Song Lyrics by Braden Canfield

When I Fall from the Grace of God (6/06)

In the middle of an unpredicted rain
One shoe stuck in the mud
Without a happy place to go inside my brain
I’m just waiting for the flood
Just the same as Noah’s second cousin, Joe
I’ve got no ticket for the boat
But, hell, there’s something that I’ve long wanted to know
Do I sink or do I float

When I fall from the grace of God…

Like a hungry fish that’s hanging on a hook
The situation seems my fault
But when somebody tells me where I cannot look
Every time I’ll turn to salt
And reaching for the double fortune in the bush
I lose the treasure in my hand
Living on the edge like this, just one small push
Has me wondering where I’ll land

When I fall from the grace of God…

There’s a million zillion stars up in the sky
And all that space that’s in between
Then there’s that place they say you go to when you die
No one I know has ever seen
They say that faith and hope are useless to the dead
The truth is known to them alone
But when they finally wrap the linen round my head
Who’ll come and roll away the stone?

When I fall from the grace of God…

Love, love, they say that love is everywhere…
When I fall from the grace of God


Like a Buffalo on the Highway (1/11)

Well, I live on the side of a four lane
In a house among houses in rows
Growing grass in a forest of ashes and oak
While the motor machines come and go
I don’t think we were meant to be here
At least not in the numbers we are
Covering the soil with our houses and gardens
And gravel and concrete and tar

Like a coyote lost in the suburbs
Like an owl in the heat of the day
Like a prairie bloom breaking a crack in the black top
Like a Buffalo on the highway

We haul all this stuff in from strip malls
And then plug ourselves into the grid
Then we throw all the wrappers and stuffing away
And knock it around awhile like some kid
And then when it’s no longer shiny
We feel vaguely anxious and blue
So we store it away in the attic
And go looking for something brand new

Like a coyote lost in the suburbs…

Oh. What have we done to our spirits?
That we’ve hollowed them out from inside
Just to fill them again with synthetics
That will not decompose when we die
And what have we done to our bodies
To subject them to so many knives
And patch them together with spackle and string
Just to lengthen our sterilized lives

Like a coyote lost in the suburbs…


Darwin and Jesus (7/99)

Darwin was a Christian
Jesus was a Jew
Both went in the wilderness
And it changed their point of view
Darwin said, “I don’t know much about God,
But I think that life crawled out of the sea.”
Jesus said, “I don’t know much about Darwin,
But I think that God is me.”

Darwin, in the garden
Saw many kinds of the very same bird
Jesus, in the garden
Struggled with God’s holy word
Darwin discovered Natural Selection
Then he had a cup of Oolong tea
Jesus drank from a bitter cup
And cried out, “Why has God selected me?”

Darwin and Jesus…Long lost friends
Jesus and Darwin…Together again

Darwin took a boat ride
Upon a wild and reckless gale
But when Jesus took to water
He needed neither hull nor sail
Jesus walked up to the Beagle
And said, “Charlie, won’t you let me in?”
Darwin said, “You’re always welcome here.
Won’t you forgive me of my greatest sin?”

Darwin and Jesus…Long lost friends
Jesus and Darwin…Together again

Darwin had a restless mind
But he died a peaceful man
Jesus had a soul serene
But he died by vicious hands
Darwin went to Heaven
And wondered how he had evolved his wings
But he flew right over to Jesus’ throne and said,
“Blessed are You among these ape-like things.”

Darwin and Jesus…Long lost friends
Jesus and Darwin…


Dakota Sunflower (6/95)

My love is from Dakota where the sunflowers grow
And her eyes seek the sunlight wherever it goes
Maybe it’s raining and sometimes it snows
But my love seeks the sunlight wherever it goes

We married in the evening with the sun going down
And she said she’d stand by me while the world spins around
She carried a sunflower she plucked from the ground
And she said she’d stand by my while the world spins around

And I’ll live with that woman till the end of my days
Who is just like the flower that drinks pure sun rays
So in my dark hour or when the sun’s lost in haze
I’ll find my Dakota sunflower and follow her gaze


Searching for the Sun (12/08)

I think that I could use a change
Take a breather for awhile
Maybe ride out on the open range
Maybe walk a hundred lonely miles
There’s a darkness that’s been dogging me
It hounds my heels until I climb up that old tree
The same tree I’ve been climbing everyday
Waiting for the dark to go away

I think it’s time to pack a bag
Find a road that’s headed east
Shed some ballast and reduce the drag
Hunker down and turn to face the beast
Every day it’s been same old grind
The shadows lengthen and I slowly lose my mind
The same mind I’ve been losing everyday
Waiting for the dark to go away

I’m listening for the bugle call
The morning bird’s gentle thrum
I feel for signs of warmth in the air
I’m searching for the sun…

Brother could you spare a light
No, not for a cigarette
I need something to dispel the night
A little glow I can hold near my chest
Just a patch of warmth is all I need
To loosen up my soul and plant a tiny seed
The same seed I’ve been planting everyday
Hoping that its roots will find a way
To make a feast out of all this decay
And send a sprout up for a sign of day
And hang on till the darkness goes away

I’m listening for the bugle call…


Gentle Sailor Restless Sea (Norman’s Song) (4/05)

He was a gentle sailor on a restless sea
An orphan who came home to raise a family
And he tended to the fire down at the factory
That gave the prairie light
Kept the home fires burning bright
Bound away, old sailor, bound away
Keep her steady as she goes.


He found an anchor for his heart under Dakota skies
A pretty prairie bloom to grow besides him till he died
Now the seeds that they have scattered flourish far and wide
The children all are well
Oh, the stories they will tell
Bound away, old sailor, bound away
Keep her steady as she goes

And when the night stretches far
Set your course by the stars
Where she sails, the soul only knows
But there’s a red sky tonight
It’s a sailor’s delight
Steady on, old sailor, as she goes

When the weather and the ages took his memory
You could still look into his eyes and see the open sea
Where a too long land-locked spirit is full sail and free
A silhouette against the sun
From the shore, we say “Well done.”
Bound away, old sailor, bound away
Keep her steady as she goes


Gone All Wonder (8/06)

I think that I remember you
So many different shades of blue
Or like you always had the flu
Or your marathon was through
Least that’s how I remember you

The last time I saw your face
You seemed to struggle to keep pace
One step ahead of full disgrace
One hand upon a can of mace
That’s what I saw in your face

But you have gone all wonder now
I can’t pretend that I know how
There’s an angel at your plow
A cool rag upon your brow
You have gone all wonder…

Didn’t you used to sit alone?
Like a dog without a bone
Or like you crawled under a stone
Your head where sun has never shown
Didn’t you used to sit alone?

I thought I heard that you had died
Or gotten taken for a ride
Somebody really tanned your hide
And you committed suicide
I thought I heard that you had died

But you have gone all wonder now
The waves are splashing on your prow
Like that guy who wrote the Tao
You’ve come back to show us how
To go all wonder…

There’s a diamond in your eye
A joie de vivre you cannot hide
Like there’s nothing you won’t try…
Won’t be surprised if I look up in the sky and see you
See you…

‘Cause you have gone all wonder now
And all I’ve got to say is “Wow”
Like Ram Dass in “Be Here Now”
It doesn’t pay to have a cow
When you can go all wonder…
Like that guy who wrote the Tao
You’ve come back to show us how
To go all wonder….now.


Maundy (God’s Broken Feast)(5/09)

This is the season of God in the grave
The labor of reason, the stumble of faith
The walk in the shadow of the dark side of love
Blood in the meadow from a wounded white dove
So we come to the table that we may find release
With our broken bodies to God’s broken feast

This is the hour of desperate prayer
When Infinite Power set its foot in the snare
The defenders of God have all fallen asleep
Death lifts up its rod and we scatter like sheep
So we come to the table seeking some kind of peace
With our broken bodies to God’s broken feast

This is the moment of death drawing nigh
Through mysterious torrent to the hurricane’s eye
While the suns of tomorrow descend and take flight
And the wolves of our sorrow go howl in the night
So we come to this table safe from tempest and beast
With our broken bodies to God’s broken feast

This is the dawning when we lie in death,
While Love flings wide the awning and lets in mornings breath
And our spirits afraid ‘neath the lids of our eyes
Venture out from the shade to look up to the skies
And come sit at the table facing full to the east
Here in our broken bodies at God’s broken feast


I Spent Eternity in Target Yesterday

I spent eternity in Target yesterday
Went to buy a spatula, decided I would stay
Came through the doors a young man ‘quainted with the country mile
Ended up an old man shuffling through the hardware aisle
I could have had a picnic on a boat on moonlight bay
Instead I spent eternity in Target yesterday

I let my thoughts go wandering and got lost inside my head
A journey of philosophy that never left my bed
It was a celebration of an intellectual kind
Until I got lost in my thoughts and nearly lost my mind
I could have gone out dancing with one ear pierced ruby red
Instead I let my thoughts go and get lost inside my head

But I found no clear reason for anything
No certain place we’re headed to
Yet I found the time you lose track of
Won’t lose track of you…

I was sitting flipping channels on the couch by the TV
I let my soul anesthetize in sweet complacency
Watching made-up people play their scenes by scripted scenes
Till I confused my own life for the patterns on the screen
I could have climbed a mountain just to see what I could see
But I was flipping channels on the couch by the TV

Wait a second. Honey…
Just a minute. Wait for me…

Let me get my walking shoes, some sandwiches and beer
I’ll put ‘em in a knapsack and find a ruby for my ear
We’ll go have some dinner in my cedar strip canoe
Then we’ll climb a mountain…
And do the boogaloo

So far away from Greatland in God’s country
We’ll do the boogaloo.


River Kyrie (4/09)

The river is rising
As our hopes tumble down
Every man, woman and child has their backs to the walls round the town
The northern snow’s melting
And it joins April rain
And the water swell’s breaching the levees and spills on the plains
If ever a family of man needed God to shine down
It is we with our homes in the wind in this riverbed town

We huddled all winter
Went our own separate ways
While our souls shrank in size to resemble the darkening days
But now we are standing
Faces full in the sun
Working shoulder to shoulder, this river has made us all one
And Easter is coming proclaiming life rising from death
We’ll all gather round, songs of resurrection on our breath

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison

Power in the River
Power in the Rain
And Power to people who gather in sorrow and pain
Power in the Neighbor
Power in the Hands
Of God’s children who wrestle the rivers in every land
If ever the Family of Man needed God to shine down
It is we with our hopes in the wind and our feet on the ground

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison

And Easter is coming reminding us all will be well
And nothing will keep us from God, neither river nor hell

Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison



Mother Earth and Father Sky (9/07)

I am crossing through the stream
Mountain water cool and clean
Walking with ancestral dead
Forest steeples overhead
Healing water from the spring
Where the wild Coyote sings
Heyoka, you sacred clown
Hokahey, I’m going down
Where the Mother lives

I am dreaming with the saints
Feel my body growing faint,
Beautiful insatiate thirst,
With the grace of God immersed
Lifting voice and arms above
Welcome the Descending Dove
Holy Ghost, you sacred clown
Hallelujahs rising round
Where the Father lives

There’s a magnet in my eye
That is pulling down the sky
Spilling colors in my head
Evening blue and morning red
Earth is dancing with a twist
Tangled in its gown of mist
Universe, you sacred clown
Falling up and rising down
Where the Spirit lives

Mother Earth and Father Sky
In the center, here am I
Rooted as an ancient tree
Like a Raven flying free
Thunder beings rumble round
From the heavens angels sound
Heyoka and Holy Ghost
Earthen and the heavenly host
Where the Mother lives
Where the Father lives
Where the Spirit lives


Prairie Thunder (10/05)

I was standing on the Prairie
When the Thunder spoke to me
While above my head like loaves of bread
Clouds were breaking over me
The evening sun dipped down below them
To pour like red wine on the land
When the Thunder said, “I’ll strike you dead
And scoop your soul up in my hand.”

So I flung my arms above my head
In surrender and in praise
And I sang a hallelujah
To the storm’s mysterious ways
Then I summoned for its power
On a rail of heat and light
To catch me up into the darkening blue
And lift me through the holy night

Now the Thunder rumbled long and low
Till it’s anger shook the ground
And I heard it say, “It’s your last day,
Why do I hear this joyful sound?”
I said “I stand before you fierce and frail
For I have nowhere to hide
And without a shelter, port or shield
I may as well enjoy the ride”

I raised my head to face the darkness
Wind and water touched my brow
And I let the rain remove my stain
Then I said, “I’m ready now”
Then the Thunder came unto me
Till the light and sound were one
When it reached its jagged finger down
And lit my spirit like the sun

Now I may have gone to paradise
Or descended into hell
Or perhaps I linger in between
This is not for me to tell
I may be pulsing in a mother’s womb
In some dusty distant land
Or I may be something that
No human mind yet understands

I may be rising like a vapor
I may be falling like the snow
I may be haunting tangled forests
This is not for you to know
Perhaps you’ll hear me in the rumble
Of a prairie thunderhead
But there’s one thing you can hold on to
I am most certainly not dead