Song of the Week: Vail Monograph, Version 2 - March 21, 2020

Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for March 21, 2020, “Vail Monograph, Version 2” (originally from October 19, 2019).
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”