Wedding Dress

by Derek Webb

If you could love me as a wife
And for my wedding gift, your life
Should that be all I'll ever need
Or is there more I'm looking for?

And should I read between the lines
And look for blessings in disguise
To make me handsome, rich, and wise?
Is that really what you want?

I am a whore, I do confess
I put you on just like a wedding dress
And I run down the aisle
I'm a prodigal with no way home
I put you on just like a ring of gold
And I run down the aisle to you

So could you love this bastard child?
Though I don't trust you to provide
With one hand in a pot of gold
And with the other in your side

I am so easily satisfied
By the call of lovers less wild
That I would take a little cash
Over your very flesh and blood

Because money cannot buy
A husband's jealous eye
When you have knowingly deceived his wife

What You Want

by Derek Webb

You're softer than a cannon blast
But your effects much longer last
And I want you just like a hole in my head
But I need you like a meal and a bed

And you say, Come on
I'm not what you're after
But I know you're not just anyone

But I'm not what you want
No, I'm not anyone
But if you needed me
I could be someone

You're an army in a horse
And you have taken me by force
All the freedom in this world could not resist
The sweet temptation of your sweet elusiveness

So I say, Come on
As the gate swings open
I know you're not just anyone

And the lie's always cheaper than the truth
But the lie's all I've never known of you
So maybe none of this is true

'Cause I'm not what you want
No, I'm not anyone
But if you needed me
I could be someone

The Church

by Derek Webb

I have come with one purpose
To capture for myself a bride
By my life she is lovely
And by my death she's justified

I have always been her husband
Though many lovers she has known
So with water I will wash her
And by my word alone

So when you hear the sound of the water
You will know that you're not alone

'Cause I haven't come for only you
But for my people to pursue
And you cannot care for me
With no regard for her
If you love me you will love the church

I have long pursued her
As a harlot and a whore
But she will feast upon me
She will drink and thirst no more

So when you taste my flesh and my blood
You will know that you're not alone

There is none that can replace her
There are many who will try
And though some may be her bridesmaids
They can never be my bride

'Cause I haven't come for only you
But for my people to pursue
And you cannot care for me
With no regard for her
If you love me you will love the church

Lover

by Derek Webb

Like a man comes to an altar
I came into this town
With the world upon my shoulders
And promises passed down
And I went into the water
And my father, he was pleased
I built it and I'll tear it down
So you will be set free

I found thieves and salesmen
Living in my father's house
I know how they got in here
And I know how to get them out
I'm turning this place over
From floor to balcony
Then just like these doves and sheep
You will be set free

I've always been a lover
From before I drew a breath
Some things I loved easy
And some I loved to death
See, love's no politician
'Cause it listens carefully
Of those who come, I can't lose one
So you will be set free

Go on and take my picture
Go on and make me up
I'll still be your defender
You'll be my missing son
And I'll send out an army
Just to bring you back to me
'Cause regardless of your brother's lies
You will be set free

I am my beloved's
And my beloved's mine
So you bring all your history
I'll bring the bread and wine
And we'll have us a party
Where all the drinks are on me
Then as surely as the rising sun
You will be set free

Can't Lose You

by Derek Webb

So you're gone
But I know you're not so far away
You're a call on the phone
Or a ride on a plane
But that just isn't the same

That's ok
Because I was never home anyway
So now everyone's evolving
And I am just the same
As I was ten years ago

But I don't know
Maybe the simple life
Is more the way to go
But then again
I'm mostly all alone

'Cause I'm losing everyone
But I know I can't lose you
And maybe my time will come
But I know I can't lose you

The older I get
The more that life is making sense
And it's similar to traffic
Or being president
'Cause I'm not the one in control

You grab a hold
I'm just a hammer
Helping to nail the future down
But it's getting hard
Making my friends leave town

But maybe I missed
The nose right on my face
For what's just past it
And maybe I have the gift
That everyone speaks to highly of
Funny how nobody wants it

Ballad of San Francisco

by Derek Webb

So I'm walking down the street somewhere outside of San Francisco
And I don't really know my way around
I'd love to stay a day or two and get into some trouble
But tomorrow I'll be in another town

There's at least one coffee bar for every single couple
And there's at least a couple in this place
Strange the things you notice when the walls are closing in
And the walls are closing in on me today

So where, oh where, can I find someone, anyone?
'Cause there's no way out of here
But here is where I live, and so I guess that means
The carrot's gonna dangle for at least another year

I love anonymity, and I love being noticed
Just the same as anybody else
Years ago I told you how I loved to be alone
These days I'd be perjuring myself

So where, oh where, can I find someone, anyone?
'Cause there's no way out of here
Here is where I live, and so I guess that means
The carrot's gonna dangle for at least another year

It's like you gave me up just like I gave up drinking coffees
I guess I would've done the same
Now I know I'm lost somewhere outside of San Francisco
But I'm still glad that I came

I Repent

by Derek Webb

I repent of my pursuit of America's dream
I repent of living like I deserve anything
Of my house, my fence, my kids, my wife
In our suburb where we're safe and white
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

I repent of parading my liberty
I repent of paying for what I get for free
For the way I believe that I am living right
By trading sins for others that are easier to hide
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

I repent of judging by a law
That even I can't keep
Of wearing righteousness like a disguise
To see through the planks in my own eyes

I repent of trading truth for false unity
I repent of confusing peace and idolatry
By caring more of what they think than what I know of what we need
By domesticating you until you look just like me
I am wrong, and of these things I repent

T-Shirts (What We Should Be Known For)

by Derek Webb

They'll know us by the T-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
At anyone whose sin looks worse than ours
Who cannot hide the scars
Of this curse that we all bear

They'll know us by our picket lines and signs
They'll know us by the pride we hide behind
Like anyone on earth is living right
And that isn't why Jesus died
Not to make us think we're right

When love, love, love
Is what we should be known for
Love, love, love
It's the how, and it's the why
We live and breathe and we die

They'll know us by reasons we divide
And how we can't seem to unify
Because we've gotta sing songs a certain style
Or we'll walk right down that aisle
And just leave them all behind

They'll know us by the billboards that we make
Just turning God's words to cheap clichés
Says, 'What part of murder don't you understand?'
But we hate our fellow man
And point a finger at his grave

They'll know us by the T-shirts that we wear
They'll know us by the way we point and stare
Telling them their sins are worse than ours
Thinking we can hide our scars
Beneath these T-shirts that we wear

Table for Two

by Derek Webb

Danny and I spent another late night over pancakes
We talked about soccer and how every man's just the same
And made speculation on the 'who's and the 'when's of our futures
And how everyone's lonely, but still we just couldn't complain

And how we just hate being alone
Could I have missed my only chance?
And now I'm just wasting my time
Looking around

But you know I know better, I'm not gonna worry 'bout nothing
'Cause if the birds and the flowers survive, then I'll make it okay
Given a chance and a rock, see which one breaks a window
And see which one keeps me up all night and into the day

Because I'm so scared of being alone
That I forgot what house I live in
But it's not my job to wait by the phone
For her to call

Well this day's been crazy, but everything's happened on schedule
From the rain and the cold to the drink that I spilled on my shirt
'Cause You knew how You'd save me before I fell dead in the garden
And You knew this day long before You made me out of dirt

And You know the plan You have for me
And You can't plan the ends and not plan the means
And so I suppose I just need some peace
To get me to sleep