David Mallett “closer to truth”
from: in the falling dark, 1995
Maine native Mallett’s website bio has this to say about him. With the sensibilities of a storyteller and the passions of a poet, Mallett crafts imagery that evokes a past of Main Streets and summer dances, rambling farmhouses and the families who lived and loved there. His work is a continuation of the American tradition and echoes with the spirit of Stephen Foster and the poetry of Frost, Sandburg, and Guthrie. Mallett’s music is a reminder of connection with the earth and with days gone by – and of the memories and dreams that sustain us.” His composition, Garden Song (inch by inch, row by row) was recorded in 1979 by Pete Seeger and has since been recorded hundreds of times, but it is his Closer To Truth written in 1995 that remains etched in my memory.
-Alan West-
I couldn’t find the lyrics to this song on the web, so I listened closely and came up with the above. If anyone hears differently – especially the line When are lives are on the line, please comment so we can get it right. While this is folk music I suggest playing it loud!
“I sit alone in the morning light
A piece of paper in my hands
I didn’t get to sleep last night
I was thinking bout my old friend
Bad news coming down a wire
Another victim of unfriendly fire
We are closer to truth in dangerous times
We are closer to truth
Pain and suffering all about
Never hit so close to home
Right now I’m soaked up with doubt
Has God left us all alone?
Staring up at the empty skies
Does anyone know why we are closer to truth?
In dangerous times
We are closer to truth
We are nearer to God
When our lives are on the line
We are nearer to God
Last time I saw my friend
He just laughed and said goodbye
That’s how I’ll always think of him
Standing there so alive
And in the best and the worst of times
It seems we always find
We are closer to truth in dangerous times
We are closer to truth
We are nearer to God
When our lives are on the line
We are nearer to God
We are dying for love
For all of mankind
We are dying for love
In dangerous times, in dangerous times, in dangerous times
”