Peter's Song (Here at the End of the World)

Today I got together with my songwriting pardner Glen Soderholm at the Crieff Retreat Centre and we got out the guitars to do some new writing together. This time out we started work on a commission I got recently to write a Good Friday song for the Meeting House in Oakville, to be played at their morning services. The kernel of the concept is that it be reminiscences bythe people who knew Jesus while He was alive, and their bewilderment when He was crucified.

We began with the idea that this was Peter's song, as he is the apostle most people can relate to, the most sincere and yet frail in his humanity. It will be a haunting song, and one that will not have a tidy conclusion---more trapped in the moment of Good Friday with no foreknowledge of how it all turns out.

Here's what I ended up singing at the Meeting House Good Friday service this year as the final product (added Mar 25/08):

" I remember a voice
calling out to me
Oh Lord
You had given me hope for who I could be

But now I am afraid
What have I made of the name you gave me

I remember the time when you washed my feet
Oh Lord
Still bowing to serve in your hour of need

And those hands, I’m sure that you knew,
The nails would pierce through
And everyone disown you
I remember the night when you washed my feet

Lord now I don't know
Where do I go
I'm here at the end of the world

Nothing is right
Day’s turned to night
Here at the end of the world

I remember the time
When we knelt to pray
O Lord
But when I closed my eyes
You watched me drift away

Now,
How can I sleep
When all of my dreams
are shadows on the hillside
I remember the time
When we knelt to pray

Lord now I don't know
Where do I go
I'm here at the end of the world

Nothing is right
Day’s turned to night
Here at the end of the world

What about the kingdom to come
Thy will be done
Peace on earth
What’s it worth?

What about the blessed are these
Blessed are those
Bless me now, Lord, cause I don't know what I believe
Here at the end of the world

(Jacob Moon/Glen Soderholm)