Lyrics for Of the Depths
1 - Taste
I was eighteen that September. You and I were still together
at Least as far as I can remember…
We had been partners from my youth. Said we would be come what may.
We were fine and, things were workin’, and I’d visit you on the weekends
But for the big wide world I was thristin’
You said “how ‘bout we settle down?”, I said, “I might someday.”
See I was achin’, for the big thing, like the lights and the crowd and the cheerin’
And the thought of regret I was fearin’
I knew you’d always have my back, so I turned and lead the way!
REFRAIN
But you never left my side, you never tired of waiting for me to come around.
(1) Even when I took the lead, you didn’t beg you din’t plead,
when you were hurt you didn’t make a single sound (but when )…
(2) Even when I ‘gan to stray, a-try’n to pave my own way
you walked along down every road that I went down (but when )…
(3) And it’s all so plain to see, all I thought that I could be is nothing,
nothing , nothing next to what I found in you…
you gave me a taste of you, I tasted something more.
(3) you gave me a taste of you, and I’m comin’ back for more.
you gave me a taste of you, an’ that’s all there ain’t no more.
Soon after I was racin’. All the signs that i read said to hasten
Said you couldn’t be complacent
Sometimes I made those lofty goals, sometimes they slipped away.
But iof i caught them, they would vanish, if I fell too short I was famished
and the thought-a givin’ up I would banish
And every time I’d call you up, you didn’t have too much to say
So I called less, I didn’t feel pressed. I didn’t think of you in the darkness
still nothing left me wantless
And though I trembled in the night, i couldn’t see i was afraid
(TO REFRAIN 2)
Out-a luck an’ I was stuck in the swamp, in the quagmire muck an’
when they asked what was wrong I’d say, “nothing.”
How could I say I had no strength to loosen up my hold?
Tryied a-swimmin', but I was strugglin’, and a wave sent me into the deep end
Only knew how to float like a deadman
And both the fists I’d clenched to have had me sinkin’ like a stone
I was spoutin’, I was drownin’, but no-one could hear me a-shoutin’
no sound from my mouth came a soundin’
So from the dpeth I cried for you, who had left me on my own.
—-
Well, i woke up on the surface, on the grass with my heart like a furnace
there was someone who’d done me the service
who saw my tears float to the top, and who dove to take my hand
In an instant, then I knew it, it was you you alone who had done it
you had never left for a minute.
Youi breathed your breath into my lungs when I was safe on land
You put your face right to my face, and your arms wrapped around me like a lace
and you beauty gave me a purpose
You poured a radiant smile on me, and I didn’t want to stand.
(TO REFRAIN 3)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano, background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
2 - Barabbas
It was dark within my chamber, on the day I gained my sight
Prison doors came flying open, but I shrunk away in fright
For my eyes were not accustomed to the light
Didn't you know I was a convict? That I got what I deserve
Locked myself up, why would you set me free?
It makes no sense, it makes no sense to me
It makes no sense to me. Why would you give those keys to me? (No I say)
REFRAIN
You shall not,
I deny you like a rock.
You should cast me out,
like the angel who rebelled.
How can I receive?
I'm a murderer and a thiefa
nd I don't understand, descending dove
the words he spoke, “I do this out of love.”
REFRAIN 2
you shall not, say, get behind me little rock.
When I say, cast me out, clear the devil from my head.
When I can't receive, show me what I mean to thee
Help me understand, descending dove,
the voice that whispered from above,
and this freedom I've been dreaming of,
and the words he spoke, the words he spoke,
the word he spoke, I do this out of love.
________
Oh, I took all that was before me, to which I thought I had a right.
I spent it all on dissipation, went from my home I took my flight.
But I wound up in the cell when came the night.
What is this ring upon my finger? I didn't earn these rings so fine.
You wear a crown, while I Am lower than the swine.
Why did you come? What could you want from me?
What could you want from me? Too good to be true this sweet release. (No, I say)
———-(TO REFRAIN)
Now there's an open door before me. I hear the calling of the crowd.
But never once did they care for me, so full of anger, full of loud.
They gave me names, and I adopted them till now.
You wash my feet all sore and dirty. You clean my hands and head as well.
And still I'm worried, if I leave this lonely cell, you'll treat me like the rest of treated me.
Break these chains of disbelief. Help me bask within the mystery. (When I say)
——-(TO REFRAIN 2)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano, background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
David Kirsch - Background Vocals
Andrew Hunt - Background Vocals
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
3 - Israel
In the night I saw another, and it called me by my name
Was it a comrade, or the worst of enemies?
I tried to look it in the eye, it came in silent shadows nigh, and so I charged.
Yeah, I charged.
In a room of gold and silver, and I'm praying to myself.
It's all worth nothing, or it's all worth fighting for.
Scan the Earth and scan the sea. Is there a fool as big as me, who locks his head to see whose need first hits the ground?
The more I wrap my arms around it, all the more it throws me down.
The more I loosen up, it squeezes out my breath.
To stand strong is to stand crippled, and to fly is to be dust.
I wonder why I ever opened up my eyes.
And should I prove one day the victor, I'd be empty and alone.
If it departed, I would weep upon my throne.
But should it stay, and show me harm,
I don't think I could surrender to its arms.
In the night I saw another, and it called me by my name
Was it a comrade, or the worst of enemies?
I tried to look it in the eye, it came in silent shadows nigh, and so I charged.
Yeah, I charged. Yeah, I charged.
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- background vocals
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
4 - Signs
They laugh at the man at war with himself
Who took out his heart, and put it on the shelf.
They look down with scorn at his self-assigned yoke,
But they don't know that I am the brunt of their joke…
They scoff at the man, Who shied from the path,
Seeing many mislead by the men with the maps…
He deserted the signposts and took on the load,
Of a lonely man's walk-way, and an uncharted road.
Road… Oh. Road… Oh. But Ohhhhhh….. But where is the road.
REFRAIN
Can't just sit and watch…
Got nowhere to run and hide…
When everything is lost…
Where can you turn, but to the depths inside?
It's swallowing my soul…
Nobody understands…
No-way to patch these holes… in my hands.
________
Oh maybe they'll find, a quicker route home,
Than he who is Hell-bent on finding his own
But maybe they'll find he can do what they can't
Meet other lost souldiers, and give them a chance…
Yes, it's possible they, Will end up all fine,
By taking directions and following signs,
But off in the distance, on ground they ignored
He'll find all the seekers, and lead them to more
More…Oh. More… Oh. But Ohhhhhh……. But where is the more?
(To refrain)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- background vocals
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
5 - Faith
First time on his own.
Never been so alone
Is he feeling what they feel,
those who cannot say what’s true,
those who cannot say what's real?
His brains are full of granite.
He's floating high among the planets.
His friends are yelling with their eyes,
put your feet back on the ground,
but he can't give up the prize.
Oh, the mass will weigh him up,
and he cannot put it down,
no matter how he tries
REFRAIN
Won't you give him something?
Won't you offer him a sign?
He don't know anything at all,
and yet he knows it's by design.
Needs something solid, something hard,
that heavy question “why”.
Why should his heart discard the load?
Why should his heart discard the load?
That's burden lifts him to the sky.
_______________
Brother asks him, what's the status?
Says don't let your head become an atlas
It's far too easy to get lost.
it's hard to see it all yourself.
Harder still to count the cost.
He's thankful pages do not care
about heavy meanings that they bear.
Stroke by stroke a lightened pack,
dots and dashes on a line,
crooked scrawl, a straightened back
(TO REFRAIN)
Like a bird he's on a search.
He's looking down to find a perch.
His friends have found a place to stay.
They flew so they could land.
But he continues on his way.
And he wonders where's the line,
between having faith and telling lies.
How can he hold? How can he cling?
‘Cause when he's looking at his feet,
he can't forget he still has wings.
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
6 - Hope
I heard it said
that this is all we've got
In cold distraught I ponder on my bed
I'm still, but thoughts are racing through my head.
Could it all be true?
So often I've been wrong
This strange humility has taken hold of me.
The clashing gong I used to be won't sing It song.
I can't move on, I can't retreat.
All around me lies defeat.
But right before my eyes,
yeah, right before my face there lies a:
REFRAIN
Candle, standing so still,
like a sentinel keeping watch over my heart.
With your red flame that knows my name,
Purge away the stains of a world so full of dark
) And when the wasteland’s at my feet,
you are the loveliest thing I see.
When I'm not sure what I meant to be,
you shed your simple light on me.) And when the water is at my knees,
you are the loveliest thing I see.
When I'm not sure if I'm meant to be,
you shed your simple light on me.
________
Could it all be true?
I don't have the strength to fight.
An open pain, a draft, and then the gestures laugh,
and though this night of dark has passed, it echoes still,
Like some distance funeral toll
for my notion of control.
I can't hold, no I can't hold, no I can't hold,
but I'll receive. If every step you stay with me, oh,
(TO REFRAIN)
Oh, I see a…
(TO REFRAIN)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano,
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
7 - Love
Every time she comes home there’ a battle
He’s regular old man-o-war
He’s a spitfire oh, how he’ll prattle
Lest he seem like a bore
Well she sets down her purse full-a questions
That he answers before she can blink
She’s got a pondering mind for connections
But his feelings are all he can think
REFRAIN
But “it’s love I bear, oh, it’s love, she swears.
The kind that you want but don’t see”
She’s scared if she show love for who he is
Then he won’t become who he (1) could (2) should be
______
So she tells him the tales of her travels
Hopes to make him see more than he sees
But her tightly wound yarns he unravels
And dismisses her lessons with ease
So she cooks him a meal of reflections
Hopes to give him a taste for the truth
But her offerings are met with objection
They recall the rejection that flooded his youth
(To refrain)
There are days that she feels she’s made progress
But she don’t see behind his shifting eyes
There’s a deepening cavern of darkness
And it’s filled with the smallest of lies.
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano, background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records8 - Hole
Shiny shoes and a matching pair of socks
Tailored suit with a pin and working watch
Collared shirt with a Paisley tie
Clean teeth and a fresh cut hair
Good grades got an accoladed head
Reference and a resume
I got a job, got a place to work, got a place to work…
REFRAIN
1). Oh, What a fine, fine collection for pictures on the wall.
But I wonder what would happen should the waters rise or fall.
2). Oh, What a fine, fine variety of aptitudes on call.
Everyone can see he's talented, he's handsome, and he's tall.
3). Oh, What a fine, fine assortment of treasures that you haul.
But what you carry to impress, I cannot carry to a pall
There's a hole in the middle of it all, of it all, there's a hole in the middle of it all
___________
Sturdy limbs, not a sickly little cell
Body strong for the workhorse sport.
It can draw, it can build, it can talk, it can eat, it can play, it can dance, it can sing,
it can run, it can jump, it can lift, it can lie, it can sit, it can stare, but it can't pray…
no, it can't pray!
(To Refrain 2)
Safe home when it's either hot or cold
Belly full with a drink in hand
Find friends with their heads on straight
And a family who feeds the soul
Money saved in the bank account
Every need and a little bit more
Got a car with a tank that's full, with a tank that's full…
but where will I go?
(To Refrain 3)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- background vocals
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
9 - Whole
There's something sacred about this lone examination.
Probably won't help me, to make of it a song
But there was a time I didn't know what I didn't know about myself.
And now I think I know exactly what I don't.
REFRAIN
Hey, Daddy hey oh, hey Daddy,
It's a long road winding home
I could walk it for myself, I could walk it for another,
I could walk it all alone, or with sisters and brothers
But the lights will fade, and everything I own
is going to blow away like dust on ancient tome.
And should I make or break my goals,
I'm going to need a hand upon my Soul-derBut I'm going to turn gray, and everything I own,
is going to no decay like flesh on ancient bones.
And be I young or be I old, I'm going to need a hand upon my shoul…
Without my o Daddy hey Daddy-O, I could never be whole
_______________
It's funny searching, when you know you cannot find it.
The thing you're after is of the depths and of the din.
Can't tell what's wrong, but I guess that's nothing new for me
Just need some one-on-one time with my Dad.
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- backgrund vocals
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
10 - Foundation
Do not touch my body… I would rather, you touched me.
Turn yourself to face me, do not turn to me your face
REFRAIN
Come to me… and sit with me in ashes on the ground.
If there's nothing I can find let me be found.
Oh don’t say a word it won’t be heard.
I'll take in sound, but I can't yet listen.
) Come to me… everyone has got an army camped around.
And I haven't jars enough to make a sound.
Won't shake their hands or take their lands
There's no place to stand, when there's no foundation.) Come to me… every structure that I've built has fallen down
And my throat is bent beneath my heavy crown.
Can't sing a song or tell what's wrong
Can't say how long, I'll have no foundation.
_________
Wrap yourself around me
But keep your borders far from mine
Press who I am… close to who you are…
and I'll be strong enough to take a step towards…
(To Refrain 2)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano, background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Electric Guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
11 - Simeon
REFRAIN
A’hall that’s happened since then… a year ago I’s in my youth…
It don’t flow easy from a pen
Some travel far to find truth, some answer found in foreign lens…
some stake a claim and build a booth.
1.) If I’s to say the things I’ve seen with open eyes to what’s in front of me,
I’m afraid that it would vanish… like a drowner into the sea.
If’ I’s to say the things I’ve seen with open eyes to what’s in front of me,
They would vanish like a prisoner set free
2.) If I explained the things I’ve seen, that have arisen from the depths of me,
I’m afraid that they would vanish like announced humility.
If I explained the things I’ve seen I cannot, no, not comprehensively.
They would grow into another dark machine
3.) f I’s to sing of all the things, I have beheld in lonely mystery,
I’m afraid that they would crumble like pair of melting wings
Will you show this light I’ve seen, reveal to them what you’ve revealed to me?
These holes within my hands, my only glory...
There is no canticle for me, to sing of what I hold, no, I’ve received…
But I’ll be here father, ‘til you me go in peace.
_______
I was young when you called me, though it was a whisper.
Went straight to the temple, to await further word
It was stony and cold, there, but the place I preferred,
It was there I could hear the voice echo
Well, the whisper grew louder, and filled up my soul,
It filled up my temple as I began to grow old,
And it became a promise, to which I could hold
But I's taken aback when I held It…
(To refrain 2)
Wait so long for something, you cannot believe,
When it's presented to you, a gift to receive.
It fell short of the way, I had pictured in dreams,
and Yet somehow the REAL was far better.
This promise in hand, worth two in the head.
But I scarcely can hold It, what more can be said.
Did I tremble and shake, must-a looked like the dead,
’Fraid a whisper returned, would destroy You
(To refrain 3)
Credits
Jacinta Nguyen- Piano, background vocals
Vivian Stoltz - Cello
Joseph Lundsten - Bass Guitar
David Kirsch - Background Vocals
Isaiah Lippert - Lead vocals, guitar, Percussion
Written by Isaiah Lippert
Recorded with Kasey Devine at Devine Intervention Studio, Big Lake, MN,
Post Production by David Adam Kruse, Enemy Love Records
