From the recording River of Light
Credits:
Kristina Stykos: vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, mandolin, bass, Yamaha S90 (organ)
Steve Mayone: acoustic guitar including solo & electric guitar, lap steel, hand drum
Val McCallum: electric guitar, background vocal
Produced, recorded and mixed by Kristina Stykos at Pepperbox Studio, Chelsea VT
Lyrics
Since You Asked
(c) 2018 Kristina Stykos
The leaves are soft beneath my feet
water’s churned up, there’s mud in the creek
the winter ice is melting
its hard packed sorrow
the raw blood of the trees & the shifting clouds
and the tender light, & the bud red boughs
may the gentle offer of love run sweet
tomorrow
The clearing where a hundred trees came down
Is filling up with twilight and the sound
Of the silent heavens rolling
and the rain drops’ silver tears
And so I’ve dropped my body to the ground
And closed my eyes as the coyotes come ‘round
And prayed the dark would keep me from
my fears
I guess I’ve got a reason
a need - for what it’s worth
just to walk alone
on the stubble of this earth
Yes I’ve got a reason and
its always been that way
cannot bend my wheel
cannot fake my laugh
cannot stuff my words away
Since you asked
The house has just been sitting
since I don’t know when
This end of the hard road
ain’t gonna get fixed again
all them empty windows and a
pretty light no one can see
But I got my job as a woods ramblin’
child at play, out where
No one’s using me
or trying to push me away
Where I can sing, and I can love and
I can look clear down at my life
Not shackled by the issues
or the rule books of men
Or undone by the shaming of fools
or what’s been
The places still hidden
have nothing to reveal
But by grace and by wing
by plow and by fire
The honest upheaval of
truth will require
the plain speaking voice
of compassion to honor what’s real