The Cultivation of Christmas Trees

by T.S. Eliot

There are several attitudes towards Christmas,
Some of which we may disregard:
The social, the torpid, the patently commercial,
The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight),
And the childish — which is not that of the child
For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel
Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree
Is not only a decoration, but an angel.

The child wonders at the Christmas Tree:
Let him continue in the spirit of wonder
At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext;
So that the glittering rapture, the amazement
Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree,
So that the surprises delight in new possessions
(Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell),
The expectation of the goose or turkey
And the expected awe on its appearance,

So that the reverence and the gaiety
May not be forgotten in later experience,
In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium,
The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure,
Or in the piety of the convert
Which may be tainted with a self-conceit
Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children
(And here I remember also with gratitude
St. Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire):

So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas
(By 'eightieth' meaning whichever is last)
The accumulated memories of annual emotion
May be concentrated into a great joy
Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion
When fear came upon every soul:
Because the beginning shall remind us of the end
And the first coming of the second coming.

Handle with Care

by George Harrison, et al.

Been beat up and battered around
Been sent up, and I've been shot down
You're the best thing that I've ever found
Handle me with care

Reputation's changeable
Situation's tolerable
But baby, you're adorable
Handle me with care

I'm so tired of being lonely
I still have some love to give
Won't you show me that you really care?

Everybody's got somebody to lean on
Put your body next to mine, and dream on

I've been fobbed off, and I've been fooled
I've been robbed and ridiculed
In day care centers and night schools
Handle me with care

Been stuck in airports, terrorized
Sent to meetings, hypnotized
Overexposed, commercialized
Handle me with care

I've been uptight and made a mess
But I'll clean it up myself, I guess
Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care

Atlantis

by W.H. Auden

Being set on the idea
Of getting to Atlantis,
You have discovered of course
Only the Ship of Fools is
Making the voyage this year,
As gales of abnormal force
Are predicted, and that you
Must therefore be ready to
Behave absurdly enough
To pass for one of The Boys,
At least appearing to love
Hard liquor, horseplay and noise.

Should storms, as may well happen,
Drive you to anchor a week
In some old harbour-city
Of Ionia, then speak
With her witty sholars, men
Who have proved there cannot be
Such a place as Atlantis:
Learn their logic, but notice
How its subtlety betrays
Their enormous simple grief;
Thus they shall teach you the ways
To doubt that you may believe.

If, later, you run aground
Among the headlands of Thrace,
Where with torches all night long
A naked barbaric race
Leaps frenziedly to the sound
Of conch and dissonant gong:
On that stony savage shore
Strip off your clothes and dance, for
Unless you are capable
Of forgetting completely
About Atlantis, you will
Never finish your journey.

Again, should you come to gay
Carthage or Corinth, take part
In their endless gaiety;
And if in some bar a tart,
As she strokes your hair, should say
"This is Atlantis, dearie,"
Listen with attentiveness
To her life-story: unless
You become acquainted now
With each refuge that tries to
Counterfeit Atlantis, how
Will you recognise the true?

Assuming you beach at last
Near Atlantis, and begin
That terrible trek inland
Through squalid woods and frozen
Thundras where all are soon lost;
If, forsaken then, you stand,
Dismissal everywhere,
Stone and now, silence and air,
O remember the great dead
And honour the fate you are,
Travelling and tormented,
Dialectic and bizarre.

Stagger onward rejoicing;
And even then if, perhaps
Having actually got
To the last col, you collapse
With all Atlantis shining
Below you yet you cannot
Descend, you should still be proud
Even to have been allowed
Just to peep at Atlantis
In a poetic vision:
Give thanks and lie down in peace,
Having seen your salvation.

All the little household gods
Have started crying, but say
Good-bye now, and put to sea.
Farewell, my dear, farewell: may
Hermes, master of the roads,
And the four dwarf Kabiri,
Protect and serve you always;
And may the Ancient of Days
Provide for all you must do
His invisible guidance,
Lifting up, dear, upon you
The light of His countenance.

Dreams & Songs

by Warren Haynes

My whole life's been filled with song and dreams
When I was a child I had a time machine
Little did I know it would go to fast
Little did I know I could see the future
But not the past

Leave it all behind, come what may
Always thought I'd be coming home some day
Little did I know that life is hard
Here I am now, staring out a window
To my old back yard

Is there any comfort to be derived
In knowing that most of our lives
Could never be the same, could never go back home
And those that can, are lucky, I guess
To somehow escape from this mess
Me, I can only do it, in dreams and songs

Trying to feel the hope of running a race
Leaves an even bigger empty space
A moving target is harder to kill
Never was one for taking it easy
Or standing still

Nowadays I find myself again
Throwing stones and caution to the wind
Nothing's really changed but the scenery
Staring into my child's eyes, I realize
What it all means to me

You Did That for Me

by Sara Groves

I don't have to cry anymore
I don't have to worry about what's in store
I've walked that road exhausted and poor
I don't have to cry anymore

I don't have to know it all
I don't have to be so proud and stand so tall
I climbed that mountain only to fall
I don't have to know it all

You did that for me
You wore the chains so I could be free
You did that for me

And I don't have to be ashamed
Hang my head or shoulder the blame
Wondering if my life's been in vain
I don't have to be ashamed

Man of sorrows
Well acquainted with grief
Drug down to the city dump
Spread eagle on a cross beam
Propped up like a scarecrow
Nailed like a thief
There for all the world to see

What the Bird Said Early in the Year

by C.S. Lewis

I heard in Addison’s Walk a bird sing clear:
This year the summer will come true. This year. This year.

Winds will not strip the blossom from the apple trees
This year, nor want of rain destroy the peas.

This year time’s nature will no more defeat you,
Nor all the promised moments in their passing cheat you.

This time they will not lead you round and back
To Autumn, one year older, by the well-worn track.

This year, this year, as all these flowers foretell,
We shall escape the circle and undo the spell.

Often deceived, yet open once again your heart,
Quick, quick, quick, quick!—the gates are drawn apart.

Blessed Assurance

by Fanny Crosby

Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

You'll Think of Someone

by Hal David

I could take up knitting to feel better
I'd make someone a hand-knit sweater
But I just don't know who that someone should be

If you can't think of anyone else
How about maybe, someone like...
For example, perhaps, someone
Oh, you'll think of someone

I could take up tennis to relax me
A game of doubles wouldn't tax me
But I just don't know who my partner should be

If you can't think of anyone else
How about maybe someone like...
For example, perhaps, someone
Oh, you'll think of someone

Someone who likes you and the things you like to do
Happy little things
Like climbing hills and rowing boats on a lake
Fun is something that is yours to take

I could take up painting to amuse me
A portrait picture might enthuse me
But I just don't know who my model should be

You can bet that there's someone around
Someone to talk to, laugh with
Like, for example, dance with
Sing to, cling to

When you think about that someone who it could be
How about me?

Ein deutsches Requiem

Excerpts from Holy Scripture
Compiled by Johannes Brahams

I.
Selig sind, die da Leid tragen,
denn sie sollen getröstet werden.

Die mit Tränen säen,
werden mit Freuden ernten.
Sie gehen hin und weinen
und tragen edlen Samen,
und kommen mit Freuden
und bringen ihre Garben.

II.
Denn alles Fleisch, es ist wie Gras
und alle Herrlichkeit des Menschen
wie des Grases Blumen.
Das Gras ist verdorret
und die Blume abgefallen.

So seid nun geduldig, liebe Brüder,
bis auf die Zukunft des Herrn.
Siehe, ein Ackermann wartet
auf die köstliche Frucht der Erde
und ist geduldig darüber,
bis er empfahe den Morgenregen und Abendregen.
So seid geduldig.

Aber des Herren Wort bleibet in Ewigkeit.

Die Erlöseten des Herrn werden wiederkommen,
und gen Zion kommen mit Jauchzen;
Freude, ewige Freude,
wird über ihrem Haupte sein;
Freude und Wonne werden sie ergreifen,
und Schmerz und Seufzen wird weg müssen.

III.
Herr, lehre doch mich,
daß ein Ende mit mir haben muß.
und mein Leben ein Ziel hat,
und ich davon muß.
Siehe, meine Tage sind
einer Hand breit vor Dir,
und mein Leben ist wie nichts vor Dir.

Ach wie gar nichts sind alle Menschen,
die doch so sicher leben.
Sie gehen daher wie ein Schemen
und machen ihnen viel vergebliche Unruhe;
sie sammeln und wissen nicht,
wer es kriegen wird.
Nun Herr, wes soll ich mich trösten?

Ich hoffe auf Dich.

Der Gerechten Seelen sind in Gottes Hand
und keine Qual rühret sie an.

IV.
Wie lieblich sind Deine Wohnungen,
Herr Zebaoth!
Meine Seele verlanget und sehnet sich
nach den Vorhöfen des Herrn;
Mein Leib und Seele freuen sich
in dem lebendigen Gott.
Wohl denen, die in Deinem Hause wohnen,
die loben Dich immerdar.

V.
Ihr habt nun Traurigkeit;
aber ich will euch wiedersehen,
und euer Herz soll sich freuen,
und eure Freude soll niemand von euch nehmen.

Ich will euch trösten,
wie einen seine Mutter tröstet.

Sehet mich an: Ich habe eine kleine Zeit
Mühe und Arbeit gehabt
und habe großen Trost gefunden.

VI.
Denn wir haben hie keine bleibende Statt,
sondern die zukünftige suchen wir.

Siehe, ich sage Euch ein Geheimnis:
Wir werden nicht alle entschlafen,
wir werden aber alle verwandelt werden;
und dasselbige plötzlich in einem Augenblick,
zu der Zeit der letzten Posaune.

Denn es wird die Posaune schallen
und die Toten werden auferstehen unverweslich;
und wir werden verwandelt werden.
Dann wird erfüllet werden das Wort,
das geschrieben steht.
Der Tod ist verschlungen in den Sieg.
Tod, wo ist dein Stachel?
Hölle, wo ist dein Sieg?

Herr, Du bist würdig
zu nehmen Preis und Ehre und Kraft,
denn Du hast alle Dinge erschaffen,
und durch Deinen Willen haben sie das Wesen
und sind geschaffen.

VII.
Selig sind die Toten,
die in dem Herrn sterben,
von nun an.
Ja, der Geist spricht,
daß sie ruhen von ihrer Arbeit;
denn ihre Werke folgen ihnen nach.

Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

by Sandy Denny

Across the evening sky
All the birds are leaving
But how can they know
It's time for them to go?
Before the winter fire
I will still be dreaming
I have no thought of time

For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?

Sad, deserted shore
Your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know
It's time for them to go
But I will still be here
I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time

For who knows where the time goes?
Who knows where the time goes?

And I am not alone
While my love is near me
I know it will be so
Until it's time to go
So come the storms of winter
And then the birds in spring again
I have no fear of time

For who knows how my love grows?
And who knows where the time goes?

Tonight, Tonight

by Billy Corgan

Time is never time at all
You can never ever leave
Without leaving a piece of youth
And our lives are forever changed
We will never be the same
The more you change, the less you feel

Believe, believe in me
Believe that life can change
That you're not stuck in vain
We're not the same
We're different tonight

And you know you're never sure
But you're sure you could be right
If you held yourself up to the light
And the embers never fade
In your city by the lake
The place where you were born

Believe, believe in me
Believe in the resolute urgency of now
And if you believe
There's not a chance tonight

We'll crucify the insincere tonight
We'll make things right, we'll feel it all tonight
We'll find a way to offer up the night tonight
The indescribable moments of your life tonight
The impossible is possible tonight
Believe in me as I believe in you tonight

Something More Than Free

by Jason Isbell

When I get home from work
I'll call up all my friends
And we'll go bust up something beautiful
We'll have to build again

When I get home from work
I'll wrestle off my clothes
And leave 'em right inside the front door
'Cause nobody's home to know

You see a hammer finds a nail
And a freight train needs the rails
And I'm doing what I'm on this earth to do

And I don't think on why I'm here where it hurts
I'm just lucky to have the work
Sunday morning I'm too tired to go to church
But I thank God for the work

When I get my reward
My work will all be done
And I will sit back in my chair
Beside the Father and the Son

No more holes to fill
And no more rocks to break
And no more loading boxes on the trucks
For someone else's sake

'Cause a hammer needs a nail
And the poor man's up for sale
Guess I'm doing what I'm on this earth to do

And I don't think on why I'm here where it hurts
I'm just lucky to have the work
And every night I dream I'm drowning in the dirt
But I thank God for the work

And the day will come when I'll find a reason
And somebody proud to love a man like me
My back is numb, my hands are freezing
What I'm working for is something more than free

Born to Run

by Bruce Springsteen

In the day we sweat it out
On the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory
In suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9
Chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected
And stepping out over the line
This town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We got to get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run

Let me in, I want to be your friend
I want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims
And strap your hands 'cross my engines
Together we could break this trap
We'll run till we drop
We'll never go back
Will you walk with me out on the wire?
'Cause I'm just a scared and lonely rider
But I got to know how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
Babe, I want to know if love is real

Beyond the Palace
Hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist
I want to die with you, baby, on the streets tonight
In an everlasting kiss

The highway's jammed with broken heroes
On a last-chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight
But there's no place left to hide
Together we can live with the sadness
I'll love you
With all the madness in my soul
Someday, girl, I don't know when
We're going to get to that place
Where we really want to go
And we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run

Farther On

by Jackson Browne

In my early years I hid my tears
And passed my days alone
Adrift on an ocean of loneliness
My dreams like nets were thrown
To catch the love that I'd heard of
In books and films and songs
Now there's a world of illusion and fantasy
In the place where the real world belongs

Still I look for the beauty in songs
To fill my head and lead me on
Though my dreams have come up torn and empty
As many times as love has come and gone

To those gentle ones my memory runs
To the laughter we shared at the meals
I filled their kitchens and living rooms
With my schemes and my broken wheels
It was never clear how far or near
The gates to my citadel lay
They were cutting from stone some dreams of their own
But they listened to mine anyway

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say
It could be I've lost my way
Though I keep a watch over the distance
Heaven's no closer than it was yesterday
And the angels are older
They know not to wait up for the sun
They look over my shoulder
At the maps and the drawings of the journey I've begun

Now the distance leads me farther on
Though the reasons I once had are gone
I keep thinking I'll find what I'm looking for
In the sand beneath the dawn
But the angels are older
They can see that the sun's setting fast
They look over my shoulder
At the vision of paradise contained in the light of the past

And they lay down behind me
To sleep beside the road till the morning has come
Where they know they will find me
With my maps and my faith in the distance moving farther on

Here's a New Thing

by Paul Weller

The dreaming mind is always sweet
It's wonderful and time to agree
Here's a new thing
Got to change it up
Got to let go of the past
For a new thing
For some new ground
Only change will make it last

The hardest thing is letting go
But once you do, life starts to flow
Here's a new thing
Got to change it up
Got to let go of the past
For a new thing
For some new ground
Only change will make it last

Indian Fever

Anonymous

Indian Fever
It's catching fire with everyone
Indian Fever
You can be part of the fun
You're the winner at every game
That's where the excitement begins
So catch Indian Fever
Be a believer with the Cleveland Indians

Indian Fever
It starts with the very first inning
Indian Fever
Each game is a brand new beginning
It's the hits, the homers, the double plays
It's how you feel when we win
So catch Indian Fever
Be a believer with the Cleveland Indians

Let the Lord Shine a Light on Me

by Noel Gallagher

When I feel like a drop in the ocean
But there's no one else at sea
And my body's bent and broken
Let the Lord shine a light on me

Now the voices in the distance
Trying to sing their soul to sleep
When I'm drifting in the silence
Let the Lord shine a light on me

If I raise you up to the top of the mountain
Made you tell me what you see
And I'm standing on this island
Did the Lord shine a light on me?

First Time Joy

by Bob Mould

And we were children
We were so afraid
We built this dream

And when it woke you up at night
You had to find the meaning
So scared to watch it die
You were taking it apart

As soon as we looked through the dream
And all the things that led us to it
We have these needs

The things that brought us here
Not knowing what we'd find
We're heading towards the other side
And all the people left behind

Talk it through and take good care
No matter what, I will be there
First time joy and last time pain
I listen to this old refrain

I wrap my heart in words you say
But all we cherish will decay
First time joy and last time pain
Here we go again

Stay Gold

by Johanna Söderberg

The sun shone high those few summer days
Left us in a soft wide-eyed haze
It shone like gold

But just as the moon, it shines straight
So dawn goes down today
No gold can stay

What if a hard work ends in despair?
What if the road won't take me there?
I wish, for once, it could stay gold
What if to love and be loved is not enough?
What if I fall and can't bear to get up?
I wish, for once, it could stay gold

We're on our way through rugged land
Top of that mountain we wanted to stand
With hearts of gold

But there is only forward — no other way
Tomorrow was your hope at the end of the day
And gold turns gray

All of my dreams, they fall and form a bridge
Of memories where I can't get back

Reluctance

by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world, and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept
The end of a season?