breathing [2002]

©2001 Gibbs Zehnder & Zehnder

There’s an old, old story that speaks to me,
From a faraway land, cross the river bed sand,
In a town with a sycamore tree.

There was a little rich man who made his money,
Cheating the poor, and always gauging for more,
He climbed up the sycamore tree,
He had scrambled up the branches to get a better look see,
But he got much more, than he could’ve hoped for,
Way up in the sycamore tree.

Sycamore, sycamore,
Way up in the sycamore tree…

When the Lord passed by with his followers free,
He stopped at the base, took a look at his face,
And called him down from the sycamore tree,
So flying down on the wings of liberty,
He let the Lord make his home, in his heart of stone,
Took half of his store, and gave it to the poor,
And the cheated he paid back times four,
In the shade of the sycamore tree.

Sycamore, sycamore,
In the shade of the sycamore tree…

In the backyard, it’s something to see,
In the backyard, it’s waiting for me,
Standing tall, with shade for all,
Standing tall, with shade for all,
It’s a beautiful sycamore.

Sycamore, sycamore,
I’m in a town with a sycamore,
Sycamore, sycamore,
I’m gonna climb that sycamore,
Sycamore, sycamore,
So call me down from the sycamore,
Sycamore, sycamore,
Gonna lie me down in the shade of the sycamore,
Sycamore, sycamore…

©1999 Gibbs Zehnder, Zehnder, & Marroquin

God is calling us,
acompartir nuestra vocacion,
Dios nos llama oy,
to action flowing from who we are together!

Como pueblo de belleza
Inclusividad y promesa
Somos llamado a esta ciudad
A ser centro de oracion y relacion multicultural.

God is calling us,
acompartir nuestra vocacion,
Dios nos llama oy,
to action flowing from who we are together!

The path upon which you and I become new together,
Takes us past the realm of one or the other,
What was opposing traffic on the main highway,
Now takes the same byway,
To one embrace.

God is calling us,
acompartir nuestra vocacion,
Dios nos llama oy,
to action flowing from who we are together!

(instrumental)

God is calling us,
acompartir nuestra vocacion,
Dios nos llama oy,
to action flowing from who we are together…

© 2001 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

This is the song about my breathing,
This is the song about my breathing it all in,
This is the song about my healing,
This is the song about my healing from within,

This is the song about my dreaming,
This is the song about my dreaming big and bright,
This is the song about believing,
This is the song about believing it’s alright…

Before it’s done,
It takes a little faith to run this race,
Believing it’s alright,
Before we’ve won,
It takes a little faith to run this race and to sing this song.

This is the song that keeps us going,
This is the song that keeps us going up the hill,
This is the song about us knowing,
This is the song about us knowing we’re stronger still,

This is the song about the Spirit,
This is the song about the Spirit between you and I,
This is the song that when we hear it,
This is the song that when we hear it, we let it be alright…

Before it’s done…,

(break)

This is the song about my breathing,
This is the song about my dreaming big and bright,
This is the song about my healing,
This is the song about believing it’s alright…

Before it’s done…

© 1999 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

If I speak
in the tongues of mortals
in the tongues of angels
But do not have love,
I am a noisy gong.
I am a clanging cymbal.

And if I have prophetic powers
and understand all mystery all knowledge,
And if I have the faith to move this mountain
Yeah, all the faith to tear this mountain down
But don’t have

Love ... I am nothing

And if I give away all my possessions,
And if I give my body over
If I give my body over
If I give my body over
So that I may boast,
But don’t have

Love ... I gain nothing
without Love ... I gain nothing

-break-

Love never ends
Love never ends

But as for prophesies – they will come to an end.
As for tongues – they will cease
As for knowledge – it will come to an end
Now faith and hope and love abide,
but the greatest of these is...

Love ... love bears all things
Believes all things

Love ... love hopes all things
Endures all things

Love ... Love never ends

© 2002 T.Zehnder and T.G.Zehnder

All the faces of the ages fanning out and broad like leaves
All assembled do resemble a great tree of light and fire
It's the ancient and the naked and the new with the old
Bridging distance in an instant through the spark the flames require

Let them shine a little longer
Let me see the light in their eyes
Cause when they shine we will remember
There is light and heat for all

And the elder takes the younger and the younger takes the younger still
All the faces of the ages turn to bless and then be blessed

Let them shine a little longer
Let me see the light in their eyes
Cause when they shine we will remember
There is light and heat for all

-break-

Let them shine a little longer
Let me see the light in their eyes
Cause when they shine we will remember
There is light and heat

and life and love
and faith and hope for all

© 2000 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

Oh you make me laugh and sigh,
And get a little teary-eyed,
Your playfulness is so dear to me.

Don’t let me go, hold fast,
We’ll let these little moments last,
Your reaching will always reach me.

My Wysteria
Entangle me in your vine
My Wysteria
Oh, I am yours and you are mine.

Let me breathe you in, your flower,
And forget the day or hour,
Your fragrant offering compels me

To never let you go, I’ll hold fast,
We’ll let these little moments last,
Your reaching will always reach me.

My Wysteria…

(break)

My Wysteria…

© 1998 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

And the green lay down by the mountain
And the tree flowered by the sea
And the sky turned red at the edges
And the words came over me

Tu eres el amor de mi vida
No puedo vivir sin ti
Necisito tu para ser feliz

Like the breath first drawn out of water
Like a cool zephyr on the face
Like the view first seen of the valley
Through a pale white veil of lace

Tu eres el amor de mi vida...

And the rain came down from the heavens
And the veil came down to the floor
And the sun broke through at the edges
And the two were one evermore.

Tu eres el amor de mi vida...

© 2000 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

All my heart, all my soul, with all my mind,
and with all my strength,
Love O Love, my God I love, Love O Love,
my God I love.

Meet the generation of wanderers,
Under the desert sky, a generation born to
slaves set free,
Down by the Jordan River,
Done with the days of desert wandering,
Right outside the promised land,
They hear their Moses say,
"Tell your children, and your children's children,
Tell your children, and your children's children's children,"

"All your heart, all your soul, with all your mind,
and with all your strength,
Love O Love, Love your God, Love O Love,
O Love your God,"

"Keep these words close,
When you rise and when you lie down,
Keep these words as a sign on your hand,
as a sign on your head."

I've done a generation's wandering,
Under my desert sky, I tremble before my inspiration,
Down by the Jordan River,
Wading in the midst of questioning,
Somewhere past the promised land,
Beyond the trappings of religion,
These words are fire,
When I rise and when I lie down,
These words are fire,
Hearing the children
They told their children,
Tell my children,
I am that children's children's child,

All my heart, all my soul, with all my mind,
and with all my strength,
All my heart, all my soul, with all my mind,
and with all my strength,
All my heart, all my soul, with all my mind,
and with all my strength,
Love O Love, my God I love, Love O Love,
my God I love.

© 1999 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

Jesus became a renegade,
Jesus became a man on the run,
When Mary and Martha’s brother died
And he came back to town, near Jeruselem, in Bethany,

There Martha met him on the road with the plain facts:
“If you had only been here, Lord, my brother would not have died,
‘Cause God will grant you anything.”
Then Jesus met her with these words:

“I am the resurrection,
I am the life,
Those who believe in me,
Even though they die, even though they die, will live”
But maybe like a renegade.

So Mary falls down at his feet, her Jesus,
She’s weeping, and weeping,
Her brother didn’t have to die, didn’t have die, and Jesus wept,
Jesus wept.
He takes off for the tomb, and after getting the stone rolled ‘way,
He cries out loudly,
“Lazarus, come out of there!”
“Lazarus, come out of there!”
And the dead man comes out walking,
Alive!

“I am the resurrection,
I am the life,
Those who believe in me,
Even though they die, even though they die, will live”

Jesus became a renegade,
Jesus became a man on the run,
When the pious and the powerful feared,
They’d lose their power and their piety,
That they would lose their world to this wild man,
So they planned to kill him.

They would keep him on the run, [The sidelines of society]
Keep him on the run, [Where the unimportant people are]
He can’t do much [fearing for his life]
If we keep him on the run, [fearing for his life]…

But the renegade didn’t run.

“I am the resurrection,
I am the life,
Those who believe in me,
Even though they die…”

Will live,
But maybe like a renegade.

© 1998 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

I’d rather be a broken fool for trying,
Than a wise man for guarded ways,
I’d rather take a chance and die in trying,
Than live half-hearted days,
I’d rather walk the walk, than talk the talk,
I’d rather do what’s hardly spoken,
I’d rather be a broken
Fool for trying
Any day…

I’d rather be a poor man chasing his dream,
Than a rich man selling out,
I’d rather be a whisper true to it’s dream,
Than a scream with nothing worth screaming about,
I’d rather walk the walk, than talk the talk,
I’d rather do it for the door man,
I’d rather be a poor man
Chasing his dream
Any day…

(instrumental)

I’d rather be reduced to tears for loving,
Than never have cause to cry,
I’d rather be so naked you could see the white of my bones,
Than never hold the freedom of a loving, knowing eye,
I’d rather do what most refuse to (do),
I’d rather be reduced
To tears for loving,
I’d rather be a poor man chasing his dream,
I’d rather be a broken
Fool for trying
Any day…

© 2000 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

It’s finding a voice so long forgotten,
It’ waking the giant so long asleep,
It’s hearing image by image described on radio,
And stopping the car to weep.

When peaceful people don’t let money drive their message,
Their message survives the spin of words purchased,
It’s all of God’s creation getting in the way,
As unheard voices sing…

This is what democracy looks like…

When steelworkers and students,
Tree huggers and tree cutters,
People dressed as turtles and undressed with tape,
When all together walk,
America, America, God shed her grace on thee.

This is what democracy looks like…

(Instrumental)

America, America, God shed her grace on thee.

It’s finding a voice so long forgotten,
It’ waking the giant so long asleep,
It’s hearing image by image described on radio,
And stopping the car to weep.

Everybody ’s in [everybody]…

This is what democracy looks like…

Show me what democracy looks like!

© 1996 T.G.Zehnder & T.J.Zehnder

It wasn't something you'd see on a billboard sign.
It wasn't something you'd see after too much wine.
It wasn't selling for five ninety five at the video store.

It wasn't something you'd see on rollerblades.
It wasn't anything cool behind Rayban shades.
It wasn't hangin' on the sidewalk looking for quick cash cheap.

She was real, and she loved me.
And this is an ode to her flesh.

Never the shame that I used to feel
Never the game I used to conceal
Never the hurry and worry of yesterday

Never so naked and never so clean
Never so close never so serene
Never did touch so much with one embrace

She was real, and she loved me.
And this is an ode to her flesh.

bridge

She isn't perfectly painted or perfectly posed.
She isn't stopping the traffic with just the right amount exposed.
She isn't going to the grave cause she has to lose ten more pounds.

She's free from the airbrush and the glossy hard sell.
She's free from the market push, the grabby cash hell.
She's all over more of a woman and I mean gorgeous.

She's real, and she listens.
She's real, and she hears me murmur.
And this is an ode to her flesh.
This is an ode to her flesh.
This is an ode to her . . . flesh.

© 1999 T.J.Zehnder & T.G.Zehnder

I get to free my soul when
I get to be with you
I get to believe in love
'cause you make the dream come true

I get to speak unspeakable things
and you won't set me straight
we get to laugh and cry
together and I can't wait
'till

I get to see you once again
and greet the beaming of your gaze
and after all the long day's end
I get to be with you again
I get to feel alright
after a long hard day
after I kiss your face
all of my woes fade away
and

I get to see you once again
and greet the beaming of your gaze
and after all the long day's end
I get to be with you again
I get to be with you again

we get to keep the faith, the promise
from me to you to me
life isn't always this good
but life happens now tenderly
when

I get to see you once again
and greet the beaming of your gaze
and after all the long day's end
I get to be with you again
I get to be with you again
I get to be
I get to be
I get to be
I get to be