Live from Untold Tales
Guard My Soul was one of those songs that came from no where and gave me a topic to work with rather than already having a topic and trying to find a song for it. This was the first song that I wanted the final product to be played on an electric to give a slow yet droning feel at times. It speaks of a wartime mentality, though maybe not in the traditional sense, and a reconciliation that should spur action and not apathy.
I remember dropping Naomi off at the airport and on the way back writing the majority of Old Oak Tree. I was looking for something simple with a more standard blues progression. Not having a guitar in the car, I had to base the melody off of some Billie Holiday or Patty Griffin remembrances with a touch of Gospel in there and the original story line starting from finally finding a name for ourselves. Naomi, as usual, took the suck out of it and added her flair vocally. The tale in Old Oak Tree is that of being found and being changed.
Amnesia Project Lyrics and Background
The Amnesia Project was the child of my Ecclesiastical state that I have been working through the past few years. By Ecclesiastical I mean in the same vein of thought as the Hebrew writing of Ecclesiastes – that everything is meaningless, death and loneliness is what awaits and God has stepped out of the picture like a runaway Father does. The irony of the whole thing was that externally life was good, it was this inner spiritual angst of wanting something more and not being content with all I should be thankful for. The Project was about forgetting some of the basic realities of faith in Christ such as His character and promise to never leave nor forsake; it's about honestly coming to wrestle with a personal God who all too often seems impersonal and distant.
Without End formed one night when I was home by myself, feeling lonely and drinking self-pity as my wife was out with some of her friends. I was flipping through some of the Hebrew Scripture and ended up at this section called Lamentations where this city is just being basically raped and the author is feeling like there is no hope, no rescue, no future. But in the middle of his devastation he gives homage to God that His mercy is without end. It made me place into perspective my trivial junk while also placing the personal aspect of needing to wait for His faithful rescue to come.
Where Are You also comes from a feeling of abandonment from God… knowing that He was there but seeming non interactive. Church seemed like just a routine and religion wasn't going to satisfy a heartfelt need. Can't we just skip to the end of all this where things are finally complete again [for the first time]? Maybe in the wilderness I wasn't willing to really leave behind or take hold of what I needed to in order to move forward.
- Justin