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
Oh don’t you hesitate
I came to plead, I came to beg you
Don’t slow down
‘Cause I’ve been learning how to pray
On hands and knees that bleed and scrape
The cold, cold ground
I’ve done all I can do
To keep her breathing
And I left her at the tomb
I came for someone to believe in
There’s a girl I love
In her mother’s arms
Will soon be sleeping
Oh don’t you turn and face me
I’m in the wings, I’m in the shadows
Don’t slow down
‘Cause I crawled here through the shame
The crooked legs and the quiet anger
Of the cold, cold crowd
I’ve done all I can do
Oh I’ve paid for healing
And I’ve nothing left to lose
I came for someone to believe in
It’s been twelve long years
And I’m all alone
And I’m still bleeding
“Oh talitha koum
Only believe
Oh talitha koum
Only believe
Oh talitha koum”
Oh don’t you hesitate
I came to plead I came to beg you