This is the Band's 3rd appearance on the Sunday Service and I've been waiting for this one. Not the most famous of songs from arguably the best rock album ever made by an Amercian band (their 2nd, simply titled "The Band), "When You Awake" is stunning in its narrative, its execution and, well, its simple musicality, for lack of a more technical term.
The reason it arrives on the Service is found in the last two lines, which are on a very deliberate fade out, to the point that many folks don't hear them at all:
This song is followed by another stunner, "Up on Cripple Creek", which opens with the lines
A little something to keep you on your toes ... here's the lyric to "When You Awake":
The reason it arrives on the Service is found in the last two lines, which are on a very deliberate fade out, to the point that many folks don't hear them at all:
And if I thought it would do any good
I'd stand on the rock where Moses stood.
This song is followed by another stunner, "Up on Cripple Creek", which opens with the lines
When I get off of this mountain
You know where I want to go
A little something to keep you on your toes ... here's the lyric to "When You Awake":
When You Awake
Ollie told me I'm a fool
So I walked on down the road a mile
Went to the house that brings a smile
Sat upon my grandpa's knee
And what do you think he said to me?
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Ollie showed me the fork in the road
You can take to the left or go straight to the right
Use your days and save your nights
Be careful where you step, and watch wha-cha eat
Sleep with the light on and you got it beat
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Ollie warned me it's a mean old world
The street don't greet ya, yes, it's true
But what am I supposed to do
Read the writing on the wall
I heard it when I was very small
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Wash my hand in lye water
I got a date with the captains daughter
You can go and tell your brother
We sure gonna love one another, oh
You may be right and ya might be wrong
I ain't gonna worry all day long
Snow's gonna come and the frost gonna bite
My old car froze up last night
Ain't no reason to hang your head
I could wake up in the mornin' dead, oh
And if I thought it would do any good
I'd stand on the rock where Moses stood
And here is "Up on Cripple Creek" given the deluxe treatment:
So I walked on down the road a mile
Went to the house that brings a smile
Sat upon my grandpa's knee
And what do you think he said to me?
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Ollie showed me the fork in the road
You can take to the left or go straight to the right
Use your days and save your nights
Be careful where you step, and watch wha-cha eat
Sleep with the light on and you got it beat
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Ollie warned me it's a mean old world
The street don't greet ya, yes, it's true
But what am I supposed to do
Read the writing on the wall
I heard it when I was very small
When you awake you will remember ev'rything
You will be hangin' on a string from your
When you believe
You will relieve the only soul
That you were born with to grow old and never know
Wash my hand in lye water
I got a date with the captains daughter
You can go and tell your brother
We sure gonna love one another, oh
You may be right and ya might be wrong
I ain't gonna worry all day long
Snow's gonna come and the frost gonna bite
My old car froze up last night
Ain't no reason to hang your head
I could wake up in the mornin' dead, oh
And if I thought it would do any good
I'd stand on the rock where Moses stood
And here is "Up on Cripple Creek" given the deluxe treatment:
----------------------
a pretty kite soars
a beggar's shack
below
Issa
translated by David G. Lanoue
best,
Don
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4 comments:
well done! love The Band and the mountain town of Cripple Creek, CO - and! our daughter was conceived up in Cripple Creek...
Thanks Don. Love me some Levon. If a lion could sing, that's what it would sound like
Thanks, ayaz ... Cripple Creek!
If a lion could sing ... nicely put, John, glad you enjoyed.
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