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Down Goes The Day (Rough Diamonds)

by Chris Taylor

My Tribe! exclusive
1.
Em walking down the street … in search of your own soul G taking chances … on who you get to know C Em you talk about the Light – but you know – I just can’t see it in your eyes Em you send your message … by what you do and say G you think we’re fooled by these… religious games you play? C No one is impressed… now that you feel … Em You’ve got God on you’re side CHORUS: G father wisdom … you’re welcome in here C it’s just me … wishing you were near D Em send your spirit … out well has run dry (RUN DRY, RUN DRY) G father mercy … teach us how to love C for all the empty ones … who feel like giving up D Em – Em so we we’ll know … Jesus is alive Em speaking in tongues … in the atmosphere of light G are all things connected … in between wrong & right? C You’ve been singing gypsy songs … Em I’ve been lighting candles in the night Em you flirt with soul … in the cafes where you eat G I’m trying to connect/one x one/with the people on the street C with nothing to win – nothing to lose Em some of us just hide REPEAT CHORUS Em spiritual poets … play on cheap guitars G are we too slow to catch on to the prophets in the bars? C Em following God’s footprints … till the sand hits the tide Em street corner preachers … carry out their plans G with venom in their mouth & a bible in their hands C Em yelling about heaven & hell – heaven and hell … no love in their eyes REPEAT CHORUS
2.
learn to pray in the desert with the devil on your heals learn to pray in the closet no matter how it feels learn to pray in the alleys & the cities & the streets hey hey learn to pray in your make up and your dressing gown learn to pray when you’re thinking their ain’t nobody around learn to pray in the chaos of another wasted day hey hey C I’ve been knocking on the door… I’ve been knocking D I’ve been knocking on the door C I’ve been knocking on the door… I’ve been knocking D Em – G – F# Em – F# - G I’ve been knocking on the door learn to pray for the answers… no matter what you find learn to pray for the lost and the broken and the blind learn to pray to the father, to the spirit and the son hey hey learn to pray in your weakness, learn to pray when you’re strong learn to pray when they erase … the line of right and wrong learn to pray down the barrel of another loaded gun C I’ve been knocking on the door… I’ve been knocking D I’ve been knocking on the door C I’ve been knocking on the door… I’ve been knocking D D I’ve been knocking on the door C D learn to pray in the desert with the devil on your heals C learn to pray in the closet no matter how it feels D learn to pray in the desert when you’re running out of time Em –G-C learn to pray when you think you’re running out of your mind Em G C running out of your mind… mind… mind Em G C you’ve gotta learn to walk, you’ve gotta learn to fly Em you’ve gotta learn to crawl, you’ve gotta learn to say G C I wanna learn to live, I wanna learn to love Em Learn to ask … Learn to pray
3.
I’ve walked a thousand miles … by candle light a thousand different faces … every night and my arms are tired … and my eyes are blind and I cannot remember … who I’ve left behind and here I am now … climbing to fame and I’ve already forgotten … the name I believed in you … since we first met I kept us going … with no regrets but I took another look at my face in the mirror and these clothes I’m wearing out … don’t fit no more and here I am now … dodging the blame and I’ve already forgotten … the name when I go walking … I laugh till I cry you still amaze me though I can’t say why but around every corner … there’s a shoulder cold and people will use you up … and break you to the bone and here I am now … pretending I’m one and the same and I’ve already forgotten … the name C F I thought I needed a rescue … just like I did before C F but somehow I made it … to your front door Am G-C so can I come in … and just lay down Am G-C are you the same person I used to hang around Am G-C well here I am now … are you glad I came? Am C-G Here I am now … I’ve come to stake my claim E Am F (BREAK) here I am now … the WHOLE town is in flames Em G C – F C – F C – F - C and I’ve already forgotten … the name
4.
ANOTHER WITNESS Am-G-D-G VERSE CHORDS how does the morning … rise up with such beauty in the face of the night? could be what I’ve been missing … what I’ve neglected my entire life and why does that feeling … come and go with every blow of the wind can I hold onto … and will I ever … catch it again E-E- D- A I’m another … I’m another … I’m another witness from another … from another … from another time C D (if you could only) see the things that I’ve been seeing… you’d testify Am-G-D-G VERSE CHORDS I feel a connection … a deep connection to the things you have made they con turn me and toss me … kick me and cross me I won’t be afraid how does the spirit … get our attention in the face of the day and why does he keep calling … even though we have fallen and faded away? E-E- D- A I’m another … I’m another … I’m another witness from another … from another … from another time C D C D (if you could only) see the things that I’ve been seeing- you’d testify- testify Em G my one and only … testimony D A I’m ready to walk this road alone Em G my one and only … come and hold me D A---- Em – G – D- A REPEAT OUTRO not ready to walk this road alone
5.
I’m dropping out said the thin man to his lady I’m moving on said the lady to her man Time uses up the vision and the headline Old stories never make the front page again Bleak hot night in the downtown of your senses Your dreams they only mock you to your face Prayers to you were always so expensive Like money that you lose and can’t replace The fire of anger – it burns only the angry And I smell smoke comin’ from that house Only a miracle could keep you with us And only pride could keep you out Everyone… is stuck on tomorrow While today slips away And if you want to take tomorrow Oh… you gotta take today Broken down alleys… trash can vallys Yesterday’s rush – tomorrow’s blush No matter how you try… all you do is sigh Wish I’d never gone around that detour I wanna feel something special One hundred times over Open up my eyes Lord, open up my eyes You cannot hold it in your hands man It’s gotta come from the inside Ain’t in the voices coming from all sides Ain’t on your doorstep wrapped in a paper You cannot find it in a ticket stub You cannot find it in a night club You cannot find it in a dollar bill Or even under your window sill The day you were born you were looking for hope You looked everywhere but the end of your rope The day you were born you were looking for hope You looked everywhere but the end of your rope If you think you’re too old, too blind, too dumb Down goes the day along with the sun… Down… goes the day Down… goes the day
6.
7.
Seahorse 05:44
E – F#7 E E7-E left the light on so you could find your key; E – F#7 E E7-E i waited ‘til two then i waited until three; E – F#7 E E7-E if it’s about forgiveness i will forgive you; E F#7 A2 - ASUS but the price of bearing your heart don’t come so cheap F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (the same question that you’ve heard before); F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (another love song flies out the door); F#7 round and round the story goes; A2 ASUS-A ASUS-A like a seahorse on the ocean floor; E – F#7 E E7-E short on hope but never hopeless; E F#7 E E7-E it’s just that aching feeling deep inside; E – F#7 E E7-E where every word you’ve said; comes back to haunt you; E – F#7 A – Asus – A in all the wrong places at all the wrong times; F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (the same question that you’ve heard before); F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (another love song flies out the door); F#7 round and round the story goes; A2 ASUS-A ASUS-A ASUS-A like a seahorse on the ocean floor; oh to be with you; i confess … is my every dream; oh if i’m guilty of anything; i have led you to my heart on a string; and now i’m left here wondering: F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (the same question that you’ve heard before); F#7 –A E is it me you’re looking for? (another love song flies out the door); F#7 round and round the story goes; A2 ASUS-A E – F#7 / E – F#7 like a seahorse on the ocean floor;
8.
Deep Reasons Why A E Bm D I don’t know why these eyes… see the sun but want the moon I don’t know why these lips… can’t speak what they need to say to you A Bm D Dm I can’t tell if I’m really breaking up or breaking out A E Bm D I don’t know why I’m feeling crushed … under this wall of doubt CHORUS 1 A E F#m Bm-D-A (A-E-Bm-D) 2X Deep reasons why … it just is VERSE 2 A E Bm D I don’t know why this treasure … I keep digging but I cannot find I don’t know why this pleasure – leaves my soul blind A Bm D Dm I don’t know if my father … will give me a grace or play the judge A E Bm D I can’t tell if I’m praying too long … for too much CHORUS 2 A E F#m Bm A E F#m Bm A E F#m deep reasons why … deep reasons why … deep reasons why … Bm-D-A (A-E-Bm-D) it just is - let it go … let it go now… let it go … let it go now BRIDGE (A – Amaj7 – A7 - A7sus) I can’t tell… if the lie… will ruin the man or bring him to life Can’t tell if the reasons… will mean anything To the man… who dies CHORUS 3 A E F#m Bm A E F#m Bm A E F#m deep reasons why … deep reasons why … deep reasons why … Bm-D-A (A-E-Bm-D) it just is - let it go … let it go now… let it go … let it go now End on A cant stop the world from turning round in these dizzy days … dizzy days
9.
What Do You Want? You chose the mountains to stand glorious You chose the rain to fall from high You chose our pleasure to have edges of pain And you can see it in my eyes You chose the light to come and go Lord You walked in flesh among your own You chose for us to follow your every move By faith and faith alone CHORUS So what do you want… what do you want? What could you want… from me? From me? You chose the heartbeat as our lifeline You left us things we don’t deserve Still we manage to… deny you And claim it’s nature we preserve CHORUS So what do you want… what do you want? What could you want… from me? From me? BRIDGE From me… Me.. From me… me? CHORUS So what do you want… what do you want? What could you want… from me? From me? So what do you want… (tell me now) What do you want? (tell me now) What could you want… from me? From me?
10.
SALT OF THE EARTH I always find myself… stopping in my tracks I cannot go forward… I will not go back My life is a vapor… a mist in the wind But it’s crazy how heavy… this burden within… I know there’s a soul… but no one can find it No one can draw it… shape or describe it These days power and might… rule the land Flesh and blood… only SEEM to take command But your words love… make hard men poets We stand in awe… of just what they show us Of all the people… I thought God could use Had no idea it would be the one… filling these shoes What’s victory… without a little defeat? And what is our faith… without what we can see? Hand in hand we go… - spirit and flesh… But something deep inside tells me… one of those won’t last Time equals struggle… and no one wants this We fight with our mouths… and scream with our fists We come into life… on the day of our birth Some hear the call to be the… salt of the earth People I cry for… go about their day They pay no attention… to the signs of the age And I don’t know why… some people won’t see And the ones who surrender… find hope on their knees Every one wants something… when you finally arrive But where were they when you were… barely alive? They get so offended… when you refuse their help You can’t trust anyone… sometimes even yourself I’ve made the same statement… I’ve made all along But you say this highway is only… big enough for one Born into a new day… it’s my second birth How long to remember… that I’m the salt of the earth? I’d like to say… my faith knows no bounds But my box is just bigger… or maybe it’s round I wish I could tell you… these arms are strong But now they’re letting go of what they… held for so long And what will you say… of any of this worth? Oh my dear love… to be the salt of the earth Oh my dear love… Oh my dear love…
11.
Brewster Jam 01:42
12.
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about

Down Goes The Day was officially released in 1998. Recorded in Nashville, TN with some of the finest session players in town. All music and lyrics written by Chris Taylor except Deep Reasons Why music by Eddie Morales and lyrics by Chris Taylor.

Down Goes The Day (Rough Diamonds) is first takes and out takes of how this album started off. The first 3 days of scat vocals, one takers, alternate lyric ideas and basic tracks.

Rough Diamonds was never really mixed properly and only now mastered by Bruce Neher... but this is all part of it's charm.

"We sat in Sunset Blvd. studios with producer Steve Dady and assorted session players listening to the demo versions and live versions of the tracks... They took notes and made their charts before picking up their instruments. I sang these scratch vocals... or guide vocals so they would know their place in the arrangement... This is what you will hear on this record. I was a bit insecure being surrounded by such talent... a bit intimidated by the producer and his close group of friends... I was the outsider... but it was MY record!"

"I talked to the band about tones and textures I was looking for on these songs. I wanted the space age epic rock of Jesus Is Alive to sound more like the vibe earth of Natalie Merchant's "Carnival". I wanted to play this Indian flute on the moody monster "Learn To Pray" - which is a song of doubt and faith... it's a darker shade of faith. Please don't mistake these songs as cliche CCM radio hits."

One of my favorite singers on the face of this earth is Riki Michele and I was honored to have her sing on Down Goes The Day and Seahorse... I wish she was hotter in the mix and I wish she sang on more of the songs... maybe one day I can work with her again..."

credits

released January 18, 2013

Jerry McPherson - Guitars/effects (Faith Hill, Tim McGraw)
Steve Brewster - drums/percussion
Mark Hill - bass guitar
Blair Masters - keyboards
Riki Michele - vocals
Chris Rodriguez - background vocals
Chris Harris - background vocals
David Davidson - violin
Matt Slocum - cello and tremelo guitar

Photography: Allen Clark
Art Design: Paul Soupiset
Additional Artwork: Chris Taylor
Rough Mixes by: Steve Dady
Mastered by Bruce Neher at Disc & Dat

Recorded at Sunset Blvd Studios 1998
Nashville, TN
Engineered by Steve Dady

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Chris Taylor San Antonio, Texas

My name is Chris Taylor. I play music and create visual art and find joy in the process.

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