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- About the Album
- Liner Notes & Lyrics
- The Missing Jar: Matt Bronleewe
- The Black Ring: Fake Frails
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LINER NOTES:
*Jars of Clay*
Dan Haseltine: Vocals, Keyboards
Steve Mason: Guitars, bgv, bass, sampling
Charlie Lowell: Keyboards
Matt Bronleewe: Guitars
Jars of Thanks: (in no particular order)
Our Lord and Savior, our parents and families, Larry Albers, Virginia Peters, Warren Petit, Jack Ballaro, Joe and Miriam Porter, Greenville College, Sarah Brown, Kerri Kensling, Mike Scanland, Kim Morgan, Kurweil, Tim Erwin, Stephen Leiweke, Korg, Karen Swanson, Steve and Carie, Cheryl Masloski, Code of Ethics, Brian McDonough, McMurray’s Music – St. Louis, Curious George, Da Big Blue House, the Underground / Cafe, Pogosticks everywhere, “Strong coffee, good coffee”…
Produced by:
Tim Erwin, Stephen Leiweke, Jars of Clay
Engineered by:
Charlie Lowell except “Fade to Grey” by Joe Porter and Charlie Lowell
Mac Editing and Mastering:
Stephen “Crashdog” Leiweke
Artwork:
Virginia Peters
Photography:
Seth Carrington
Joe Silvey
Brade Rose Berry
Credits:
Child samples on “Like a Child” by Alissa and Amanda Duvall
Tim Erwin sang heavenly oohs on “Love Song…”
Brian McDonough played drums on “Liquid”
Jeremy Bose played recorder on “Like a Child”
Bridget Wintermann played violin on “Like a Child”
Joe Porter played shaker + tambourine on “Fade to Grey”
Concept for Liquide inspired by Josh Cougle
Beats by DJ*Mind*Dub (Tim Hiber)
II Corinthians 4:7-11:
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on everys ide, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body, for we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.”
LYRICS
Liquid
arms nailed down
are you telling me something
eyes turned out
are you looking for someone
this is the one thing
the one thing that I know
blood-stained brow
are you dying for nothing
flesh and blood
is it so elemental
blood-stained brow
he wasn’t broken for nothing
arms nailed down
he didn’t die for nothing
Boy on a String (Sunflower Song)
the marionetter has your number
pulling your arms and legs
’til you can’t stand on your own
dragging your conscience on the stage
and your heart gets rearranged
and you cannot tell your mentor from your maker
look at the crowds bleeding with laughter
over the way you entertain at beck and call
they don’t see behind the lights
or the painted backgrounds
they just like to see you fall
but you don’t really mind
’cause you’re just wasting time
you can’t feel anything
you’re a boy on a string
i feel a sadness like gapetto
watching the life that he created run away
seeing the puppeteer’s intrusion
and holding the remains
of puppets that had rotted away
one day the curtain will not open
and all of the crowds will go away
someday those strings will choke you
but until that day
Art in Me
images on the sidewalk speak of dream’s decent
washed away by storms to graves of cynical lament
dirty canvases to call my own
protest limericks carved by the old pay phone
in your picture book i’m trying hard to see
turning endless pages of this tragedy
sculpting every move you compose a symphony
you plead to everyone, see the art in me
broken stained-glass windows, the fragments ramble on
tales of broken souls, an eternity’s been won
as critics scorn the thoughts and works of mortal man
my eyes are drawn to you in awe once again
He
don’t try to reach me
i’m already dead
the pain when it grips me
for things that i’ve done
well, i try to make you proud
but for crying out loud
just give me a chance to hide away
exhaustion takes over
will this someday be over
fearful tears are running down
the pain you’ve laid don’t speak a sound
don’t take my heart away from me
and they think i fell down
daddy, don’t you love me
then why do you hit me
and, mama, don’t you love me
then why do you hurt me
well, i try to make you proud
but for crying out loud
just give me a chance to hide away
exhaustion takes over
will this someday be over
a teardrop falls
from up in the heavens
drowning the sorrow
of angels on high
for the least of the helpless
the hopeless, the loveless
my Jesus, his children
he holds in his eyes
Fade to Grey
no, it’s not hard to know what you’re thinking
when you look down on me now
your trance of love is seeking
to turn this world around
but in my state of blind confusion
no god can pull me out
i see your love is willing
to turn me inside out
and then i see you there
with your arms open wide
and you try to embrace me
these lonely tears i cry
they keep me in chains
and i wish they’d release me
cold is the night
but colder still is the heart
made of stone, turned from clay
and if you follow me
you’ll see all the black
all the white fade to grey
spinning, twisted, ignorant bliss
falling farther out of grace
crawling closer to the dust
won’t you save me from myself
Frail
[Instrumental]
Like a Child
dear God, surround me as I speak
the bridges that I walk across are weak
frustrations fill the void that I can’t solely bear
dear God, don’t let me fall apart
you’ve held me close to you
i have turned away and searched
for answers i can’t understand
they say that i can move the mountains
and send them falling to the sea
they say that i can walk on water
if i would follow and believe
with faith like a child
sometimes, when i feel miles away
and my eyes can’t see your face
i wonder if I’ve grown to lose the recklessness
i walked in light of you
[“i’ve got joy like a fountain”
“be kind one to the other”
“in Jesus Christ your son”]
Love Song for a Savior
in open fields of wild flowers
she breathes the air and flies away
she thanks her Jesus for the daises and the roses
in no simple language
someday she’ll understand the meaning of it all
he’s more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens
as close a heartbeat or a song on her lips
someday she’ll trust him and learn how to see him
someday he’ll call her and she will come running
and fall in his arms
and the tears will fall down and she’ll pray
i want to fall in love with you
sitting silent wearing sunday best
the sermon echoes through the walls
a great salvation through it calls to the people
who stare into nowhere
and can’t feel the chains on their souls
it seems too easy to call you “Savior”
not close enough to call you “God”
so as i sit and think of words i can mention
to show my devotion
he’s more than the laughter or the stars in the heavens
as close a heartbeat or a song on our lips
someday we’ll trust him and learn how to see him
someday he’ll call us and we will come running
and fall in his arms
and the tears will fall down and we’ll pray
i want to fall in love with you
my heart beats for you
Four Seven
we have this treasure
in earthen vessels
to show that this power
is from God, and not from us
All songs written by an Haseltine, Matt Odmark, Steve Mason, Charlie Lowell, Matt Bronleewe
Copyright 1994 BridgeBuilding Music (BMI)/ Pogostick Music (BMI)/Songs from the Farm/Longitude Music (BMI). All rights reserved.