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Kenosis

by Seer

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1.
Uphill Against the Wind 02:12
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When I crossed the border, I thought The life I left behind me was eternally lost But I sought and I found a spot to sink my hoe into ground A place where all was metaphor for the unseen being's great galore And when I implored the native word to see if it contained what I hadn't yet heard A voice arose, with a tone so verbose, saying "Child I know you know I got somethin' to tell ya, but it ain't gonna free ya if I make it as plain as the nose on your face" So to find this life of struggles Of working fathers and birthing mothers I put myself in the place of another Kenotic love Kenotic love Kenotic love Kenotic love.... Or just an absolution of guilt?
2.
Over the River 03:06
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There's a place I'll never go There's a place I may never know They say it's paved with streets of gold It's not for the young, but for the old Are you high up in the clouds? Cuz if you're there, you must come down Bats and bullets and bombs throughout our town Theodicy is failing if you're not here right now I can feel the very flames of hell At my feet as the child tripped and fell Into a world not chosen, with no way out His heart too was broken by dogmatic shouts There's a place I'll always go Sing and pray your lives away but there's one thing I know I do not need heaven to give me hope Because I've hidden heaven in a place that I call "home"
3.
Numb Love 02:43
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The sky was purple like that robe You wore the very morn I had to go When my ears tingled any time you spoke Your voice filling space just like your body flowed How do I know? How do I know? Is this circumstance a fault of my own? A man was not meant to be alone If distance makes the heart grow fonder Then I cannot get fonder any longer I was placed here by your dollar Isolated by the silence of my brothers Do I own myself? Can my emptiness resist your help? How do I know? How do I know? Does truth live within me, or do I use my mind alone? A man was not meant to be alone
4.
Ambition 00:49
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When I grow up, I wanna be a good person Or maybe I'll be a nun Spendin' my time lookin' inside myself for someone else When I grow up, I wanna be rich and cool like Steve Jobs Or maybe have nice muscles like my uncle Or maybe I dunno what I want
5.
Life Beyond the Equator 02:16
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I wanna die But I want even more to show this life That history is on my side I wanna live But living is not possible with nothing to give I can barely begin with my own kin I want to breathe Like a baby seeing earth for her first time I want to truly know that we will be fine I wanna know Will there be anything to stop us from our sins I cannot speak with certainty I wanna know And I want to be known In such a way that death can pain me
6.
Muslims and The Negus and a Dirty Peasant 03:35
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When Muhammad and his friends were suffering He sent them down to Axum, 'cross the sea Hospitality was overseen by a certain Christian king Who asked them to share their great book's prophecy So in A.D. 615, from the Qur'an it was read That the chaste girl Mary had followed what the Lord had said And moved by the story, the Christian king wept His bishops crying too, until their scrolls were drenched We've tried to make him who we want him to be A brown man who bombs buildings and equips our enemies Is it true history or convenient belief That seeks to justify the hatred we breed? So when Mary's bastard child learned the skill of lore He then mastered fermentation and spent excessive time with whores And when miracles and clever insults seemed a cause to call him "Lord" He'd say, "Close your mouth, not another word more." Don't try to make him who you want him to be Cuz you know how to reason and you know how to read Even Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John were off wandering Through their own hopes, their fears and their dreams Do we believe? Do we blaspheme? Or do we do something different in between? Do we believe? Do we blaspheme? Or do we do something different in between?
7.
Regret 00:45
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When I grow up I wanna find a woman to produce my children Or maybe I'll manage monies So I can invite white people on my yacht I'm ninety-four years young Or maybe you'd prefer to know my name Either way it'll be you To keep me sane and choose my grave
8.
Dead Last 03:08
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I'm just tired of tryin' so hard And I'm done with lyin' and stealing cars Got two kids, don't know where they are I fell behind, just couldn't win Relationships, and the house I built fell in Love, love is wiser than my burdens Love, love is thicker than these bars And love, love never kicks you when you are down Love affirms your wounds and scars They took my wife away from me Told me her mind had to be redeemed My only choice to die or flee Said, "There's a word you'll never know If you were to learn it, we'd have to let ya go." Love, love is wiser than my burdens Love, love is thicker than these bars And love, love never kicks you when you are down Love affirms your wounds and scars Love, love is wiser than my burdens Love, love is thicker than these bars And love, love never kicks you when you are down Love affirms your wounds and scars You will know I'm there Through struggles we will fare We search through days of black Until we find our path
9.
An Image Within Us 08:46
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Get ahead, get ahead in this world If you don't play the game, somebody else will Love your neighbor, but only so he'll watch your home Tell her you love her, but only so you won't feel alone Let's just waste our time unlike The white western investor who makes a trip to earn his dime Cuz after all, green paper shouldn't start a fire Lose your troubles, neglect the duties of today Light your joints and smoke 'em all away Salute to all you have, take nothing to the grave Repay no one your debts, forget who you forgave Let's just spend our time unlike Midday veranda dwellers sitting still until the night Cuz after all, again the sun will rise Let's just kill our time unlike Radio announcer spitting truths of the divine Cuz after all, no man is his own tribe Scores of marching soldiers admiring one another's stripes Herds of horny fathers admiring one another's wives Parties of politicians cheering one another's lies It's time, time to heed our peoples' cries -- What am I gonna do without money? And what am I gonna do without a honey to love me? And how'm I gonna live without the rains fallin' on my seeds? And how can I be with dignity, beggin' from my knees? I'm a human being It's gettin' old real fast, workin' for The Man to pay off my debts Well Big Brother, don't you sit back, I'm comin' for you, and I don't fear death I stopped watchin' TV news, and I don't pay no tax Believe you, me, I'm gonna get learned; boy, I'll be a threat I'm a human being From Appalachia to the city streets Our voice will rise in unity From the bottoms of our blister'd feet We'll beat a rhythm that sets the weary free From Caribou down to San Diego Your prisoners will no longer lay low This type of pow'r you wield will surely implode We the subjects of your greed will soon reverse your hold We are human beings We are human beings

about

Thanks to the producer, 20% of all online sales of this album go to Solidarity Uganda.

Kenosis is an experiential and philosophical
exploration of the human life, the quest for
purpose, and the paradoxes of hope and
suffering.

Originally designed as a community-based
multi-sensory performance, songwriter Phil
Wilmot joined Rick McVicker to produce an
unplugged, stripped-down, raw version of
the project as part of Wondertone Records'
Basement Sessions.

Although the songs' lyrical themes are
universal, they are drawn from deeply
personal experiences (for example, the
forced separations of loved ones by the
state, poverty during the dead of winter,
etc.). Each song carries both overt and
covert meanings, prying listeners to engage
the subtext on intellectual and meditative
levels.

The guitar used on this album was
handcrafted in Spain, toured around Latin
America, brought to Pennsylvania by a late
musician's wife and "mother" to many
immigrants, and restored to life again as a
converted nylon-string instrument by a
Maryland carpenter. It now lives in Northern
Uganda where it enjoys the moderate
temperatures and modestly dry climate of
East Africa.

As with all collective works, Kenosis is a
beginning point, not an end in itself. It is
simultaneously a call to solitude, a call to
dialogue, and a call to action. If it calls you
to dialogue, you can reach Phil at
phil@solidarityuganda.com and Rick at
ink@inkinstereo.com - or share it with a
friend close to you. If it calls you to action,
then well, you know what to do.

credits

released April 13, 2015

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Seer Lira, Uganda

Seer is a communally-owned, ever-adapting art project concerned with beauty, justice, and truth.

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