Pale Compromises

Commentary:
As I say, the hardest song that I've written. I like the music, and while the lyrics have some glaring unfixable imperfections I am generally pleased with them also. A song about music and religion.

Lyrics:
All the things I've ever longed for
will be buried in the strings of my guitar
memories of joy and sorrow
framing pictures about tomorrow
that never helped me learn to hold on
in the way I thought we never had to learn
Did I hear you say?
It all goes away?

Strange how easily my scarred hands
remind me how they teach us to survive
huddled and massed together
awaiting the next holy letter
to find us kneeling in a dark church
where we've waited for the future to arrive
Did I hear you say?
It all goes away?

Maybe an unfamiliar moonlight
will find me at the foot of my guitar
praying to hear an answer
above the din of the cancer
that teases me for kneeling at a piece of wood
where I only hear the shadows of my heart
Did I hear you say?
It all goes away?