truth-seeker blues

 well i'm a truth-seeker baby

so come with me, maybe we’ll find wisdom at the end of the line

well it’s a god-given duty

to make things of beauty in the limits of our portion of time

god only knows where we’re heading

we’ve holes that will let in so much water we could eas’ly be sunk

but don’t you try to dissuade me

the great god that made me made me stubborn as an ornery drunk

 well there’s a hard time coming, better hold on tight

for now the world still appears to turn

i’m hearing fools pushing left while the knaves pull right

i got a feeling they will never learn

 it’s all arranged to confuse you

i don’t wanna lose you to the land that put the rain on my shoes

i’m not a bard or a sondheim

a voice from beyond, i’m just a truth-seeker singing the blues

well i’m a truth-seeker honey

if some days for money i go listen to the corporate din

and we can tack, trim and tailor

our route like a sailor, but the towel i will never throw in

i’ve written sad songs and mellow

i’ve played on the cello every symphony that europe can teach

i’ve gigged in bars and cathedrals

but still what i need was always slipping just ahead of my reach

well there’s a hard time coming, or that’s what i’m told

yeah there’s a storm brewing overhead

and there are some turn away to a hoard of gold

i got a feeling i’d be better dead

no, when i hear time a-ticking

my heels start to dig in ‘cause i know there’s not a moment to lose

if there’s a bud let it flower

the man of the hour is a truth-seeker singing the blues

well i’m a truth-seeker sugar

if some days a look a little weary of the ways of the world

i say a prayer to euterpe

who still could prefer me if i only knew my voice would be heard

i’m not the clown, len or jerry

the great charlie berry, there’s a summit with an ocean below

i’m heading west on the water

i’m warm getting hotter and think i know the way i should go

well there’s a hard time coming if the word is true

yeah who can say when our time will end

and there are some turn away, take a darkened room

as if they’re never gonna need a friend

oh to be a songwriter writing

to welcome the light in, it’s an offer i could never refuse

i’d give a lifetime of wages

for ten scribbled pages of a truth-seeker singing the blues

yeah i’m a bone-shaker, light-rigger, peacemaker, gold-digger

heartbreaker, humdinger, bootlegger, folk-singer

moonraker, heat-seeker, king maker, fire-eater,

pete seeger, chet baker, straight shooter, breath taker

truth-seeker singing the blues

written by tom yates 29 august january 2019