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Strength of the Absurd

by Kyle Scott

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1.
Blind 03:26
lyrics
Some days these eyes Would rather I leave them closed than carry me Carry me though what you know dear sister Carry on through what you feel Most days those eyes Are never the least composed of strength and Courage to behold and fear if Ever they were my own I’d fail to stand and look beyond this day you know I go I go walking blind for most my life I go walking blind and then she smiles I go walking blind for most my life And then she smiles Oh that smile By it I do proceed to hope Yes your will to live taught me to walk on Never a moment far too gone You see those lies Are soon to be no more yes every Every lie those lanes have told you Now here I stand and watch you walk so tall no man need ever break your fall you know I go
2.
The Foretaste 03:20
lyrics
She is free oh the foretaste Wet my tongue and left me wanting Sister hold on The yellow spilt over the canvas Every lane and every hand was For a moment put to rights Hear her voice Hear the chorus loud Do no drown it out not once more Hear her voice oh hear the chorus loud
3.
Aloof 03:24
lyrics
Oh she falls like a tree beyond the forest Just far enough for our ears our eyes to thwart us And she dreams but the nightmare never ending While he stops not to question her beginning And oh his wandering eyes the chorus The song to which she moves And oh her power shapeless formless And truth you run aloof But some they grow by streams of water The roots dig deep the healing started
4.
The War 04:24
lyrics
You’ll find me waiting on the war Head in hands truth be told I am not who went before By her wounds I was reborn She found me waiting on the fall How her song shook these walls My foundation rock to rubble My green meadow stem to stubble Do you know the divine you show me And the doubt bestowed me Hope and tears adjoining I’ve fallen on your freedom with the paradox still breathing Found me lying on my side Looking forward and behind Oh what little I might suffer And the oceans hers could cover
5.
Strength of the Absurd 03:50
lyrics
I am nothing more than sandy shore and you the waves Flooded with despair and moved to joy then back again Not a blanket statement could absolve your suffering But here I sing to wrestle with your plight not to blame What you have not seen what you cannot see Will come don’t say it shall no be I’ll stop my ears That this cannot be that this shall not be The strength of the absurd in me will not believe Oh that weathered door those darkened step that lead you home I don’t know you hell but share this flesh to which we were born Brother can’t you see her heart it beats It bleeds and pleads and needs the same as yours and mine And creation groans for its liberty But you can hardly hear the noise above the lines If first might be the least than I the last to see you whole Be it pain or joy this too shall pass but you see I look for more How you have not healed what you cannot heal Will mend don’t say this is the end I’ll stop my ears That this cannot be that this shall not be The strength of the absurd in me will not believe
6.
Lovely 04:10
lyrics
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Show her something more More than she could know Show her something more More than what the past has offered Or a desperate village daughter Oh that stare as I pass beside here Just looking through me Oh her very presence protests Any talk of human progress This my tongue now cannot profess But may it be soon I hear now you’re gone I don’t know where you are but I dream for you now
7.
Until It's Gone 04:04
lyrics
Oh peace all I asked was peace Her freedom from that fool that thief Enough to help her on her way But grief all she held was grief Her story painting you asleep That empty stare to wake the demons in the aching heart While I watch those hands restore and mend I wonder where yours might have been So hear more oh hear me all my doubt Be it scripted or allowed The pillow harder now I fear So I’ll just breathe But when I do my best at breathing How I find her broken bleeding Wondering where your garden grows and why these weeds take hold But I’ve seen pools of water pour from stone And laughter in the desert born So here I raise my opium and drink until it’s gone While I watch those hands restore and mend I see yours do the same therein
8.
Sister 03:36
lyrics
Sister lead me I beget this sound because this feeling won’t leave me Sister lead me Woman shaped is from the day my hoping and my healing Sister hold me To these truths your show me though they break me how they form me Sister hear me Though these songs might ache might groan my grieve me go on lead me Sister lead me Through this valley walking and screaming no more stealing Sister teach me How to wake up so far from your dreaming still believing On sister lead me Sister shake me Eyes wide open set upon your aching no more sleeping Sister lead me This mystery can only halfway hold me how I need thee
9.
Eulogy 04:04
lyrics
Rina though you could not afford it You carried the same that he left at your doorstep So often your life gave reason to hope yet So much of it watered your eyes as you spoke it Rina like a flower blooming You carried your laughter through all that you knew and Ever when smiles were small were fewer You gave us your eyes and they lit up the room love Rina on that hospital bed The fever would break before you’d break the bread All of the tears and the blood that you shed Couldn’t keep quiet those dreams in your head Rina while the smoke filled my lungs full I cried at the clouds when I hear you were no more The peace and the quiet felt every bit wrong oh Hoping to God that you finally found some though Rina I will hold like I said before both eyes looking forward Rina I would hold like I said before to see you dance once more
10.
These, Those Hands 04:18
lyrics
I know these hands are remedy and poison When I heard you say you’re like my brother now I could no more thirst than for the first I held your eyes as you spoke soft but surely Of how these hands hold the other’s love how they hold us up And your wounded heart it lifted ours You raise these questions from the dead That yesterday I hear someone had gone and laid to rest These bones lay between mystery I am composed as much of I don’t know as I believe But there’s one thing I need oh sister be free You lift this heavy laden mind With moments of the purest joy like Cannan wedding wine How you slow me down and this city’s beat To marvel at your persevering slow but steady feet Yes there’s one thing I need oh sister be free She keeps on walking cruciform Though some do rise so many that same freedom will not know By those sowing hands I swear I sing My truth is in the way you stand and how you will no heed So I choose to believe even when you cannot see When you will not believe oh sister be free

about

I began writing some of these songs over five years ago in India. Because most of the music on this album was inspired by those in Kolkata who called me Kamal, it only felt natural to embrace the moniker musically. The name has become very dear to me, especially when spoken by the women of Sari Bari. Along with listening to the record, I would encourage you to take a moment and learn more about the incredible women who inspired much of the music at www.saribari.com

"Strength of the Absurd" is a phrase I stumbled upon in Soren Kierkegarrd's book Fear and Trembling. From the moment I read the phrase, I knew the words were right. They embodied a feeling, a stubbornness in me that I couldn't put into words myself. There is a certain "foolishness" with which I see the present and look to the future. At the end of each day, I can't help but rest my hat on the absurd. It is a paradigm I now cannot escape, a posture which has grown out my time alongside the women of Sari Bari.

In the face of tremendous courage and suffering, I sat down and penned some verses, songs that begged for something more and marveled at the strength of those who tirelessly believed in it. This music will forever remind me of the fact that the unknown and unseen, which haunted me in the past, are now the sinews that hold me together in the present. Thanks for taking the time to listen. Hope you enjoy the many sides of "Strength of the Absurd."

credits

released January 22, 2015

The recordings:

Songs written and produced by Kyle Scott. A special thanks to Joshua D Niles for engineering and mixing the record, Sam Moses for mastering it, Dan Eggenschwiler for his incredible drum work, Kenneth Coca for his beautiful cello contributions and Adrian Walther for those smooth bass lines!

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Kyle Scott Indiana

A singer-songwriter from small town USA

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