The Quester by David Paul

Further adventures of David Paul
This time with my son Daniel on drums, and my son Michael featured in guitar solos on tracks 8 and 9

Lyrics

Good to Be

Shadows of the evening spread like butter
Over sun-soaked cobbled streets
Early lamppost light radiates semblances
On the Tiber as it sleeps
Figurines of river mist like statues
In the air hang motionless
And standing on the bridge a hint of lamplight
Diffuses through your dress
It’s good to be, good to be here
Good to be here with you

Treading ancient pathways of the mystics
Stirs the heart and gives us pause
Just for the moment converging timelines
Bring this sense of awe
Early evening light inflames the ruins
And causes them to glow
Capturing the essence of together
On this moon lit night in Rome
It’s good to be, good to be here
Good to be here with you

Taking all this in bears resemblance to a ride on a carousel
Sweeping over us a delightful wonder, a drink from a wishing well

Stepping from the crowded streets
Into a quiet chapel hall
The splendour of the showpiece magnum opus
Brings an ethereal calm
Bow our heads and give our thanks
That we have had this moment to unfold
Capturing the essence of together
On this moon lit night in Rome
It’s good to be, good to be here
Good to be here with you


Blind Spot

Don’t try, don’t try to pretend
You’ve got a handle on this, ‘cause the handle can bend
But I, but I am your friend
And I can see your fragile state is about to upend

Sadness, you’re in the grip of a sadness
Drained all the colour away like a monochrome canvas
Grasping, you’ve been grasping at straws
Anything to fool yourself into thinking it’s gone

But you just don’t see it and I don’t know why
Think you might be looking through a clouded eye
I can see you’re weighted down in a troubled state
Your disconsolation has been hard to take
You’ve been trying to explain but it makes no sense
Your secret pain has become your defense
Like an apparition in a cloak and dagger plot
You hold your heart in a blind spot

Kicking, you’ve been kicking against the goads
Because pushing away feels safer than letting go
Wishing, wishing you would open to me
I’ll listen to you and maybe it’ll help you to see

Drifting, shadows are drifting apart
Glimmer of hope taking root in your heart
Lifting, the grey is lifting away
I can see it in your eyes, I can hear it in the things you say

I can help you through or at least I’ll try
I’ll be waiting right here when you change your mind
You can find your way with your hand in mine
Together we can be the blind leading the blind
Together we can be the blind leading the blind


The River Bend

Daylight breaks the darkness as I step to the river bank
Swirls on the surface look like oil on a water tank
Water slips on past me as I push into the stream
And it feels like I am weightless, sailing on a wispy dream

Shoreline birds scramble as they all do a double take
Oak trees rattle like a shaker on the tail of a desert snake
Smooth on the water, gives me peace like a river

Woodpecker pounds away sounds like small arms fire
A wood duck on the log ahead shows off in his attire
Overhead an osprey glares as if he’s on patrol
My intrusion stirs the geese, they’re quick to let me know

The paddle carves a rhythm of slow and steady splash
Squirrel chatters on the shore, objects to my trespass
Smooth on the water, gives me peace like a river
I’d like to know what’s coming next, I’d like to see the end
First, I’ve got to get on down around the river bend
I’d like to see what’s coming next, I’d like to know the end
First, I’ve got to get me on around the river bend

My life is like a river, it carries me along
Not sure where it’s going or if the flow is strong
Water’s sometimes dark and deep and plunges down the rift
Best that I can do is keep my hands upon the grip

But at times the river levels, a smooth and gentle course
And I can find a repose at the sanctums on the shore
Smooth on the water, gives me peace like a river


Seeker

At first, it’s hard to contemplate, to comprehend it all
Hard to really appreciate we are so very small

We are just a vapour, passing shadow, glint of light
Infinitesimal appearance on the fabric of space and time
The vastness of all there is differentiates my state
The littleness of who I am and my mustard seed faith

Give me an inquisitiveness that opens to perceptiveness
An insightfulness that there is something more than this
Third eye open wide
Ancient mystics and sages spoke of a God-given eye
An eye of contemplation to see beyond the cut-and-dried
There is so much out there, a magnificence to discover
A treasure trove of awakening, an open mind uncovers

Keep the pathway lit so I can follow, with all my heart, with all my mind
Keep it so I never lose the wonder, I will be the quester, I will be the one to seek and find

A flower blooms then fades away and falls among the grass
Swifter than a weaver’s shuttle our days are in the past
Not to give our fleeting time to things that will not last


The Encounter

I cannot know for certain if this is what it seems
If I am in this moment or have slipped into a dream
So to not disturb this I ease on to the path
Follow down the valley toward this feeling that I have
Something, or is it someone, beckons me to turn
Catching my attention like a whisper I have heard
Descending to the stream below I think that I can see you
Scattered light, energy field, lodestar pointing true

There’s a comfort in the knowing, there’s a knowing in the bond
An ascendent mindful passageway like the stream continues on
There’s a comfort in the knowing that I am not alone
A metaphysical leap to wonder while I stand here, flesh and bone

You are deeply present and I become aware
I can feel the enlivenment, I can breath the air
I can tell that you have spoken and that brought me to you
I can tell that you have shaken the very core of my world view
A deepened understanding, a quickened sense of real
A directed disposition sets me on an even keel
I cannot know for certain if this is what it seems
But I’ll take it as theophany on this walk along the stream


My Opinion

You’ve been on my mind and frankly you’ve been on my nerves
Talking up a storm but there’s no point to what it serves
You’ve been goin’ off on things you don’t know much about
Much ado about nothing that we all could do without

There is nothing wrong with having a different point of view
But must you always make it all and only about you
Correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t think that I am
You don’t seem to know some things are better left unsaid

You didn’t ask for my opinion but I gave it
Brokered my advice and you didn’t take it
You’re makin’ your own road if you can pave it
You’ve got no good thing to say so you can save it

Too many people led down the garden path
Going for the easy way that doesn’t seem so bad
When it all goes wrong, they look up in surprise
Find themselves bamboozled by sweet Delilah lies

You can come across as someone to whom we all can turn
Ratchet up the rhetoric; you said watch and learn
But you could learn from those who found a better place to be
Where integrity is the go-to ‘cause the truth will set you free

You didn’t ask for my opinion but I gave it
Brokered my advice and you didn’t take it
You’re makin’ your own road if you can pave it
You’ve got no good thing to say so you can save it
You didn’t ask for my opinion but I gave it
Bid you to come around but you didn’t make it
You give us all your word and then you break it
Everybody knows that you can fake it


I Was the Kid

I was the kid that nobody noticed
Whatever I did went right on by
The one at the back that no one remembered
Could never blend in, God knows I tried

Last of the line when they were choosing sides
Was never the one to sub in
When my turn came to go up to bat
They called the outfield in

Never had a vision, never had a goal
Never saw myself as a person of note
Lagging behind what I dreamed to be
Hiding under crushing insecurity

Those were not my glory days
Those were not my best of times
But I gripped the hand that pulled me out
Released the ties that bind

But I’m alright, I’m okay, figured it out along the way
I found the doorway to purposeful life
Stepped on through to the other side
Took the path as best I could, followed the quest to be a force for good
Discovered a world beyond my dreams
And found there even was a place for me
I found a place for me, found a place for me


Out of the Dust

She’s got what it takes and it takes more than you can know
She’s a mystery to me how she is drawn to the broken
There is nothing for it, there is nothing that she gains
By bending to the broken, by sharing in their pain

She’s the one that listens when no one else can hear
She’s the one beside you when no one else is near
She can be an open book when that is what you need
She can hold the cards close when they should not be seen

She has gathered up herself and rose out of the dust
From tumultuous beginnings, of a fractured childhood trust
She’s like a bird with a broken wing that heals and learns to fly
She’s like Florence Nightingale and her lantern in the night

She can be a candle when your heart is dark and cold
She can be companion when you feel like you’re alone
She can be a sounding board when you have to question why
She can be a hand to hold when you just need to cry

She has taken all the pieces of her own unsettled past
And conjured up a healing heart, a balm of Gilead
She’s got what it takes and it takes more than you can know
She’s a mystery to me how she is drawn to the broken


So Goes the World

None of us chose the day to be born, none of us picked the place
Nobody knows what they’re headed for when thrust into the human race

Everyone starts on the road ahead of every woman and man
But it seems to go that further on it gets harder to understand

Some make the best, some make the worst of the time they they’ve been served
There’s those that have and those that don’t and those that have what they don’t deserve

So goes the world, so goes the day, so unfolds the storyline that we all have in play

Wanna fight a good fight, run a strong race
When times get tough I wanna keep the faith
When the roll is called wanna take my place
An epitome of best I could
I wanna make the most of who I am
I wanna pull my weight and do what I can
Want the kids to say who is that man
An influencer that does some good

I been around the block, I been down the road and the thing is this
I’d like to say I’d go the distance but I, I don’t know what the distance is
You can check with my American friend and he won’t deny
There are few things left that are makin’ sense
We’re living, living in crazy times… in crazy times…uncertain times… curious times

David Paul, singer/songwriter in Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada. A collection of original indie folk/rock songs, reflections on life, love, faith, beauty and wonder.