Wednesday, January 23, 2008

"This Mornin' I Am Born Again...

and a light shines on my land
i no longer look for heaven in your deathly, distant land
i do not want your pearly gates don't want your streets of gold
This mornin' i was born again and a light shines on my soul

This mornin' i was born again, i was born again complete
i stood up above my troubles and i stand on my two feet
My hand it feels unlimited, my body feels like the sky
i feel at home in the universe where yonder planets fly

This mornin' i was born again, my past is dead and gone
This great eternal moment is my great eternal dawn
Each drop of blood within me, each breath of life i breathe
Is united with these mountains and the mountains with the seas

i feel the sun upon me, it's rays crawl through my skin
i breathe the life of Jesus and old John Henry in
i give myself, my heart, my soul to give some friend a hand
This mornin' i was born again, i am in the promised land

This mornin' i was born again and a light shines on my land
i no longer look for heaven in your deathly distant land
i do not want your pearly gates don't want your streets of gold
And i do not want your mansion for my heart is never cold"
--Woody Guthrie
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As an extra bonus today, the namesake for my newly established blog:
mp3: Slaid Cleaves - This Morning I Am Born Again
mp3: Ray Wylie Hubbard - This Mornin' I Am Born Again


From what i can find, this was a poem/lyrics from Woody Guthrie that Slaid Cleaves put music to and recorded for Broke Down.

Ray Wylie's version is one the most hauting songs i've ever heard. No instruments, just odd percussion (some of which sounds something like someone sitting in a creaky rocking chair bangin' on a bag of feed). It begins with a smoky cough, then just Hubbard's growl, and by the end there are six or seven vocalists (Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson, Gurf Morlix, Patty Griffin, and Bob Schneider...) adding harmony. The first time i heard this song was on a long drive on the back end of a road trip from New Braunfels, TX, and everyone in the car was in a hypnotic trance for the entire three minutes.


Truly great traditional folk music written by the original folk singer himself.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Payton thank you for this blogroll on Slaid Cleaves and friends. He has done an absolutely brilliant job with Woody Guthries profound lyrics.
    I wonder what Arlo thinks?
    Have you heard any of Donna Dean's music?
    You might want to check her out.
    Plus Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand might be a good track to feature

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  2. Lucky you, I feel like I'm dying everyday.
    Thanks for share.

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  3. Thanks for share, is beautiful, me as Dakuro I still hope that i will born again someday and left my past life where it haver to be, in the past, and will keep walking into my future until i die.

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