Vagabond Dancing
Caught between the silence
and a very silly grin
your pride has gone and made you
the wearer of burning pants again
Captured by your costume
of a perfect, pious life
Your closet makes a fragile cage
for skeletons hiding inside
Forget about the weight that you carry
and move to the pulse of Grace
(chorus)
Like a Vagabond Dancing
His feet take flight
Twisting and Twirling around
He knows he has nothing
So his burden is light
Dancing for the freedom he’s found
Vagabond Dancing...
You’ve
whitewashed all your laundry
but the soil is showing through
the halo fit so snuggly
looks a little bit crooked on you
Are you strangled by the pretense?
Are you tired of your disguise?
Strip away your shiny rags
Be naked for merciful eyes
Forget about the weight you carry
and move to the pulse of grace
(chorus)
(bridge)
It’s better to be ugly and real than to wear a perfect mask
It’s better to be broken and carried than to limp on a shiny cast
(chorus)
music and lyrics by
Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top)
My
Pharisee Friend
You like to color by
numbers
You always stay inside the lines
You never worry what you're missing
you know that wrong is dark and right is light
You know each and every color
You've got them numbered on your heart
You may make a pretty picture
but it's not a work of art
(chorus)
My Pharisee Friend;
more in love with the black and white
than the shades of grace you're in
My Pharisee Friend;
don't you know that keepin' score
isn't gonna wipe away your sin
Colors cover your
palette
like everyone you must do you part
to take this canvas called a lifetime
and live it like a work of art
such a meticulous painter
You've got every color in its place
but where's the magic in you masterpiece
when the numbers dictate what you create...
(chorus)
music and
lyrics by Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top))
Do You
Tremble
An innocent girl is killed when she's shot
on a Monday night in a submarine shop
By a twisted kid who wants to be tough
He's tryin to prove that he's strong enough
And that whispers in the night won't change him
(chorus)
Do you tremble?
Do you sigh?
Cuz I flat out shake
Did you stop to wonder why?
These are the people we make?
A baby dies in a garbage can
young mother cleans it up the best that she can
It's her senior prom; don't want to be late
For the night of her life; don't want to worry her date
And she hopes that the blood didn't stain her dress
(chorus)
(bridge)
You gotta wonder:
Can we live with the choice?
When we're so cold
and Jiminy Cricket's lost his voice...
(chorus)
music and lyrics by Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top)
The Truth
Hurts
Blunt like a bludgeon
but it cuts like a knife
burns like a fire
but it's sharp like ice
Searing like a firebrand
but soothing to the soul
Burns away the taintedness
what's left is pure and whole
(chorus)
The truth is we're not as strong as we think we are
The truth is on our own we can't get too far
The truth hurts, but if we let it, it can heal
Solid like a
mountain;
eternal more than stone
elusive yet indelible
once it gets a hold of you
Try if you want to
you can run but you can't hide
Close your eyes and click your heels
but it will always find you
(chorus)
(bridge)
Some will try to fight it
like sparring with the sea
Some will try to hide from it
like hiding from the air we breathe
Some will embrace it and
The Truth will set them free
(chorus)
music and lyrics
by Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top)
All I See
The sun is
sinking on the Kansas plains
Falling, sleeping just to rise again
and in between the stars, still shining down on me
Ocean rolling over coral floor
Sea gulls crying as they search the shore
Tides are rising, pleasing to my ear
(chorus)
And everywhere, and all I see
reflections of the truth
That You are God
and You created me
and through the wonder and mystery...
Your love is all I see
A breeze is
blowing in a baby's hair
Kites are flying, dancing in the air
leaves are rustling, whispering in the trees
Storm clouds rumbling over mountain range
Evening showers bless the earth with rain
Celestial prism tells the promise that was made
(chorus)
Shining,
sparkling, laughing stream
tells the story that's always been
of the Savior, Maker, Creator, & King
(chorus)
-music and lyrics
by Derek Shacklett, Keith Anderson, Joan Miller, Bryan Lennox
©1998 Derek A. Shacklett (ASCAP)/B-B-Bryan Music (SESAC)/Keith Anderson (ASCAP)
(Top)
Revelation
(Open to You)
You say you've
been enlightened
but you're stumbling in the light
blinded by an angel
who's posing as the light
You're asking lots of questions
But are you looking for the truth?
you're out of touch--so out of touch
Weeping for the
willows
crying for the land
communing with the desert
but your head's stuck in the sand
enamored by the painting
but the painter is unknown
& and you're out of touch--so out of touch...
(chorus)
Ahhh-Revelation Open to you
Ahhh-I pray revelation open to you
This game will
always stalemate
facts don't equal truth
The issue isn't who will win
The question's who will lose?
Argue all you want to
There's really no debate
Your just out of touch-So out of touch
(chorus)
(bridge)
We were created
to worship the maker not what He has made
Surrender and call out His name...
(chorus)
-music and lyrics
by Derek Shacklett, Keith Anderson, Lori Lyon Kitts, & Paul Q-Pek
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett (ASCAP)/Barcarole Publishing (SESAC)/Keith Anderson (ASCAP)
(Top)
In My Own
Mind
If green-eyed
monsters made good pets
I could be my own best friend
I try and try to let things slide
and then get smacked in the face again
So I play my guitar and I sing like a fool
and I feel like a failure when I stand next to you
(chorus)
I don't wanna be standing in anyone's shadow
I don't wanna find anybody standing in mine
When I feel like I been standing in somebody's shadow
I find I'm only there in my own mind
If frustration
were a virtue
I think that I could be a saint
If I could start over I would
but I know that I can't
So I'll work like a dog and eat like a bird
feel like a pig when I know I'm jerk
(chorus)
(bridge)
So if you see that my eyes are green,
I pray it's just heredity
A saint I'm not; a fool; maybe
But envy won't get the best of me...
(chorus)
music and lyrics
by Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top)
Fly Away
We slew dragons
side by side
and dreamt of changing the world
fought off alien invasion together
fought over silly things like girls
with a flash of enchanted pocket knife
crimson trickled down
grasping hands pledge friends for life
crimson sealed our vow
Sands of time
keep tumbling
Seasons turn to years
Days of chasing the dragons
make way for more grown-up fears
Peach-fuzz and cracking voices
Girls a more serious game
growing brings with it changes
but our friendship stayed the same
(chorus)
Fly way--Your soul knows where it belongs
Vouch safe--the fall's not as great as the grace is strong
Broken that same
Sunday morning
Born again on that same sunny day
Once again we were fastened together
by the blood of the one who forgave
the faith we found so honest
the grace we found so true
bonded there in our brokenness
Living water made us new
(chorus)
I could find no
words to remind you
of that simple, faithful time
the world and its wisdom charmed you
with its rhythm and clever rhyme
and I wonder about forgiveness
does amnesty have an end?
all I know is I miss you
Oh God, I'm too young to bury my friend
(chorus)
music and lyrics by Derek Shacklett
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett/ASCAP
(Top)
Deeper
She'll wake up in
the morning in another lonely bed
she knows she's gonna find him
she just hasn't found him yet
All she wants is a love for keeps
and finds a wounded heart instead
a piece of soul for just some tenderness
until there's nothing left
but she'll keep on looking
for a love to call her own
give it all to another lover
in hopes that he's the one
(chorus)
Deeper than a thousand empty beer cans
Longer than a hundred one-night stands
Stronger than the chains that've held you guilty
Greater than the deception in your hands
he's been lookin'
for reasons in the bottom of his cocktail
and if this one doesn't give'em, maybe the next one will
life is just a party, he thinks as he stumbles for the door
but before I can face this life of mine,
"I think I'll have one more..."
and as his one for the road
turns into two or three
reality blurrs, mooring burn,
and his mind drifts out to sea
(chorus)
(bridge)
It is more than the mind can fathom...
It is more than the heart dares dream...
It is a love that is waiting to save us...
Show us real life and make us free...
(chorus)
-lyrics by Derek
Shacklett/music by Derek Shacklett and Rustin Cody Smith
©1998 Derek A. Shacklett (ASCAP)/Rustin Cody Smith
(Top)
If You
Believe
Some would say he
was a dreamer
Some would say he was a fool
Some would say he was a liar
What do you believe is true?
Some would say he was teacher
Some would say a prophet too
Some would say he was the very Son of God
What do you believe is true?
(chorus)
If you believe he was the saviour
And he gave his life for you
If you believe he was Messiah
Live like you believe it's true
Some would say he
was a healer
Tell me, How has he healed you?
Some would say that he could save me
And eternal life is true
I've fallen for so many stories
Believed every little lie
I'm looking for the answers
But truth is so hard to find...
(chorus)
(bridge)
I am a soul that is searching
I am dying to know the truth
So if you believe what you say you believe
then I need to see it in you
(chorus)
-lyrics by Derek
Shacklett/music by Derek Shacklett and Eric J. Sova
© 1998 Derek A. Shacklett (ASCAP)/True Faith Ministries
(Top)
All songs from
the independant recording
Vagabond Dancing—Derek Shacklett
Produced by
Joseph Mills & Derek Shacklett |