[00:35.70]Like faithful oxen through the chalk,
[00:39.93]With dragging tails of history walk.
[00:43.72]Soon confuse the compass and the cross.
[00:51.33]Carefully and cursively
[01:54.34]we fill our traveling diaries with loss.
[01:08.18]Beneath an angry Bible flood,
[01:13.06]Did you and I first learn to love.
[01:17.44]In my father's car we came to know.
[01:24.36]And shivered in our painted clothes
[01:28.75]and paired like every animal below.
[01:44.12]I will carry it with me, oh Lord.
[01:55.52]And maybe when the bitterness has gone,
[01:58.38]There'll be sweetness on our tongues once more.
[02:27.62]Barefoot in a rowing boat,
[02:31.49]You lose your shoes and freeze your toes.
[02:34.78]And say I wear my sorrow like a crown.
[02:42.69]And throw your arms around my head,
[02:45.85]and see it there in gold and red and brown.
[02:54.37]As heavy as a history book can be,
[02:59.24]I will carry it with me, oh Lord.
[03:09.51]And maybe when the bitterness has gone,
[03:13.22]There'll be sweetness on our tongues once more.
[03:25.93]We'll soon forget our parents' names,
[03:32.29]Like dogs will drive the wolves away.
[03:39.77]And weep with fingertips opposed,
[03:44.00]Like a church where nobody congregates.
[03:53.17]But sweetness sings in the pasture,
[03:57.76]We throw ourselves on the mercy of the earth.
[04:02.66]If sand and salt have the answer,
[04:05.09]Then the act itself will be louder than the word.
[04:09.01]And I'll be on your side
[04:10.00]And I'll be on your side
[04:16.00]And I'll be on your side
[04:23.55]But sweetness sings in the pasture,
[04:27.90]We throw ourselves on the mercy of the earth.
[04:29.76]If sand and salt have the answer,
[04:32.06]Then the act itself will be louder than the word.
[04:36.63]And I'll be on your side