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 was hoping you would say,
“Come and rest your weary self
Against my heart, upon the ground
And we won’t speak or make a sound”
We’ve been walking now for days
And we rowed across the sea
Hungry as the burden beasts
With nothing left to eat
Oh how we limp upon our need
And there’s nothing here for miles around
Better look out for your own
So take your brother down the city road
Buy your bread and spend your gold
Would you listen to me now?
You can send the crowds away
We are poor and we are weary, Lord
Let them work and earn their pay
Oh I’ve given all I can today
This is all that I can carry, Lord
Just the bread that’s in my hands
Not enough to feed the hungry, there’s
A meal for me and my own friends
But you can take it from my fingers now
And you can break it like a stone
And when you raise it up to heaven
Speak the words that make it grow
Oh give us bread and feed our souls
Give us bread and feed our souls
Lift the pieces up to heaven
And though you whisper, speak aloud
The bread you’ll break, the prayers you’ll shout
The bread you’ll break
The prayers we’ll shout