Some Folks' World
Words and music by Mark Heard

Some folk's world is war-torn
Some folk's world is fine
This planet makes no sense to the untrained mind
Some folks hope for fortune
Some folks hope to die
We all see our fate through our own two eyes

And when it's day to me it's night to someone
And when it's night you may not want to go on

Some folks eat what flies leave
They get what they can take
Hunger has no heart and it will not wait
Rain can ruin your weekend
And rain can spare your life
Depending on who you are and what your thirst is like

All folk's days are numbered
Most folks do not care
No one calls the coin when it's in the air
Some folks taste of heaven
Some folks taste of hell
Some folks lose their taste and they cannot tell

Wide Angle
Words and Music by John Fischer and Rob Frazier

Wide angle
More than what I used to see
Wide angle
More than what is near to me
Where I once was afraid to open up my eyes
Now this wide angle
Has turned my fear into surprise

Beyond the reaches of my point of view
Beyond the motions I go through
There's a world of wonder
There's a world of pain
There's no way that I can stay the same
Give me a...

Wide angle
More than what I used to see
Wide angle
More than what is near to me
Where I once was afraid to open up my eyes
Now this wide angle
Has turned my fear into surprise

Only seeing what we want to see
Only doing what we know
All the while believing that we know it all
When the lens we're looking through is much too small
Give me a...

Wide angle
More than what I used to see
Wide angle
More than what is near to me
Where I once was afraid to open up my eyes
Now this wide angle
Has turned my fear into surprise

So fill my eyes and ears
With the laughter and the tears
Let the dance begin
Truth will always win

Wide angle
More than what I used to see
Wide angle
More than what is near to me
Where I once was afraid to open up my eyes
Now this wide angle
Has turned my fear into surprise

Down to the Water
Words and Music by John Fischer

John went down to the water
With Jesus by his side
And the Son looked up to the Father
And the heavens opened wide
This is my beloved Son that you have there
In whom I am well pleased
My one and only one that you hold there
With the water at his knees

With one big splash in the river
The Son of God went down
And the love He came to deliver
Soon spilled out on the ground
This is my beloved Son that you hang there
In whom I am well pleased
My one and only one that you nail there
With women weeping at His knees

I came up out of the water
With Jesus in my heart
And with the love of the Father
And a brand new start
This is my beloved son that you have there
In whom I am well pleased
My one and only one that you hold there
With the water at your knees

Vanguard
Words and Music by John Fischer

She's a rebel
She's a lady
She's a ticket to a Broadway show
There's no doubt that
She's a winner
No beginner you have got to know that

She is walking into all situations
She is working hard
She's a leader in a new generation
Vanguard

She's a servant
Of the people
She's a sentry of the human soul
She's a heart of
Compassion
She can see the highest goal

Keeping all her fears down under
Against the flow
The price she pays is high no wonder
Only a few will know

There's a purpose
In her posture
There's a wisdom in her widening eyes
She makes a pathway
With her footsteps
With her hand she takes the prize

Pass It Around
Words and Music by John Fischer

Somebody built this city;
Somebody made this town.
Somebody thought of someone else
When they laid their money down.
Somebody saw themselves as only a link in a big long chain,
That pulls the weight of everyone so everyone can gain.

Somebody passed it down;
Somebody pass it around.

Somebody has forgotten
How we all got here.
Everyone wants a future,
But the way is not so clear.
Somebody's got a debt to pay to generations past,
So our sons and daughters won't have to be the last.

Nothing comes for nothing;
Nothing's ever free.
Somebody paid an awful price
For the sake of liberty.
Somebody's got to look ahead and plan for what they see.
Well look around the room tonight, there's only you and me.

Too Many Preachers
Words and Music by John Fischer

Too many teachers and not enough truth
Too many preachers and not enough proof
You've got to find
You've got to find it yourself
None of these people can give you any help

Too many answers
Too many connoisseurs
Too many cancers
And too many cures
You've got to find
You've got to find it yourself
None of these answers can give you any help

If my reach doesn't go beyond my grasp
Then what's a heaven for
And for what do I ask

Too many pleasers
Too many want to be pleased
Too many teasers
When we all have a disease
To be forgiven
You've got to want to forgive
Got to know Jesus if you want to live

The Only Way
Words and Music by John Fischer

Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus
Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus

A Buddhist calling on the mercy of God
When he finds there's no Nirvana
A Hebrew hearing the Messiah's voice
When he prays on Rosh Hashanah
A guilty man on the witness stand
A gambler losing on seven
A thief on the edge of paradise
Who will take his next breath in heaven

Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus
Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus

Some are looking the other way
When they really do want to meet Him
Some are going to be surprised to find
There's no one there to greet them
He is the one who opens eyes
He is the one to close them
And the ones who thought they owned the key
Will find that the door was open

Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus
Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus

His ways are not our ways
His thoughts are not our thinking
His light it lights everyone
Coming into the world

Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus
Jesus is the only way
But there's more than one way to Jesus

It All Comes Down To This
Words and Music by John Fischer

You can have guilt
Or you can have Jesus
He came to take it away
He came to take it away
This is the truth
The truth that frees us
This is the way
This is the way

You can have fear
Or you can have Jesus
In your heart
In your heart
You can have hate
Or you can have Jesus
Driving it out
Driving it out

Well it all comes down to this
It all comes down to this

You can pretend
Or you can know Jesus
This isn't a game
No this isn't a game
You can go to church
And you can know Jesus
But they're not the same
Not necessarily the same

Well it all comes down to this
It all comes down to this

You can have hell
Or you can know Jesus
He's preparing a place
He's preparing a place
You can be judged
Or you can know Jesus
This is His grace
This is His grace

Well it all comes down to this
It all comes down to this
Yes it all comes down to this
It all comes down to this

You can know somebody
Or you can know Jesus

A Witness
Words and Music by John Fischer

I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
Will you be a part of this

Many will see without perceiving
Many will hear without believing
Many have longed to see what you see
Before your eyes

I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
Will you be a part of this

How will they see unless you show them
How will they know unless you know them
If it's not you it will be someone
So why not you

Can I get a witness
Can I get a witness
Can I get a witness
I don't need you
But I want you

It will be said without you speaking
It will be known without you seeking
But you will be lost in the finding
And I will cry

I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
I will not be without a witness
Will you be a part of this

O Rocker
Words by Marti Fischer
Music by John Fischer
(Marti wrote this poem as part of her adult degree program on women's studies. I put it to music and love its stark and painful beauty.)

My chair creaks in the moonlight
As I rock my child to sleep
It talks to me as if each creak
Is a memory to keep
It remembers when I first found out
That my favorite grandma died
And I threw myself into its lap
And cried and cried and cried
And there's a creak for loneliness
And there's a creak for fear
And there's a creak for daydreams
I was lost in for a year

O rocker, rocker
Brush the pale moonlight
O rocker, rocker
Hush the child tonight
O rocker, rocker
Hold me while I pray
O rocker, rocker
Rock my soul away

I woke up just in time to lose
To lose my childhood no goodbyes
And no one but my rocker
Saw the blood drip down my thighs
And the days and years to follow
Brought the pain and joy of love
And my rocker creaked each time they weren't
What I was dreaming of

O rocker, rocker
Brush the pale moonlight
O rocker, rocker
Hush the child tonight
O rocker, rocker
Hold me while I pray
O rocker, rocker
Rock my soul away

But the creak that's most familiar
The one that I remember best
Is when God the Father laid His perfect
Peace upon my breast
And now my child is cradled there
In midnight's soft repose
In in the moonlight creaking
I know my rocker knows

O rocker, rocker
Brush the pale moonlight
O rocker, rocker
Hush the child tonight
O rocker, rocker
Hold me while I pray
O rocker, rocker
Rock my soul away

Not The Only One
Words and Music by John Fischer

I used to think that I was right
A lonely candle in the night
And while the heart of the world was breaking
I could not feel the aching
The mantle had passed down to me
This thing was my destiny
But while the world was out there dying
I was in here lying to myself

For all the knowledge I had gained
Put me on a higher plane
And I became another
No one was my brother
And the loving message He brought down
Turned into a hollow sound
And then I heard Him calling
And His words sent me falling to my knees

You're not the only one with truth
You're not the only one with eyes
You're not the only one
The only one who cries
You're not the only one

And suddenly there was with me
an ocean of humanity
A sea of many faces
In waves of warm embraces
And while I questioned how to judge them all
Who would rise and who would fall
I found myself among them
And it mattered little who was wrong or right

And then I saw Him lifted up
The wounded one who drank the cup
Of death for all the dying
The end of justifying
And I laid my mantle on the ground
And felt the rain come pouring down
The rain of my religion
Falling down like weeping from the sky

You're not the only one with truth
You're not the only one with eyes
You're not the only one
The only one who cries
You're not the only one

And then I saw as in a dream
Reflections of His glory stream
On unsuspecting faces
Enraptured in His graces
And the lost who now had all been found
Sand in pure unfettered sound
A song I knew from memory
Though I'd never heard it sung before
And then the host brought out the wine
And bid us all come and dine
At the banquet of the living
The table of forgiving
And as we raised our glasses high
And tears were forming in our eyes
I heard His words remind me
Of what I'd heard so many times before

You're not the only one with truth
You're not the only one with eyes
You're not the only one
The only one who cries
You're not the only one

Cup of Cold Water
Words and Music by John Fischer
(Mark and I were experimenting with female background vocals by slowing the tape down, singing along in a normal voice and then playing the tape back at regular speed. This techinque enables a male voice to approximate a female voice except it thins it out a great deal and speeds up the vibrato. Mark always made him sound like Dolly Parton, but when we listened back, I commented on how much Mark's voice sped up sounded like Julie Miller. Little did I know that Julie Miller was a good friend of his and lived minutes away. Two days later she was in the studio singing back-up on this song. On one play-back, we slipped in one of the earlier versions of Mark's voice and she didn't even notice. She thought it was her own voice behind mine. That's how we found out the little-known fact that Julie Miller and Mark Heard on 78 rpm are one and the same thing.)

Watching helpless hungry eyes on your screen
Feeling so far away what does it mean
Can you walk away and forget it
Blame it on some false god
Can you look at it and let it
Pass right through your heart

You can't bring a cup of cold water to someone
If you've never thirsted
You can't heal a heart if your heart's never been broken
You can't forgive a sin that you've never done
Or you never thought you could do
Put that bandage away
It's too small to cover the wound

You can't really love the truth till you've been trapped by the lie
You can't wipe a tear away till there's one in your eye
And while the face behind the mirror
May not be streaked with pain
Any face outside your window
Is still a mirror just the same

Everyone has their own wounds
Everyone's qualified
The heart that knows it's breaking
Is the one that was crucified

You can bring a cup of cold water to someone
If you know you're thirsty
You can heal a heart if your heart's ever been broken
You can forgive a sin that you've never done
'Cause you know you're guilty too
Put that bandage away
There's no need to cover the wound

Where Did They Go?
Words and Music by John Fischer

Where did they go
Where did they go
All of those men who had so much to say
Just a few minutes ago
Where did they go
Where did they go
I looked up and saw no one but you
Standing in a street strewn with stones

You are no loser
And where are your accusers
There's just you and me
Just you and me

What was that sound
What was that sound
What was that pounding in my ear
As their stones hit the ground
Why are you here
Woman why are you still here
Are you waiting for something from me
Well you have nothing to fear

You are no loser
You've got no accusers
There's just you and me
Just you and me

Where will you go
Tell me where will you go
Will you go back to living your life
The only way that you know
I see no sin
You don't have to give in
There's no reason to go back to living
The way that you've been

You are no loser
You've got no accusers
There's just you and me
Just you and me

By My Spirit
Words and Music by John Fischer

Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord
Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord

Causes and marching and war
Are the vents of your anger
What are you fighting for
When it's my war

Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord
Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord

Will you legislate love
In the heart of a nation
All you are thinking of
Is your own kind

Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord
Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord

He visits His wrath on sin
To the fourth generation
Yet shows His mercy and love
For a thousand

Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord
Not by might nor by power
But by my Spirit says the Lord

Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt
Words and Music by John Fischer
(This was Mark's favorite song on the album and I often wonder if he somehow knew that the shades were soon to be drawn on his life.)

I can laugh and I can cry
I can shake a fist at the sky
Behind the questions and the answers I find out
I can know beyond the shadow of a doubt

I can know the sorrow and the pain
I can sow in the season of the rain
But when these dormant seeds of joy begin to sprout
I will see beyond the shadow of a doubt

I will sing in the morning light
And the words will ring through the middle of the night
And when the shades are drawn and the lamp at last goes out
I will go beyond the shadow of a doubt

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