch from the Redeemer
For the sinner from the Son
Who is arrayed in light forever
Who is the only Holy One
His heart has never hardened
His tongue has never lied
He sure has affected my pride

So I've harbored my redemption
And I've gathered my regrets
And I've gathered my regrets
And I've struggled like a debtor
Who's still carrying his debts
I've wandered like an orphan
Down every dirty street
Till I stood before the Man
Who bent down to wash my feet
And then He brought me to His table
A son He never denied
He sure has affected my pride

I used to put You to the test
Used to barrel out my chest
So much bigger than the rest
But now I'm crawling on my face
For a Savior's saving grace
It looks like You've finally put me
Into a place where I realize
It's time we got together
A Father and His son
The day threw dice for my affection
And now You're the only One
Who interprets my condition
Who sees clearly through the wreck
Who saw me crumble 'neath the weight
Of this piece of tin around my neck
A cross I never could've carried
No matter how hard I tried
He sure has affected my pride
Yeah, He sure has affected my pride

The day's divided my attention
Like a thousand days before
So as darkness falls around me
I'm in need of something more

If I raise my hands just to lift the shade
Will I reveal a sky heavy and gray?
Will last night be a memory sweetly fading?
How I hate a morning starting out this way
On these lonely, raging mornings I would whip You if I could
But You're on the mighty side of strong
And the perfect side of good

If I raise my hands will You grab my by the wrists
And will You try to pull me from the fray?
And even if my fingers join together into fists
Will You hold me firmly anyway?
Because I would try to escape You but for everyday I'm sure
That You're on the huge side of big
And the holy side of pure

Okay
Hear what I say
As I raise my hands in surrender today
Okay
Here I will stay
Hands in the air, singing have Thine own way

If I raise my hands so weak and thin and frail
Will You reveal the light of mercy in Your eyes?
If I cry to You faintly will my feeble whisper fail?
Or will it find its way to a reply?
Because, now that I'm exhausted I think I'm ready to admit
That I have spent all my resistance on someone I can't resist

Light from my window sill, make my way to the door
I hang my head and still, I know you're wanting more
Over the threshold now, I move across the yard
All that my will allows, my every step is hard
Now in the garden I carve out six feet of space
There make my will comply, lie down upon my face
Been toe to toe too long, I'm tired of fighting You
I see You were too strong 'cause I am black and blue
But now I understand a loser's due to win
How every dying man is sure to rise again
So I raise my left hand one, I raise my right hand two
Under the morning sun, my spirit cries to You

Okay
Hear what I say
As I raise my hands in surrender today
Right here
Under the sun
Hands in the air, saying Thy will be done

I'm here
Under the sun
Hands in the air, singing Thy will be done Okay
Here I will stay
Hands in the air, singing have Thine own way
Have Thine own way

Don't believe another song could ever change the world
Don't believe that little boys grow up to be little girls
Don't believe that wishing ever really made it so
Don't believe you love me, you don't tell me anymore
Don't believe that suicide could ever open up any door

Can't count on my lucky star, if I don't know where it's at
Can't count on my fingers, I've got more sense than than
Can't count on my money, it all goes to pay the rent
Can't count on philosophers if I don't know what they meant
There's a time for counting one by one
And time for counting what's been spent

Some people live their lives
Like they're on number 9
But I'm gonna be around
For a long, long time

I see a stately temple standing in a trance
I see the saints of God breaking into dance
I see a band of angels running up and down the stairs
I see a thousand sparrows floating in the air
I see a love-sick Savior, and I can see the scars that He wears

Some people live their lives
Like they're on number 9
But I'm gonna be around
For a long, long time

I don't wanna live my life
In an endless nursery rhyme
For I'm gonna be around
For a long, long time

Please excuse my religion
Excuse the ceremony and the show
When I first gave in to Your advances
You were wanting to get closer than I'd know
But I'll allow if for a moment
For just a moment I'll come near
Long enough to say those words
That all men are taught to fear

I think we'd be better off as friends
I think that should be where it ends
There's no complicated reason
Just as simple as sin
I think we'd be better off as friends

Please excuse my reluctance
Turn Your eyes away from my embarrassed grin
Never gone this far before
Don't think I could ever go this way again
So I'll just raise my head
And look deep into Your eyes
And offer You those words
I've been conditioned to despise

I wanted flowers
You were buying me a ring
I wanted candy
You were giving everything

You took my breath away
Don't think that I have denied it
But this heart You've stolen, Sir
Do You think we could still divide it?

If a body that suffers is done with sin
As Saint Peter said
Then I saw perfection's bones
Barely holding skin
Melting in the bed
The biggest man I knew
Was barely days away from dead
And he said, "Heaven is home"

The third step-son of a seventh son
My mother's only dad
Now lay down, stricken
One desperate lung
And Marlboro mad
Still that man breathed in enough
To be amazed at all he had
And he sang, "Heaven is home"

His last breath he took
He read from the book
It said everybody dies
Now he's two years gone
And I still can look
At tears in my mother's eyes
She says "Son, what matters most
Is the way you wave goodbye
And if Heaven is home"

It's a crying shame
Outside in the street
Inside the pouring rain
Still these thoughts remain
I thought we were way beyond this
Our back door wars
And front door bliss
It tears me up
It tears you down
It tears us apart

There's no time for that (no time)
No time for that (no time)
No time for that (no time)
There's no time for that (no time)

Put myself to bed
To sleep it all away
But the morning said
"I'm even angrier today"
Now I'm just so tangled in pride
From keeping everything inside
I can't see your face
Your beautiful face
My eyes are too red

I'm not a little boy anymore
(Why should I act like one?)
Treating You like a toy
(This game is losing its fun)
You and I know
There's no time for that

When the sun is just behind the trees
You can see that it's a new day
When the sun is breaking through the trees
You can put your mind at ease
Put your mind at ease
The sun is shining

When the fields are growing heavier with grain
You can harvest for the winter
When the fields are growing heavier with grain
You can put your mind at ease
Put your mind at ease
The fields are turning
Put your mind at ease
The fields are turning

One summer night, I would long to have You near me
All other nights, I would wait forever
One summer night, will I recognize Your form
On a hill far away?

When the sun lies lowly in the west
You can feel the embers glowing
When the sun leaves us for the season
You can put your mind at ease
Put your mind at ease
The embers glowing
Put your mind at ease
The embers glowing

One summer night, I would long to have You near me
All other nights, I would wait forever
One summer night, will I recognize Your form
On a hill far away and coming...

When you hold the bread in your hands
You can stay as long as you want
Hold the bread in your hands
You can put your mind at ease
Put your mind at ease

One summer night, I would long to have You near me
All other nights, I would wait forever
One summer night, will I recognize Your form
On a hill far away and coming home?

Breaking the coals
Makes the fire burn bright
Doesn't seem right
Doesn't seem right

Plowing the row
Makes it outshine the field
Doesn't seem real
Doesn't seem real

But of all the things
That don't make sense to me
There is yet a greater mystery
The river of Peace
That flowed on the wood
The beautiful blood
The beautiful blood

Meek is the lion
and brave is the lamb
Don't understand
Don't understand

The death of the One
To bring life to the rest
Who would have guessed?
Who would have guessed?

But everything's clear
Next to the mystery
Of almighty God nailed to a tree
To carry a debt
That I never could
The beautiful blood
The beautiful blood

Yes, everything's plain
Next to the mystery
Of almighty God nailed to a tree
Taking His place
Where I should have stood
The beautiful blood
The beautiful blood