Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for October 19, 2019, “Vail Monograph, Version 2” The band: Chris Thile, Aoife O’Donovan, Mike Elizondo, Jeff Babko, Matt Chamberlain, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves, Noam Pikelny.

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Lyrics:

“Canst thou send lightnings

So that they may go

And say unto thee here we are?”

A rhetorical question

From our Father In Heaven

To Job in his suffering

Here below

To Job in his suffering—

As we sent the first lightnings

All those years ago

I quoted that question by heart

Then delivered the answer

Full of magnets and wire

On behalf of a dreamer

Here below

On behalf of a dreamer—

“Sounds like you did this”

I did but—

It was the least that I could do

—than I would do to serve his genius

To serve his—

`“Sounds like it’s time to set the record straight

Nothing’s wrong with calling a good man great, but a bad man...”

No, he’s not a bad man

Though it’s true before we met

The God of Wire was struggling to connect

What he had with what he dreamt

Then I applied a method to the madness

And the thing began to click

We were like a couple little kids

‘Cause it was clear this was it

I’d take him by the hand and lead him to whatever future he had seen

And pan whatever gold was in his stream

Of consciousness that flowed between his heart and anything like love for the doer of his dreams

“Sounds like he used you”

He did but—

Oh how I burned to be of use

—to be of use and not be slave to

A mind as—

As cold and dry and barren as this one is

At least when in comparison to one like his

“You have a great mind”

No, his is the great mind

And it will never be at rest

Will ever trade this moment for the next

And what it has for what it’s dreamt

So even if the present is exactly what he wanted it to be

He’ll miss his un-manifested destiny

And find a better man than me

To take him by the hand and lead him to whatever future he’s been seeing

And pan whatever gold’s still in his stream

Of consciousness that flows between his heart and anything like love for me

I send him a lightning

Every now and then

Saying unto him “here we are

I don’t expect you to answer

But I miss you dear dreamer

And what we did together

Here below

O what we did together here”

Tom Papa reads an essay on what life is like with children, originally from his book Your Dad Stole My Rake. Find more information about the book and Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Tom Papa visits Milwaukee for Oktoberfest, samples some spicy breakfast chili, chats with a waitress named Denise, and serves as a wingman in a bratwurst eating contest. Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for October 12, 2019, “CQ.” The band: Chris Thile, Sarah Jarosz, Mike Elizondo, Kush Abadey, Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas, Brett Williams.

Download Chris Thile's Song of the Week, "Lightning Man" (originally from our June 8, 2019 show). The band: Sara Watkins, Mike Elizondo, Eric Doob, Brittany Haas, Shaun Martin, Noam Pikelny, and Bryan Sutton.

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Lyrics:

Morse has chained the lightning

The rumors are true

All this dashing and dotting’s gonna bring the world home to you

And tell you what it is or what it might be

So drink today’s coffee with tomorrow’s news...

There’s no more elsewhere

Everywhere is here

With an o-perator, tap-tapping our hope and fear

Speculation and excitement

The clock hands froze the miles disappeared

When Morse chained the lightning

Morse has chained the lightning

Behold these tyrants

Assassins and thieves

Haters of light, law

And liberty

Then behold Morse’s lightning

Nipping at their heels

Fixing to strike them in the middle of the battlefield

Where they left America dying

Of the great divide in what she thinks and feels

Before Morse chained the lightning

Our Out In America correspondent Tom Papa puts on his blue suede shoes and heads to Las Vegas, where he gets a ride from a soon-to-be fan of the Las Vegas Raiders, extols the virtues of the city’s buffets, and chats with an old married couple who aren’t married at a $10 blackjack table.

Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Tom Papa reads an essay from his book ‘Your Dad Stole My Rake’ on one secret to a healthy marriage: the Romantic Getaway. Find more information about the book and Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Tom Papa visits Sonoma County, California, where he attempts to find some non-wine-related activities, gets some advice on marriage from an Atlanta couple, and discovers a heavenly taco truck near his hotel. Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Chris Thile's Song of the Week, "Dionysus," from our September 21, 2019 show. The band: Chris Thile, Gaby Moreno, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves, Trevor Lawrence Jr., Chris Morrissey, and Zac Rae.

Chris Thile’s Song of the Week from our September 14, 2019 show, “The Sully.” The band: Chris Thile, Sarah Jarosz, Mike Elizondo, Eric Doob, Armand Hirsch, Gabriel Kahane, Jeremy Kittel.

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Lyrics:

This is the Sully—

—As fine a ship as you

can sail from Le Havre France to New

York of a mild October

in the year of our lord

1832

Blessed be the quiet mind—

—such as wielded by a Sully

passenger named Samuel F.B

Morse the nearly famous artist

coming up for air post

years of work and study

Quiet be the weary mind

That hovers o’er the water—

—grateful to be homeward borne by true and perfect boredom

Hallowed be its name

‘Cause—

—weary be the troubled mind

That hovers o’er the water

With its lonely sons and daughter

On the shore ahead

And on the shore behind

So much unfinished business

But there ain’t a cure for distance

Save a long long time

Tick tick ticking several decks

below in steerage next to less-

considered travelers nothing

but their fevers running

wild from bed to bed

To bed

Quiet be their weary minds

Between the old and new world

No more to seek approval

From the loved ones wedded to the shore behind

Calling “y’all are gonna miss us,

Unless you find the cure for distance”

—and in that instant

There it is

A ceaseless current

A boundless grid

A prayer a potion

With form and function

To deliver us

To each other

From each other

Racing be the blessed mind

To a future long imagined

Bright with glory, fame and fortune

It had left for dead

On the shore behind

Jedidiah are you listening

Your son has found a cure for distance

And blessed be his quiet mind

That hears the roaring of an instant

God hath wrought the cure for distance

And that cure is mine