Name: Edges
SKU: edges
Availability: InStock

Description

All songs by Maria and/or Christopher Clymer Kurtz

“This Night” by Maria with Kiersten Rose
Cello: Caleb Schrock-Hurst

“I’m Going Home” by Christopher with Julie Durbin, Betty Lou Klingensmith, and Michael Shelata
Background vocals: Janelle Donaldson and Selah Shenk

Vocals and guitars: Maria and Christopher Clymer Kurtz
Piano, shaker, and tambourine: Maria Clymer Kurtz

Mastering: Three Arrows Sound
Album artwork: Noemi Salome

SONGS:
Evening Will Come
Bluestone Farmhouse
Jagged Edges
Love Is the Way
Ride to Way Back When
Nobody Knows
For a While
Every Inch, Every Mile
This Night
Music Is My Journey
As Is
I’m Going Home

Lyrics

Evening Will Come
© 2023 by Maria Clymer Kurtz

Moonlight’s tangled in your hair
While you sleep I fondly stare
And search for poems in the air
To catch with pen and paper

I’m scribbling in the dim sunrise
A song to help me memorize
The way you kiss me with your eyes
And light me like a candle

We toasted youth, we tasted tears
The honeyed hours, the hungry years
You’re still the only one who hears
The music of my heartbeat

All I hear is my name on your tongue
All I see is your face when we were young
All I know is evening will come
Evening will come

We never felt a warmer sun
We spent our moments one by one
We still can’t see the hourglass run
But we can feel it pouring

Sunlight’s pressing like a kiss
The shimmer of elusive bliss
If only we could capture this
And crystalize the future

I want to start the clock again
To have and hold you now and then
I’d take you to the rainbow’s end
And stop the setting sun

We cannot see around that bend
The midnight call, the long descent
Oh baby, can we still pretend
Our day will never end

Shadows crawl across the lawn
My ink and paper almost done
How will I sing when you are gone
Cold stars my only lantern

Bluestone Farmhouse
© 2024 by Maria and Christopher Clymer Kurtz

My bluestone farmhouse stands on a hill
White pillars gleam in the sun
An orchard, a meadow, a garden to till
I’m a lucky one

My grandma’s grandma is buried here
Generations have loved our home
This million dollar view, the Shenandoah
We’ve called it our own

How long have I loved you, Virginia
As long as your ridges are blue
But you’ll never be mine
since before there was time
Your people already loved you

My children dug up a broken bowl
Under the apple trees
Beads and buttons, an arrowhead
“Mama, whose treasures are these?”

Bear Mountain powwow
My own sacred quest
Watching the dancers’ ancient steps
I felt the drumbeat in my chest
And I knew I will always be a guest

Page after page, the history books
Are filled with faces like mine
While thousands and thousands of years are untold
Written off in a single line

No you’ll never be mine
since before there was time
Your people have always loved you

Jagged Edges
© 2024 by Maria Clymer Kurtz

I have cut you many ways
Jagged edges, broken days
Now I need another start
I’m here knocking
Knocking at your heart

What if for twenty-four hours
I’d channel my powers
I’d be a gentle rain or
The softest dove
No more barbed remarks
Crossed arms, shooting darts
I’d bend my head to your heart
And lay my weapons down

This morning over lemon tea
You listened patiently
I’d twisted your words
One more time
You passed me a steaming cup
I drank it up
Angry words dissolved like sugar
I could look you in the eye

Forgive me, forgive me
Don’t close the door
Ooh, love me
Down to my core

Let’s make a room, clean and bare
I’ll meet you there
Move and breathe with me
We’ll grow wise together
Between the lines, beneath the scars,
The silence, the story’s ours
Let my words be far and few
A stitch in time

I have cut you many ways
Jagged edges, broken days
How I need another start
So I’m here knocking
I’m here knocking
Yeah I’m knocking
I’m still knocking
Knocking at your heart

Love Is the Way
© 2024 by Maria and Christopher Clymer Kurtz

This is the way we build a home
Follow blueprints in our heads
Hauling stones from the riverbed
Cut the boards, drive the nails
And go with our gut if all else fails
Love is the way we build a home

Love is the way we bake the bread
Mix and knead, then we wait
Let it rise, watch it bake
Crumb is tender, crust is tough
Butter, jam, can’t get enough
Love is the way we bake the bread

When all we have to show for this
Are aching backs and a goodnight kiss
We wonder how we’ll ever make it through
Here beneath the silver stars
In the circle of your arms
I’ll rest easy with you

Love is the way we work the land
Plow the row, scatter seeds
Every day we’re fighting weeds
Dream of harvest if we dare
Vegetables enough to share
Love is the way we work the land

Even if the bread won’t rise
And home is far from paradise
The garden’s overflowing with weeds
We’ve still got this wild life
Come on babe, let’s start tonight
Loving all the way into our dreams

Love is a lonely row to hoe
Plant the last seed through our tears
And hope come spring it reappears
Place a stone with trembling hands
And wonder whether it’ll stand
Add the salt, stir it well
Beat my heart like a dinner bell

Love is the way we work the land
Love is the way we bake the bread
Love is the way we build a home

When all we have to show for this
Are aching backs and a goodnight kiss
Starry skies bursting at the seams
This is our wild life
Come on babe, let’s start tonight
Loving all the way into our dreams

Ride to Way Back When
© 2024 by Christopher Clymer Kurtz

It’s one a.m. and my soul needs an alibi
Yesterdays are knocking on my door
Unanswered calls and missed connections
Lines nobody’s taking anymore

Come back, come back, do it over
Here’s your ticket, climb aboard
If history would call out my name
I’d take that ride and try again

I left it all behind me on the platform
Who needs a hometown anyway
No return and just what I could carry
I could change my mind some other day

Train whistles blow in the distance
I turn out my light, try to sleep
Regrets keep vigil in the silence
As I retrace my memories

But history’s not calling out my name
With another ride to way back when

Nobody Knows
© 2024 by Maria and Christopher Clymer Kurtz

At dawn my heirloom garden is lush and serene
I smile and fill a basket with tender greens
Tonight I’ll raise a glass to the fruit of my hands
A family feast from the bounty of our land

Dusting dirt from my fingers, I throw a glance
At the crumbling hut across the fence
Who lived in that hovel, scraping bits from the bowl
Whose garden did she sow

Did she sometimes feel like a motherless child
So far, so far from home
Did she sometimes feel like a motherless child
So far, so far away from home

Up in the mansion, did she make the silver shine
While southern ladies and their children dined
Did she water their flowers with her sweat and tears
Aching for her babies who’d disappeared

Did she sometimes feel like a motherless child
Where are her babies, where are those ladies
Did she sometimes feel like a motherless child
Where are her babies, where have those ladies gone

Nobody knows the trouble she’s seen
Nobody knows her sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble she’s seen
Nobody knows, nobody knows her sorrow

In my garden, or in high heels
I’m good, I know how freedom feels
It runs in my blood, I wear it like my skin
No matter what part of town I’m in
In a hoodie, or in high heels
I’m good, I know how freedom feels
In the land of the lucky, the free and the fair
I get to decide if I care

Did she sometimes feel like a motherless child
So far, so far from home
Yesterday, tomorrow
Nobody knows, nobody knows her sorrow

For a While
© 2023 by Christopher and Maria Clymer Kurtz

Oh my love, I’ve been wishing you’d stop by
We’d walk down to the river side by side
Find some quiet shade, while away the afternoon
And once again believe we have forever

It’s cold, and I feel so alone
I listen for your footsteps bringing you home
I wish you’d come and stay with me a while
Days float by like memories, sweet by and by, by and by

I’m a shadow, sending ripples through the night
I reach out but you’re not by my side
What I would give to touch your face again
Like I did before we knew about forever
It’s cold, and I feel so alone
If the footsteps of angels could carry me home
I would come to you and stay a while
The water’s deep with memories, sweet by and by, by and by

If I could see you through these rivers in my eyes
And the six feet between eternity and warmer times
I can almost see you through these rivers in my eyes
But there are six feet between eternity and warmer times

It’s cold, and I feel so alone
On the other side without you, far away from home
Wish I could cross and hold you for a while
If a while is forever, sweet by and by, by and by

I bought you that diamond ring right after we met
(Day three of our puppy love you were ready to commit)
Ever since we said I do it’s a lifetime do-si-do
The world’s a stage, we’re dancing across it, every inch, every mile with you

We’re in it for the long haul and we’re not counting the days
But some days forever feels like forever

When I want a yes or no, you throw me a book
(I’m a maze of scenic roads) when I just need the shortest route
Talk is cheap, my time is expensive, but I’m paying my dues
Cause honey, I love the sound of your voice, and every inch is a mile with you

When I want to waltz with you, want to wrap you in my arms
(Dissolve into my touch) You could melt me with your charms
But you fire off a bulletin (here’s all the latest emotional news)
No reader’s digest, no CliffsNotes, every inch is a mile with you

These wedding bands have graced our hands for twenty-odd years
Who’s that looking back in the mirror, laughing through their tears
We two-step through exasperation, the crazy things we do
That ring goes around, goes around, goes around, every inch, every mile with you

Tonight I’ll bring the water
Get on my knees and pour
My hands caress your calloused feet
How could I love you more

You take the bread I offer
You pass the cup around
I dread the drink that comes my way
But love has got me bound

How does this night differ from the rest
Will it change you in the morning
Will you give yourselves to love, nothing less
And gather round the table
Broken and blessed

You thought you really loved me
With one foot out the door
I ate and wept and walked with you
And still you wanted more

Watch with me another hour
This God-forsaken night
Pray that on the other side
We’ll find a bit of light

How does this night differ from the rest
Will it change us in the morning
Will we give ourselves to love, nothing less
And gather round the table
Broken and blessed

If I’ve got superpowers, it’s only in my dreams
Rockets on my magic carpet to explore the galaxies
I love wildflowers, sunshine on my face
If I’m riding on contentment, will I find resting place

The open road wasn’t mine to follow and I don’t like to fly
I don’t know my destination, but I don’t question peace of mind
And if I get to heaven, I bet I won’t be alone
As one who didn’t travel but still found my way home

All you angels raise your voices, ring those celestial bells
Play the tunes that keep us spinning on this earthly carousel
A universe of rhythm, poetry in flight
If music’s my adventure, I’m taking off tonight
Yeah, music is my journey, and I’m at home tonight

Rusty floorboards, worn-out tires
We could reach the moon with all these miles
Broken tail light, no radio
But it runs and it’s for sale
As is

Muddy driveway, moonlit trees
Shingles missing in the country breeze
We could color these walls our own
Let’s move in, call it home
As is

I was listening in the waiting room
To an old man in line for the doctor’s news
Doing his best to stay afloat
What he said could pass for hope

He said, “Looking back I couldn’t ask for better
So many angels leading me back home
The Lord’s allowed my two feet on the floor
And good songs on the radio
It’s amazing
I’m getting by”
As is

Night fades, we make our bed
Smooth the covers for the day ahead
We prefer things sewn up clean
Not pieces of random reckoning
But just like a crazy quilt
As is is how we’ve built

This is how we shoot for the moon
Run these floorboards
into the muddy ground
These walls don’t make a home
But we do, in stereo
It’s crazy
But we’re getting by
As is

I’m going home, back to my family
It’s been so long, I’m going home

I’ve been okay with unfamiliar
Mountain winds, desert soil
My suitcase bears the marks of travel
Scuffed and worn, I’m going home

Toss these hotel linens, leave these no-place chains
Give me sunshine through the pines
Ditch this roadside living, dusty remains

Back home, what ties are broken
What fires burn back home

So take me home, back to my family
I surrender, I’m going home

Edges

Description

Lyrics

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