Get all 6 Two For The Show releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Odds & Ends, Double 'B' Side: The Coldwater Sessions, 2007, SLCC 2023, Christmas Is Coming, Likely Story, and Folk Song of the Fringe - ๐๐ฌ๐ฟ ๐๐ช๐ ๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐พ.
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Well, it came about on a Saturday. Cuz the stars wouldn't have it any other way.
A young man came from northern frontiers with a book that would still all our fears.
And it told of a man and his sons in the Holy Land, ancient Jerusalem.
The man saw on a hill in a dream fiery omens of impending doom.
He gathered together his wife, sons and daughters
and fled with all haste to the great wilderness.
In time, as they wandered, they came to great waters
which carried them forth to their land of promise.
So they sailed on a ship โcross the sea to inherit the blessings of libertyโฆ
in a land promised them from above โฆ for as long as theyโd serve God in love.
But their prophets did tell of a time when the people would cease to be led by God.
They foretold of its utter demise at the hands of an unruly lot. /their
They strove to be righteous and follow the word. /, relied on the Lord
Their leaders preached peace, and they gave up the sword.
In time, they were blinded with pride and ambition
And gave up their right to the land of promise.
coda:
And what is the point of this sobering tale?
Why strive to be righteous if we're bound to fail?
If weโre doomed to dwindle in disbelief anyway,
why chase this unholy grail?
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2. |
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- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Adam worshipped at an altar built from smooth, round river stones.
Knowing not the ritualโs purpose, he knelt there just the same.
And this he did, day after day, in a solitary limbo,
never growing old, and never feeling pain. Iโm going back there once again.
To Adam-Ondi-Ahman where the Ancient One of Days did walk
and talk with our first parents like a person, face to face.
Just like a person face to face.
Eve was accosted by the serpent,
that snake of ancient disrepute.
Slyly, did that wily trickster beguile this innocent.
He plucked the fruit โฆ and she did eat,
gaining God's forbidden wisdom.
And Adam, when he learned what mischief had transpired,
knew just what he must do.
In Adam-Ondi-Ahman where the mother of all living spawned a
race of human children who are propagating still.
Could she imagine where it all would lead?
As for Father Adam, don't doubt ... he was hopelessly naรฏve.
Of the notion of small children, he hardly could conceive.
A child himself, born yesterday, he could never have predictedโฆ
That today he'd be the father of mankind, the patriarch of all time.
To Adam-Ondi-Ahman where Father Adam came to be.
Adam-Ondi-Ahman where Father Adam came to be.
And thatโs my destination on this brisk Missouri day.
Iโve come several hundred miles to see this place.
Adam-Ondi-Ahman, where โฆ such things came to pass
at the mysterious beginnings ... of human history.
Adam-Ondi-Ahman, where โฆ gods and angels tarried
at the great inauguration of our genealogy.
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3. |
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
When the stars fall down from heaven one by one,
trailing wispy strands of stardust in their wake,
when the darkness is com- plete,
will we find the peace we seek,
or will we simply cease to wonder and to be?
Will the end-of-times pre- dictions all come true?
Will the ground beneath our feet commence to quake?
Will we suffer crushing heat?
Will we lose our power of speech,
or will we find that, of a sudden, we are free?
Will you still love me?
Will you want to be with me for all time and for all eterni- ty?
Will benign di- vinities re- ceive us, welcoming us back home?
--harmonica solo on verse chords--
And, when the good Lord calls this weary trave- ler home,
tell me, will you miss me when I'm gone?
And will we meet a- gain some distant, bright Kolob morn?
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4. |
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
What do we really know after allโs said and done?
What have the centuries of human history taught us about who we are?
Who made the moon and stars? Did it happen all by chance? Or was it God?
And what does a scientist see under her microscope?
Is it conceivable โฆ that all life on earth started as slime in the mud?
I'm kind of hoping it's not, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Prophets, philosophers, science and medicine,
who has the truth, is it Smith or Edison?
And who is the father of all, is it God up a- bove,
or was it just a germ?
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5. |
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
โIn your world, nothing is ever shaken.
Life is good, and everything goes your way.
It's all been decided, (Don't try to ex- plain) and nothing will change. (It doesn't matter anyway),
and everything else will fade away.
In your mind, prophets of God have spoken.
There's no room for those who might doubt or stray.
It's all or it's nothing. (Donโt ever stray!) Itโs never halfway. (Just be humble and obey)
And, really, there's nothing left to say.
Chorus:
No one can tell you how to live your life. That's up to you.
But donโt neglect the friends whoโve seen you through.
โCuz someday when you're on your own and many miles from home,
there may be nobody left for you to cry upon their shoulder.
In my life, confidence has been shattered.
Love is false, and piety stinks of greed.
The meaning's distorted. (I don't understand), the signals are weak. (Could you explain it once again?)
And often it hurts my head to think.
Chorus 2:
Nobody told you it would be easy. Nobody did.
You have to make your own way through the darkness.
But, if you're kind and brave and patient, believing in yourself,
there will be somebody there for you when all the world is raging.
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
โThere's safety in the middle, maybe, comfort in the known.
But I prefer to sit along the edges on my own.
It's quiet here, the birds sing, no one tells me what to think...
or looks askance at my long hair or my iced coffee drink.
I'm thinking I might even grow a beard.
โ"The prophet speaks for God, so you must listen to the man."
That's what they say but, I don't know, that smacks of Satan's plan.
I'd rather make my own mistakes and afterward repent.
From what I understand, that's why the good Lord Jesus sent.
Their gift to us was freedom. Let it ring!
chorus:
I'm not a friend of anarchy. Don't hang that sign on me.
It's just there's got to be some give-and-take.
Legalistic rules can never crowd out liberty.
And that, my friend, is why I sing this Folk Song of The Fringe.
-instrumental verse
repeat verse one here, then chorus 2:
I'm not opposed to law and order. Chaos isnโt me.
But still, what does it mean ... to be free?
Self-important paper pushers always make me cringe.
And that, my friend, is why I sing this Folk Song of The Fringe.
And that is why Iโll always sing this Folk Song of The Fringe.
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7. |
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
โv1. Life's a roller-coaster ride. It won't let up until you die.
And maybe it won't even then. Who knows what waits around the bend?
Don't be too eager to find out!
The Good Lord giveth and the Good Lord taketh away.
You're going to lose someone someday no matter how hard you pray.
And it won't be easy to bear your grief no matter how dedicated your belief.
But hold on to your gratitude, and you'll be touched by grace.
v2. Love's the answer, [or] so they say. But sometimes they don't act that way.
Just ask little Julian, whose famous dad abandoned him
because heโd spread his love too thin.
The Good Lord giveth and the Good Lord taketh away.
You're going to lose something precious no matter how hard you pray.
And it won't be easy to bear your grief no matter how dedicated your belief.
But hold on to your gratitude, and you'll be touched by grace.
And sometimes it's the children who disappoint the parents by
rejecting what was taught them in their youth.
What your parents taught you, you want to believe is true.
But sometimes you come to find (that) it just doesn't work for you.
And you may feel overwhelming grief when you cast off deeply held beliefs.
But hold on to your gratitude and you'll be touched by grace.
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8. |
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
โTwenty-seven years ago, he showed up on the scene,
a well-worn Bible in his hands.
A model of sincerity was he.
But, like so many do, he changed.
Now his people drive him around in fancy limousines.
You might say the reverend's blessed.
The many mansions he calls home are plush,
as are his sumptuous private jets.
Wolves in shepherds' clothing,
pushing shame and fear and loathing,
squandering precious widowsโ mites on wanton luxury,
building up a legacy of greed.
Other TV preachers perpetrate the self-same scam:
the gospel of prosperity
โDonโt hide your hard-won talents in the sand,
instead entrust them all to me.
โJesus will reward your faith and make you rich like me.โ
Thatโs what the rascals say.
But never, ever do they fail to add:
โBut first you'll have to pay.โ
'C' section:
โRender unto Caesar what is Caesarโsโ, Jesus said.
โAnd take no thought for how you will be fed.
Songbirds neither reap nor sow, and yet they ever sing.
And what queenโs royal wardrobe rivals wildflowers in the spring?โ
-piano solo over a verse or so, then back into a new verse:
But still these sanctimonious hucksters prevaricate no end...
and watch their profits grow!
Like multi-level marketers, they thrive โฆ by urging you to spend.
Worship God or pray to stones. That's up to you.
I won't stand in your way.
But vipers posing as champions abound. Be smart for goodness sake.
Wolves in shepherds' clothing,
pushing shame and fear and loathing,
squandering precious widowsโ mites on wanton luxury,
building up a legacy of greed.
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
โBlack or white, which is right? Help me find the way.
Honestly, I can't say. I see the world in shades of gray.
And who says that you have to choose? Why not em- brace a range of hues: red,
orange, yellow, green and gold and blue?
No one really knows for sure what is really true.
Life's an enig- ma- tic ven- ture.
Anybody's guess is as good as yours, sir. (doo-doo doo-doo doo)
Someone's been telling you sto- ries, stories that just might be true.
Sometimes a duck might not quack like a duck
or much look like a duck. It's a duck just the same.
But if you think differently, that's fine with me.
Your creed doesn't threaten me. I'm not afraid of the dark.
Someone's been telling you stories. But don't get the blues cuz you get to choose
what's right and what's true and what works for you. But only for you, not for me.
Stories are how we conceive of the world, and all of the stories are true.
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-- --- -- --- -- --- -- --- --
Born a plain and simple farm boy, Joseph longed for something more.
Having just one life to live, he wasnโt gonna do it poor.
He wheedled and cajoled God to make his station great.
He'd marshal all his forces to not be second-rateโฆ
even if it killed him in the end.
v.2. โHe became a prairie preacher, an enigmatic man of God.
The power of the priesthood rested easy on his shoulders broad.
He blessed the sick and broken, and freed them from their pain.
Just how did he do it? Science can't explain.
Why then is he so misunderstood?
chorus:
No man knows my history.
It's too strange to tell.
If I'd not seen these things firsthand, I'd disbelieve myself.
No man's scholarship will ... illuminate my heart.
It's dark and impenetrable,
my motives are inscrutable,
a mystery that will endure for years.
v.3. He brought forth The Book of Mormon ... already in his storied youth.
(It was) a long and convoluted litany of plain and precious truths.
And converts by the thousands flocked to Nauvoo who had read that curious book.
And thus it came to pass that it the whole earth shook.
So don't you think that maybe you should take a look?
2nd chorus:
No mere mortal can grasp ... my psychology.
The motives that impelled me have been lost to history.
And psychohistory ... cannot lay bare my soul.
It's dark and unpredictable,
my motives indecipherable
like Chandler's cryptic papyrus scrolls.
โCโ section:
And, by the way, al- ready there are men who have de- ciphered those old glyphs.
3rd chorus:
No man knows my anguish. I long to shout it out.
Despite my testimony, I am oft wracked with self-doubt.
How I yearn to step down and put this on the shelf.
It's deep and unfathomable, completely unpredictable,
a riddle perhaps even to myself.
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12. |
Sorry - ๐๐ช๐๐จ
02:00
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Two For The Show Salt Lake City, Utah
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