the earth's spheres (written by katherine e. mccormick, lyrics by mary m. viers, music by david t.s. barron)

the earth is made up of four spheres

now let this song fall upon your ears

three physical realms of which i speak

truly make this earth unique

the fourth is not to be forgot

it's you and i that's quite a lot

the hydrosphere is a mass of water

in oceans and in clouds if hotter

71% of the surface it does cover

but the biosphere it does not smother

the biosphere includes all life on earth

plants and animals of every worth

the earth is surrounded by a gassy shell

this atmosphere does treat us well

the atmosphere is relatively thin

from heat it protects us and our kin

the solid earth is the final sphere

under the oceans is the geosphere

from earth's surface to its center it extends

in mass competitions it always wins

soil transcends sphere's limits

to no sphere does soil commit

these spheres make up a dynamic body

they interact they like to party

separately they have no soul

together they are a whole

battle of the theories (written by katherine e. mccormick, lyrics by mary m. viers, music by david t.s. barron)

the theory of catastrophists

made them nothing but mere sophists

for centuries their wrongful form

was accepted as the norm

that earth's landscapes had been shaped primarily

by a series of catastrophes

then came Hutton, the great scot

to show them all what they knew not

that the laws today were laws forever

it always took that long weather

uniformitarianism this was called

catastrophism was thus mauled

rake (orig. by townes van zandt)

I used to wake and run with the moon
I lived like a rake and a young man
I covered my lovers with flowers and wounds
My laughter the devil would frighten
The sun she would come and beat me back down
But every cruel day had it’s nightfall
I’d welcome the stars with wine and guitars
Full of fire and forgetful

My body was sharp the dark air clean
And outrage my joyful companion
Whisperin’ women how sweet did they seem
Kneelin’ for me to command them
And time was like water but I was the sea
I’d have never noticed it passin’
Except for the turnin’ of night into day
And the turnin’ of day into cursin’

You look at me now, and don’t think I don’t know
What all your eyes are a sayin’
Does he want us to believe these ravings and lies
They’re just tricks that his brains been a playin’?
A lover of women he can’t hardly stand
He trembles he’s bent and he’s broken
I’ve fallen it’s true but I say unto you
Hold your tongues until after I’ve spoken

I was takin’ my pride in the pleasures I’d known
I laughed and thought I’d be forgiven
But my laughter turned ’round eyes blazing and
Said my friend, we’re holdin’ a wedding
I buried my face but it spoke once again
The night to the day we’re a bindin’
And now the dark air is like fire on my skin
And even the moonlight is blinding

pancho and lefty (orig. by townes van zandt)

Living on the road my friend
Was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron
Your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy
But her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye
And sank into your dreams

Pancho was a bandit boys
His horse was fast as polished steel
Wore his gun outside his pants
For all the honest world to feel
Pancho met his match you know
On the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dying words
That's the way it goes

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him hang around
Out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues
All night long like he used to
The dust that Pancho bit down south
Ended up in Lefty's mouth
The day they laid poor Pancho low
Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go
There ain't nobody knows

All the federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Pancho fell
Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold
So the story ends we're told
Pancho needs your prayers it's true,
But save a few for Lefty too
He just did what he had to do
Now he's growing old

A few gray federales say
They could have had him any day
They only let him go so wrong
Out of kindness I suppose

the things i wish you could say

As we walk down a road that's beaten and treaded there's only one thing on my mind

ANd as you lie there crying looking deep in my eyes only one thing's a surprise

it's that you think that i could ever not love you it's that you think i'd ever leave you

and in your deepest darkest moment of fear and doubt i hope you know that isn't tru

So keep on playing on the stage that's cracked and it's burning remember one thing that remains

even though i didn't carry you in my belly you're still my son this much is plain

even though you fucked up and you lied about it the world's not over not all's lost

and even though it seems like i have no love for you it's not just you that's been caught

in a web of drama, the divorce has turned so rotten but at least that part is not your fault

but way deep down in my soul i know i can forgive you and i know that we will make it through

You're captured inside my heart and i'm captured in yours nothing else matters today

And if i go down tonight you are going with me. there's nothing that you can say

don't go

I know you think you've got to go

But you know that you don't

I know this seems to be the worst

But lie to me and say i was your first

You don't have to go no you don't have to leave me behind

You don't have to run from how you know feel deep inside

You're scared of me so badly

That you feel that in my company

You will break down and won't be so hard

Is that so bad? that must be the hardest part

break free

I want to break free of these chains holding me i want to finally see

the world through clear eyes the pure blue of the sky the clouds the snow white

My vision it won't clear i'm facing down the fear of being viewed as weird

Because everything we are is changing from afar we're being pulled apart

Now why would i care where you're from or where you are going to

Everything is changed from the shorelines to the rain from the forests to you

My vision it will clear as i go to you from here i don't care if i am weird

Because all i want is you when you're around i can't feel blue i don't curse and i don't brood

These things you do for me you help me break free of these chains holding me

I hope i can help you i think that i do it's the best i could hope to

But i'm scared as i look down the path my life will take i frown uncertainty it clouds

my vision once again, but then you come to me best friend and i can see again

My vision it has cleared. i'm done facing the fear. i'm embracing that i'm weird

you help me be myself. just me and no one else. just by being you.