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”