“Saint Francis” (a song)

First of all, thanks to those guys talking trash about me and my work recently—book sales and subscriptions have soared. I couldn’t have done it without you.

For those of you new to The Druid Stares Back, for the past month or so I have been posting folk songs, either traditional tunes arranged by me or my own compositions. I do this as a way A) that allows us all to get out of our heads for a few minutes; and B) to give the finger to AI “art.”

I wrote this song in early 2020. I had been playing with the guitar part for weeks when I received an invitation to give a couple of talks in Assisi, birthplace of St. Francis, late that year. I was thrilled—and the lyrics popped out of me in about ten minutes. Of course, this was 2020—and the conference in Assisi (and everything else) was soon cancelled. But I pulled a song out of it. I included the lyrics in my recent collection of poetry, Mythologies of the Wild of God, as they kind of captured the tone of the book. I hope you like it. Here are the lyrics:

SAINT FRANCIS (A SONG)

Speaking to birds
For all is language
Things that tremble and fail
For all our chances

Everything sings like a willow
Everything sings like the crow
Everything weeps like a sparrow
Everything weeps like the soul

For the Sun and the Moon
And all the visions that fade away
For the trees
For the day

Everything sings like a willow
Everything sings like the crow
Everything weeps like a sparrow
Everything weeps like the soul

Listen to the beasts
And all the things they have to say
Listen to the sky
Just listen to the sky

Everything sings like a willow
Everything sings like the crow
Everything weeps like a sparrow
Everything weeps like the soul