This Is My Song Scroll down or click a song title to see the song's lyrics:     Hope     We Are Each Other's Angels - includes streaming audio!     Power of Pride     Spin     Peter     Butler Street     Walking In Your Footsteps - includes streaming audio!     Water     Whites of Their Eyes     A Song of Peace - includes streaming audio! Hope In the Southland we're lighting the night sky With the fire from a church burning down When the sun comes again the black and white men Stand and stare at the soot on the ground They raise up their weapons and summon their strength And they cut at the wood with their swords But hey're striking blows against hatred 'Cause they're hammering nails into boards I keep thinking I hear the four horsemen And turning around to see It's just the pony express again And they've got a message for me I've got a lot of hope for the future I've got a lot of faith things can work out fine Got a lot of dreams for a better world Got a lot of work to do if I'm going to make them mine My town is still mostly divided And I don't see much color tonight And I know that it's all complicated That the issues are not black and white But how can we come any closer If I just shake my head where I stand There can never be any handshakes Until somebody puts out their hand I keep thinking I hear the four horsemen And turning around to see It's just the pony express again And they've got a message for me I've got a lot of hope for the future I've got a lot of faith things can work out fine Got a lot of dreams for a better world Got a lot of work to do if I'm going to make them mine Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1997 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP We Are Each Other's Angels Well I hope I see you later 'Cause it's time for me to go Someone just pulled over Sure was good to know you Go answer your calling Go and fill somebody's cup And if you see an angel falling Won't you stop and help them up 'Cause we are each other's angels And we meet when it is time We keep each other going And we show each other signs Sometimes you will stumble Sometimes you might fall down Sometimes you will get lonely With all these people around You might shiver when the wind blows And you might get blown away You might even lose your colors But don't you ever lose your faith we are each other's angels And we meet when it is time We keep each other going And we show each other signs Thank you for the water I thought I was gonna die out here in the desert But you quenched my thirst Let's break a little bread together I've got a little manna It was a gift From somebody who was passing by And offered me a lift Now go answer your calling Go and fill somebody's cup And if you see an angel falling Won't you stop and help them up We are each other's angels And we meet when it is time We keep each other going And we show each other signs Words and Music by Chuck Brodsky ©1995 Audio: We Are Each Other's Angels David Says: I get a lot of credit for having written this song. It was actually written by my friend Chuck Brodsky, though he didn't put it on a CD until after Flying came out. What's interesting is that Chuck is an inveterate editor, and rewrote the song several times over the years. The lyrics I've written here are how I'm singing it now, incorporating some of the changes and not others. This is a little different from how I recorded it, and a little different from how he recorded it, but they're all Chuck's words. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy David's songs, listen to more in the Audio Library. Power of Pride She’s in an old long sleeve t-shirt On a sunny summer day But I can see the bruises in her eyes She tells me someone hurt him A long, long time ago Says it’s not for me to judge or criticize Look at all these hand-me-downs What are we supposed to do with all this history? And the power of pride The power of pride He heard the windows breaking in 1938 His family disappeared, he was alone That railroad led to nowhere and he ran for all he had Now tanks roll through other houses and other children throw their stones Look at all these hand-me-downs What are we supposed to do with all this history? And the power of pride The power of pride September came with smoke and flame No one could believe the scene was real Now by my own hand the children of a foreign land Know just how I feel Look at all these hand-me-downs What are we supposed to do with all this history? And the power of pride The power of pride Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2004 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Spin Six o'clock dinner, the family falls silent Move over a little I can't see the screen The man in the box speaks in high definition Turn it up loud so I won't hear the screams More about bad things the bad guys are doing More about how I need what they sell And right down the road they are building a prison On the whole the economy's doing quite well Give me the update, tell me again Show me the difference between us and them Give it a number between one and ten Give me the headline Give me the spin A picture is fading inside of a wallet Inside of a pocket in the pants of a man Soggy with saltwater there in the dark In a dead submarine from a faraway land Saltwater runs down the face of a woman As she thinks how he can't be all he could be Need I point out the pointless pointing of fingers And the point of a missile that's pointed at me? Our side appears to be up for the moment They taste defeat we decide they deserve We shoot the horizon and catch our own bullets And find it is only the hatred we serve Give me the update, tell me again Show me the difference between us and them Give it a number between one and ten Give me the headline Give me the spin Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Peter What I'm saying, friend, may surprise you Though I trust you will listen and hear I'm not out to make you angry We both know beneath our anger lies our fear It sounds so simple and it's so complicated Not gentle, not just a warm feeling Many will die in the name of peace But war will not lead us to healing I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword Did you forget or did you think I was joking? This is not why I'm here, Peter, not to destroy The world is already so broken Maybe you think I'm a fool Maybe a fool's what I am Maybe I will die for nothing And nothing will change in the end Yes, I am scared and I'm angry That we live in this occupied land Where the Romans can kill us at random But the Romans do not rule my hands There are so many lives on the line here This is not some philosopher's game And if you draw your sword Peter You may not raise that sword in my name I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword Did you forget or did you think I was joking? This is not why I'm here, Peter, not to destroy The world is already so broken Maybe you think I'm a fool Maybe a fool's what I am Maybe I will die for nothing If nothing will change in the end God bless the children of Abraham God bless the Romans who reign God bless the peacemakers and warriors Who each think the other insane But I meant what I said, Peter, put down your sword Did you forget or did you think I was joking? Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2002 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Butler Street There's a neon cross on a mountain Saying 'sinners best beware' That means that somebody went to the trouble To run power way up there These mountains speak to my spirit I guess it kind of blows my mind To think someone could look at that vista And think God needs a neon sign The old man asked me if I was saved I turned to check his eyes I didn't see any concern there And it's sad that I wasn't surprised No, he was just trying the secret handshake Where you push until push comes to shove His hands were deep in his pockets And his eyes said nothing of love Sing me a song about Jesus But please don't sing about the poor It's already been a long day I really don't want to hear anymore Sing me a song about Jesus That will make me feel happy inside Sing me a song about forgiveness That will make this lifestyle feel justified Sing a song about Jesus Ran into Jesus this morning He was down on Butler Street He was carrying his bedroll He was standing in line for something to eat He got splashed by the muddy water When the shiny hubcaps rolled by He brushed himself off and chuckled and looked over at me And said "hey, there but for the grace of God go I" Sing me a song about Jesus But please don't sing about the poor It's already been a long day I really don't want to hear anymore Sing me a song about Jesus That will make me feel happy inside Sing me a song about forgiveness That will make this lifestyle feel justified Sing a song about Jesus Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1997 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Walking In Your Footsteps Fifty million years ago You walked upon the planet so Lord of all that you could see Just a little bit like me Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Hey Mr. Dinosaur You really couldn't ask for more You were God's favourite creature But you didn't have a future Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Hey mighty brontosaurus Don't you have a message for us You thought your rule would always last There were no lessons in your past You were built three storeys high They say you would not hurt a fly If we explode the atom bomb Would they say that we were dumb? Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps Fifty million years ago They walked upon the planet so They live in a museum It's the only place you'll see 'em Walking in your footsteps Walking in your footsteps They say the meek shall inherit the earth They say the meek shall inherit the earth Words and Music by Sting Audio: Walking In Your Footsteps David says: I've always loved this song, but the idea of recording it only came up when we were already half-way through the record. Derek Murphy, who had played all the percussion for the CD up until then, had already gone back to Atlanta, so I gave the hand drum a shot myself. I'm a pretty amateur percussionist, but I love to play hand drums, and it was fun to do that for the first time on a recording, here on my tenth record. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy David's songs, listen to more in the Audio Library. Water So they built their shiny hotel Where the water meets the land They smiled a little nervously As the ocean took the sand They went down below the shoreline And they hauled it back again But the heavy rain and the hurricane And the water’s gonna win The water’s gonna win Bring it all back It will wash away again The water’s gonna win Pack it up or pack it in The water’s gonna win The glass of water you were sipping As you watched the morning come Has quenched the thirst of seven others Underneath a younger sun We are memories and moments We are born and born again Rushing stream and breathing steam The water’s gonna win The water’s gonna win Ascending and falling and rising up again The water’s gonna win Ride the tide and ride the wind The water’s gonna win Haul the rocks and sign the papers Pour another glass of gin Cut the ribbon with the scissors But the water’s gonna win You went down beside the river Just about a year ago Gave the ashes to the current Saw them swirl into the flow You still hold it all inside you You can’t stop once you begin Close your eyes and feel it rising The water’s gonna win The water’s gonna win You can’t hold back the tide You can’t hide from what’s within The water’s gonna win Feel it move beneath your skin The water’s gonna win It will with keep flowing through All we are and all we’ve been The water’s gonna win Forever and amen The water’s gonna win Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2002 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Whites of Their Eyes We live in violent times when the reasons don't quite rhyme We satch the game and tally up the score But it's hard to count the cost, what's won and who is lost When honesty is a casualty of war And it's always been the plan of the ones who hold command To make the other side seem less than real So we shout about our pride and the deaths are justified And we glorify the ones who do not feel But I say don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes Don't fire 'til you hear the truth through the lies Don't fire 'til you know the love in the heart of a mother's son Until then, please don't fire your gun Firing missiles on command, we don't have to watch them land Pushing buttons in a video game war Watching television screens, we don't have to hear the screams But the people are still dying like before So the graveyards are all filled with the ones who have been killed And the families hear the words that they had feared And we scream that we have won, while a mother mourns her son And the battlefield is flooded with her tears And I say don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes Don't fire 'til you hear the truth through the lies Don't fire 'til you know the love in the heart of a mother's son Until then, please don't fire your gun The generals of all times have only fought to rule the minds Of the people who will make the bullets fly So the soldiers go and fight for what they believe is right And the ones who give the orders seldom die So we're left here with a choice, will we hide or raise a voice Will we fight a war, or will we fight for peace 'Cause if there's one thing that I know, it's that the heads of state won't go Without the soldiers all the wars will cease So I say don't fire 'til you see the whites of their eyes Don't fire 'til you hear the truth through the lies Don't fire 'til you know the love in the heart of a mother's son Until then, please don't fire your gun Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1992 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP A Song of Peace This is my song oh God of all the nations A song of peace for lands afar and mine This is my home, the country where my heart is Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine But other hearts in other lands are beating With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine My country's skies are bluer than the ocean And sunlight beams on clover leaf and pine But other lands have sunlight too and clover And skies are everywhere as blue as mine This is my song oh God of all the nations A song of peace for their land and for mine Music by Jean Sibelius Words by Lloyd Stone Audio: A Song of Peace David says: I encountered this song at the Asheville Friends Meeting (Quakers). It's a moving piece of music, and the lyric is timeless. No nation owns God. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy David's songs, listen to more in the Audio Library.