Through a series of circumstances I recently latched on to an album called ‘The Ill Tempered Klavier’ by singer/songwriter Ben Shive. Ben has worked with Andrew Peterson, one of my favorite artists, and that was part of what led me to this album.
As happens to me too rarely, I was totally blown away by the whole album. I have listened to it over and over and virtually memorized all the songs.
As a service to the internet community, I’m planning to blog the words, as best I can decipher them, to the whole album. This entry gives the words to ‘Out of Tune’, which is the song that most significantly contributed to the album title. It’s one of my favorites, because it’s fun, but it took me a while to post it because diciphering the words has been hard. I’ve still got a few questions, but this is the best I can do.
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Out of Tune, by Ben Shive
In the corner of the room, down and out of tune.
A lonely old upright.
With a jagged set of keys that unlock old memories,
Sentimental melodies, voices echoing, beautiful funeral flowers.
I remember when I used to be part of the family
When I was younger
Now the glory days are gone, no use to anyone.
Out of shape and out of key, they’ve all forgotten me.
So I while away the afternoons, in a drab and drafty room.
With all the love that’s laid to rest deep inside my chest.
Come and sit beside me and touch me again.
Come and press a message into my hand.
Try to find a melody in me if you can.
Ooh touch me again.
Between the fracture and the fade
I’ll take the former any day.
But with a caveat.
You see the fade’s a paradox
With good and evil in the box.
Frequencies bickering like brothers in the back seat.
(Mom are we there yet? No.)
But if you’ve got the mind to take a spin.
I’ve got the hammer and the string.
And when you play the keys, I was made to resonate.
Come and sit beside me and touch me again.
Come and press a message into my hand.
If you can take a good dissonance like a man.
Ooh like a man.
Your love is hand in the dark. It’s a hand in the dark.
Hope is the sound of a song, and it plays in my heart.
So come and sit beside me and touch me again.
Come and press a message into my hand.
If you can take a good dissonance like a man.
Come and sit beside me.
Come and hold me.
Try and find a melody in me if you can.
So touch me again.
