From the recording Bookmark (2004)
(DADGBD / capo 3)
I re-did this song because it possesses a quiet, lurking power that I feel gets overlooked. I love to sing this song in prayerful pandemonium live, so I figured it might be a good fit on Bookmark for that reason. I am especially drawn to the haunting background voices and the way they lift the choruses on this version.
Lyrics
Wise Blood
I turn another mile
twisting in my seat
in a perfect world
I could not look behind me
to see who I had hurt
and what I’d left behind
all the details that I’d missed
and all the treasures left unmined
like the thief who returns what he steals
just like the beggar who’s handing out twenty-dollar bills
like a river of love in flood
is wise blood
today my heart is aching
in this land of the living
there’s not enough joy
and there’s never enough plenty
all glory to Him
who nurses not His grievances
like the thief who returns what he steals
just like the beggar who’s handing out twenty-dollar bills
like a river of love in flood
is wise blood