From the recording What I Heard, What I Saw
"What I Heard, What I Saw" was born from nearly a decade of wrestling with, and re-discovering, some of the stories which fed Kristen’s youth. Pulled from the pages of the gospel of Mark, these songs render flesh and bone, ache and longing to the outcasts, prophets and would-be followers that inhabit those ancient stories. More than that, the album is a confessional: a candid retelling of Kristen’s own journey stumbling through hard questions towards faith, finding meaning in the grit and dust of roads unknown. Collaborating with award-winning producer/guitarist Murray Pulver (The Bros. Landreth, Steve Bell, Red Moon Road), Kristen offers a folk meditation on these challenging narratives which have informed deep conviction and creativity among the religious and non-religious alike for generations.
Lyrics
I lift my eyes to
The lines on your face
And the dust as it settles
In your eyes, in your hair
My body’s broken and dirty
My hands are tired
From begging for money
And holding tight to the fire
So lower my body down
But don’t leave me, my friends
You carried your burden
Now you can lay it here to rest
You call me “brother”
Though I feel so ashamed
And they hate you for mercy
I can feel it in the room
But you take my hand in your own hand
And your fingers are strong
You say, “Stand here, my brother
Oh be righteous, belong”
This is more than we’ve ever known
To believe in, my friends
We all carry our burdens
Do we just lay them here to rest?
Oh look at my body now
I needed you, my friends
To carry me in here
But I’ll be walking home at last