Jon Watts » Lyrics

“This is Just a (Love) Song” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:39:06 +0000

To: the most beautiful being in the room
Human being, I love living with you
in the Truth.
And if the power of Truth takes me away from you,
I’ll have to love living that life too.

And if it takes you away from me, well
we already know how painful that would be.

It would be really, really, really, really
bad
but for all the good and all the hard times we’ve had
I love you and I miss you and I’m glad.

And this is just a love song
it’s dedicated to my pain
dedicated to the times
that I’ve cried in the rain
it’s dedicated to my own dedication.

And this is that sensation
when you’re feeling really sad
and you realize that sadness is beautiful.
Sadness is suitable
and it’s totally appropriate
for everything you’ve been through

This is that place where sadness and love can co-exist
you feel neither anger nor listlessness.

And maybe you feel love.
Maybe love songs can speak to your sorrow,
fall in love with tomorrow
and yesterday
re-learn how to play

And this is just a love song.
It’s dedicated to you.
Dedicated to everything you’ve been through.
This is for you.

And if I showed up at your door, would you talk to me
Or would you call the police
and get me off the streets
because to love you right now would be crazy

I just came looking for the truth
because I love the truth
and I thought that I loved you too
but you were just a lie
and that’s fine
it’s your life
just don’t bring your lies into mine.

And maybe you really do believe that I’m crazy
OK
praise be to God.
I didn’t need you.
I just came looking for the truth.
It’s sad that I had to drag it out of you
and your paranoid parents too

And this is just a love song
it’s dedicated to this huge misunderstanding
dedicated to the year you left me stranded
dedicated to this place where we’ve landed
to the strange and subtle ways that we planned it
to the space and the grace in the misalignment
of all these planets.

No, this isn’t for you.
This is dedicated to the Truth.

“Together We Compose This Bloody, Bleeding, Beating Drum” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 07:04:46 +0000

I once had a job but I lost it in high school
Whenever I fooled myself into thinking that I needed their help
I was their fool
But now I’m my fool
And now I sign pools of rhymes into time cycles.
I align myself with this bed of nails that’s been recycled
until I’m finally alive and dying at the same time.

And when I sigh then I’m sighing for peace
And when I die then I’ll rest there
Where I get my breath there’s a source of oxygen
a solidness imbued with phosphorous
and a solemn intolerance for anything but love
And it’s rooted in love
It’s rooted in beauty
It’s rooted in a sense of simpleness and ambiguity

And so I’ll focus on discernment and breathing
We’ve all earned a learner’s permit
Permit yourself to grieving
and be freeing
and to teething when you’re teething
And see peace in believing bereavement’s bereft brethren’s
seven settlement’s indebtedness to the betterment of love
and to the practice of love
and to the sadness that comes
with the lack thereof

I won’t speak to the world when the world isn’t listening
deeply
That’s why I waited this long to release this song of songs
Songs of Solomon enthroned with the wood of Lebanon
Songs entombed in the womb until I felt that there’s room
to stop absconding with my pregnancy
And now Ba’alhamon is expecting me
expectantly

And I’m incessantly setting precedence in the presence of the president
who presides presently over the peasantry
I’ll set aside a suit of simple symmetry
Synthetically I synthesize the story of what’s natural
It’s a glass half full of embattled saturn plasma
It’s a boy
No, it’s a girl
It’s a toy
No, it’s the world’s surface enduring certain circumstantial services
Super solemn, superficial, super sacrificial splurges in our endless bags of purchases
The sermon at your service spoke to sympathetic tourniquets in need of seeking reassurance
for the next effeminate person to pool a possible burden

I speak urgently because it’s urgent
This emergency’s emergent
and I’m another word surgeon,
serving solace from my person
Signs of solidness ensuring
that I’m a growing a maturing little
Butter fly

I. Can. Fly.
Signed, my guardian angel
staying sane at the same table as the stablest savior saves
all the other saviors
Bringing peace to your neighbors through osmosis
The closest soldier knows this war is hopeless
He knows that we’re impoverished by the fists we’ve thrown
So now our foes can go home
and we can plow the ground with swords we’ve melted down
and use them to harvest all these seeds we’ve sewn

So now we’re saying prayers of gratefulness like grace is all we’ve known
We’re singing songs of freedom like they’re songs we’ve always sung
We’re sweetly leaking Jesus juice like Abraham’s last son
Tell Isaac that his time has finally… come

And now I’m looking at the Moon like I’m the Sun
And she’s reflecting passion back to me, the energy to run
And i don’t care that it’s night time
I don’t care that day is done
I don’t care that all the owls stare and judge me like I’m dumb
Because I’m not dumb
I know enough to know that I don’t know
My wisdom is sufficient to be quiet and to listen
Because in the basicest of instances our languages are different
and the isolated brain is intrinsically indifferent

So I’m going to be a body and I’m beating like a heart
And I’m hoping that you’ll be the blood to travel with this art
Because the muscles might be tired
They might be atrophied
they might be looking to caffeine for energy they need

But come on, let’s get together
Someone be the lungs
Someone be the need to breathe, and
Someone be the tongue
Someone be the eyes and ears, and
Someone be the hands
Someone who can persevere
the feet on which we stand
and you’re the rock, body
No One’s Gifts Left Useless
The Universe needs you to do the best that you can do with
just what you’ve been given
with everything you’ve got
Your finite contribution fills a hole that mine does not

And together we can stand
Together we can run
Together we collect our calories straight from the sun
Together we envision all our lives combined as one
And together we compose this bloody, bleeding, beating drum.

“Don’t Doff Your Hat” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:31:53 +0000

The scene is calm.
The pastor speaks.
The people sit
in their seats.

The aisles are long.
The church is dark.
It’s nearly impossible
to find your spark.

A woman coughs
a baby cries.
The echo is infinite
You close your eyes
the air is musty
it smells like dust

You’re wondering why
You keep coming back
I mean, you could be working
or flat on your back
enjoying the gifts of the creation

But a matter of law
is a matter of fact
and you pay a tithe to the church
you pay more than a tax
you pay in spirit.

Your children are hungry
the preacher spouts threats
about going to hell
and paying your debts
and you believe him
because he wears that hat.

Then:
in strolls George Fox,
looking like he knows something
speaking in verse
as if the words weren’t rehearsed
he makes people panic
and they turn away, afraid
immediately apprehensive
until they heard him say

“Yo, pastor.
this pulpit is sacred
but so is the shop where I bought my shoes
and these people are sacred
as they’re sitting in their pews
they don’t know God’s love
any less than you.”

And sometimes,
when the man is through with his verse
the people rise up
and follow him out of the church
but most times he just gets himself arrested.

He says “powers are vested
in only the few
but God vested his power into you.”

It’s like this mister Quaker
in your broad brim hat
you don’t doff that hat for nobody
and if you did doff it
often its a solemn
little following
of Christ
or the Inner Light
Whatever you can call it.

In a prison in Exeter
a prisoner got a letter
He sits in the corner
unspoken.
They said he healed people
they said he might be Christ
with the letter next to him
unopened.

He had written hundreds of pamphlets
to the enemies of Friends
God was sending him to
listen to the answers
but one fanciful question
that he had to entertain
in the same way
as he prayed to understand it.

James Naylor hadn’t slept for days
he might have missed the gameplan
in the following ways
but it also might be true that he was faithful

He keeps saying the saviors don’t favor the few
and that Christ speaks through me too.

And is he simple?
Hell yes
that man is simple
with his simple dress
his simple speech
a simple smile upon his dimple
when he walks down the street
that street is his temple
because when you got the right sentiment
every place is sentimental

And when he sees a noble man
he doesn’t call him “you”
because he’s talking to one person
not to two.

Because he’s kind of a leveller
and he’s kind of a ranter
and he’s standing with a lantern
trying to show you the light
cause when the Spirit’s on fire
it can burn so bright

And to:
Mister George Fox
James Naylor
Margaret Fell
Solomon Eccles
Isaac Penington
John Woolman
Lucretia Mott
William Penn

DON’T DOFF YOUR HAT

“The Burden of Vision” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:31:51 +0000

He’s in love with the sound of the rain.
Refrain:
Every time around is a little more pain
Every time around is a bit less change
Every time that the sound of the speech is the same
he’s to blame.

He’s to blame for everything that once was
but now isn’t
he’s convicted of his own cynicism
Because it feels like home

He wasn’t built for the road
but he studied it, so
now he listens to the rhythm
of the television
in an inner city kitchen
in a little Christian mission
Saving souls like his own

Because he knows the hunger
and he knows the fire
and he knows how it feels to reject desire
and if he had another life to live
shit, he’d want to live it
but he’d probably find a dead child
or saint to give it to
He’d give it to you if you knew
You’re part of what he loves
The Spirit speaks through him
and he looks up

Because he worships the infinite
that means everything.
He doesn’t even hate his own hate
And as the television
blares out its lies
he smiles
and puts some food upon your plate

Some would call him a saint
but that makes him uncomfortable
not to say he’s to attached to his comfort
he’s loving it
whatever “it” might be
he’s not ashamed to say that he’s a subject

Instant gratification gets put off
for long walks and talks with God
He doesn’t pretend to know
why there’s so much suffering
he just serves the food
and goes home and
sobs.

——————-

And when he’s done crying
the anger stops
there’s a blurry world through his own tears
and in that blurry world, combining everything
no lies or distinctions interfere.

And he sees it then
the beauty in the symphony
even in our anger and our fear
we’re so beautiful
this life is so beautiful
the truth is here
and it’s clear

And he’s not blind.
His eyes are open
he can see all the things that we call “bad”
but it’s redefined
and at times its spoken
he can see and he’s free to be
sad.

“Lifted Up” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 01:31:49 +0000

And for a moment there
I was ground down
I had my chin on my chest,
infested surround sound.

But I took a breath
I took a moment.
No,
the rest of this poem’s
dedicated to our closeness.

The remainder of my fame
is aimed at saving all the
hopeless.
I’m committed to this human face and
focused.

So now I’m lifted up
and now I’m lifting others with me
when my silence is serenity’s
a sign I’m living simply
and I’m simply living
in this complex world that we’ve been given.

And I salute the Amish
and all the other life affirmed products
of considering our tolerance for process.
It’s like a long conversation
in which everyone’s involved,
like a deep breath
before you take that phone call.
It’s like a solemn, sullen song
that’s been written and exists
solely so some lungs can laugh,
only after, in sadness, they’ve
sung along.

So let’s make a contract now
a contractual agreement
that we’ll only be what we really are.
And if you’re scarred, then
let me see your scars.
If you’re lonely
I get lonely too
and I’m here to rest with you.
Or to wrestle you.
If you need a vessel for the truth
I’ll be a son of a bitch
or the father of our youth
but I’d rather just rest
Let’s get arrested.
Only time can test
all this time that we’ve invested.
If our settlement gets better
in these seven solemn days
I’ll be a weatherman
predicting all this rain on faith
that intuition is correct
or I’m supposed to be wrong
like
writing a song
when the notes
have a will of their own
or herding cats into a barn
when they haven’t heard
reports that there’s a storm on

And now I’m lifted up
and now I’m lifting others with me
when my silence is serenity’s
a sign I’m living simply
and I’m simply living
in this complex world that we’ve been given.

I’m saying
maybe our sadness
is a natural reaction
to the sad state of living
that’s been so in fashion
this is babylon
and this is heaven on Earth
and since the day of my birth
every breath has been work
and it’s worth it
a solemn, sullen song is just the surface.
It’s a tool to be used
for a purpose
Celebrating life
Celebrating yearning
Celebrating sadness
and our infinite capacity for learning
how to be sad and joyful in the midst of all this mess
learning how to love life in our faithlessness
learning how to love
especially ourselves
forgiveness is a practice that’s essential to my health
forgiveness is the difference between heaven and hell
that’s not some afterlife shit, I’m talking
Now.

Sometimes I distance myself
because we’re not living deeply
but there’s nothing more shallow than
alone.
And that’s the burden of vision
it’s this gift I’ve been given
and it can help or it can hurt the world I know.

And now this pit that I’ve lived in
Self-indulgent and rigid
looked a whole lot different from below

And now my life on the surface
is authentic, it’s purpose
is to be who I’m here to be
and grow.

So now I’m lifted up
and now I’m lifting others with me
when my silence is serenity’s
a sign I’m living simply
and I’m simply living
in this complex world that we’ve been given.

“Smithfield Market Pt. 2″ Lyrics

Jon Watts — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 01:29:57 +0000

Smithfield Market, early in the day
the crowd parts around him
and the people fall away
mothers cover childs’ ears for fear of what he’ll say

He says:
“I’m naked because we all are
and God sees through this mess.
Your identity’s a farce
before birth and after death
you’re not a banker or a lawyer
or a well-to-do man
You’re just another beggar
with outstretched hands
and you could fill them up with beauty
you could fill them up with joy
you could fill them up when times are rough
with the glory of the
Lord.”

“But you wrap yourselves in linens
and you wrap yourselves in silks
and you wrap yourselves in blood and hell and guilt.”

______________________

And he didn’t choose to come here.
If he made a choice at all,
it was to listen, and when he heard it,
heed the call.

And he’s been given legs to stand on
He’s been given hearts to open
He’s been given gifts and burdens plenty,
knowing that he’s broken.

So let him be naked.
Don’t avert your eyes.
Take it as a sign that it’s time to drop disguises.
Stop hiding behind silence.
Stop hiding behind noise.
Stop hiding your own violence.
Stop hiding from that still, small voice.

Full Lyrics to Jon Watts’ Entire Discography

Jon Watts — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 21:19:45 +0000

Jon Watts Lyrics

“Ghostjon pt. 2″ Lyrics

Jon Watts — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:50:03 +0000

I can’t tell you
all of the things you don’t see
if your eyes are open
they’re unfocused
and if I had
a little magic left
I could love you out of this mess
hocus pocus

But I’ve been empty
I haven’t had any love for you
the most I could do is
keep breathing
this is so painful
if we can’t sit at the same table
then I won’t know
what poison you’ve been eating

But I’m not playing it
these awful guessing games
have me trying to name the un-nameable
and now you’re running away
and I’ve stopped running at all
so I’ll just sit and face fate
and that’s a face full.

I don’t know how to tell you
anything at all
I don’t know if it would help if I was asked
so now I’m sitting, hand to chin
waiting for next fall
maybe that’s when the past will have passed

I’ve absorbed
quite a bit of nothingness
and that could mean anything
but at least now I see nothing clearly
I say to friends, no, she hasn’t said anything
maybe she doesn’t want to be near me

this is the ghost jon speaking

I never thought you’d kill me too
I guess it’s redundant to say now
that I loved you
and that I trusted you
and that my hurt and my anger
are because you
didn’t choose to
follow through

so when I come to your place
and try to say goodbye
and you don’t show your face
you just hide
why should I believe that you’re alright?
I don’t believe that.

And so I’m hurt right now
and you’ve bound up my lips
with a fear of action, loss,
fear of thoughtlessness
I was too trusting
I didn’t trust enough
and now I fall over apologies and such
son of a crutch

now you play me like a xylophone
that won’t shut up
but I’ve been silent for eight months
I’m listening to nothing
trying to make sense of
something so nonsensical
a cynic wouldn’t sense that it was coming
and start running

so now we’ve died
no one can identify the killer
I think i know the murder weapon
but I’ll leave that for September
and I’ll remember you
I’ll send this simple gift of truth to my future self
remind him that you put me through hell

I love you and I miss you but you’re not worth hell.

“Grab a Pen” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:48:31 +0000

This is
an interfaith dialogue.
It’s intergenerational.

This is on the internet.
It’s personal, sensational.

This is
individual, and
group consciousness.
It’s emotional and logical
abstract common sense.

This is
solidness.
it’s tangible, it’s something you can touch.
If you’re capable of loving
you can’t love too much

…and if you’re broken, this can heal you
or help you heal yourself
This is spoken word and song
and it’s only here to help.

This is art and it’s important
Support it
It’s not enough that you enjoy it
I’m asking you to join it
So if you’re listening
then grab a pen,
write a letter to yourself
or to someone else
join the conversation.
write a song or a poem
learn to let go

It’s not the end of the world
Someone else can feel it too
I’m a human being just like you
And I’m honest in this forum
this formula’s enduring
all the time and the attention it’s afforded

And it’s only getting better
as I relax and sit back
let my muse do the talking
while my brain writes the raps

You should try it
it’s been worth
every boulder
that I’ve shouldered
just to get to be an artist for another sacred moment
like playing a show out in the rain
if no one came except for Spirit
and my love for life
then that’s audience enough

Money is another story
but that story’s kind of boring
Just pay for this CD
and then no one has to worry

this is art and it’s only here to help you get settled and express a little better what you felt, a love letter to yourself or your sadness or whatever you’ve embedded in your psyche, your community, your health. this is to your health.

“Two Words” Lyrics

Jon Watts — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 06:47:08 +0000

I’m like friendship
because I’m half dead.
I’m like a drop of food coloring.

We’re all seeing red.
Now I’m asleep,
but I’ve got the guts to admit it.
I know what fulling living is,
and I’m partially existing.

Now I’m alone.
I’m just alone.
Even if you do call me,
I won’t pick up my phone.
My living situation’s
looking pretty bare bones.
I spend my time considering
the validity of my old poems.

Don’t look at me,
just look away.
You could ask me all your questions
but I won’t find much to say.
I’m not old.
this is my birth day.
My story’s not been told
because I started it today.

Listen to lies
and then speak the truth.
You don’t need to be a freedom fighter
just to have proof
that the truth is beautiful
just the way it is.
I live in condescension of these fibs.
-or-
I’ve got a living contradiction in my ribs.

This is called my summer.
Also, “things fall apart.”
It doesn’t need an introduction
or a lead guitar.
I could feel it in my body
like you might feel your heart
and it’s beating.

If I could say two words
that would live forever.
It’s: authenticity
(and then I’d think of something clever)
I’ve been having trouble speaking lately
listen to my voice.
Luckily, we all have a choice.

We are lovers of the Truth.
And that gives us courage
because we know
We’ll find a way to love you.

Some of us are young.
Others, alcoholics.
And we all know it matters what you call it.

Listen, I’m not feeling afraid.
I’m not afraid of clarity.
If anything I’m grateful when it comes.

But I haven’t felt too clear,
and so I’m waiting with sincerity.

Illumination rises with the sun.