Blog

This Is The Christ (lyrics)

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 10:33:27 -0500

good news from heaven the angels bring,
glad tidings to the earth they sing
to us this day a child is given
to crown us with the joy of heaven

this is the Christ, our God and Lord
who in all need shall aid afford
he will himself our savior be
and from our sins will set us free

all hail, thou noble guest this morn
whose love did not the sinner scorn
in my distress thou come’st to me
what thanks shall i return to thee?

this is the Christ, our God and Lord
who in all need shall aid afford
he will himself our savior be
and from our sins will set us free

were earth a thousand times as fair
beset with gold and jewels rare
she yet were far too poor to be
a narrow cradle, Lord, for thee...
praise God upon his heavenly throne
who gave to us his only son
for this his hosts on joyful wing
a blest New Year of mercy sing.

this is the Christ, our God and Lord
who in all need shall aid afford
he will himself our savior be
and from our sins will set us free.

c 2009 drink your tea music
martin luther/mccracken

life from the basement

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:55:00 -0500

I've been down in the basement a few times more than usual this week, checking on dripping old plumbing, parts and repairs for the ice maker, and looking for warmer clothes in the winter bins. I had the thought that it is likely that we could survive for quite a long time, if not indefinitely on just the stuff we have under this roof. Old clothes, picture frames, toys, scrap wood, and memory boxes. I have a sewing machine and a full kitchen to help me renew and recycle so much of these odds and ends.

I think the biggest obstacle to more restorative living is organization. I can't quickly find what I need when I need it. That is when the big-box stores have in their favor, with rows and rows of labeled, organized products. But easier is not always better. Faster access to our needs and wants is not always better. More people, buying more stuff, and more quickly producing more trash.

I noticed last week, while out in the newly developed suburbs south of Nashville, that there is a new storage building just off the highway near all the new stores and strip malls. Several more farms are gone since I've last been by there, too. It is a picture of consumer growth, more stuff to buy, more stuff to put in storage. But is this kind of growth and industry sustainable? Is there longevity to these habits? And what will our kids be like as adults when this is their childhood experience?

I want find new systems to sort and sift through our stuff, and to make our stuff work for us, rather than our working to buy more stuff. I want to have less stuff. And I want to encourage imagination and creativity in our home as we find ways to live simply and fully here in America in the last days of 2009.

Bouncing babies and Black Eyes

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 21:45:00 -0400

Hello friends-

We're gearing and rehearsing and packing for the Black Eye Tour that starts later this week. Our house is bustling with the kids, the fall leaves, the band, and the circadian rhythms of our neighborhood this time of year. I'm preparing for a Red Balloon focused set on these shows, hopefully with a few stems and elements from the recorded version. The talented Josh Moore is planning to accompany me during my solo set. Which actually means, it's not a solo set, I suppose...but I'm looking forward to it.

Life is full these days, from the moment we wake until the moment we hit the pillow. I am grateful for it, and am trying to slow down enough to soak it in. I haven't had many long, thoughtful hours for blogging, but I have been jotting the momentary updates of things on twitter. Join me there if you'd like. I'll try to continue from the road.

Best to you, and happy autumn.

Love,

Sandra

Springtime Nashville

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:46:00 -0400

   Things have gone a little quiet (and not so quiet) this year as we welcomed a new baby girl in February and are building a home studio in our backyard.
   We're also busy finishing up the mixing on a special house show concert Derek and I recorded in December at our home in East Nashville with a small gathering of Belmont University RUF students. The finished audio recording, Live Under Lights and Wires will be available in June. (We'll keep you posted on the exact date.) This recording includes special living-room versions of songs from the Red Balloon album, alongside standby favorites and rarities like Ten Thousand Angels, No More Tears, Shelter, Thy Mercy and When the Summer's Gone.
    We also recorded the concert in HD video, courtesy of our friends and Music City Unsigned. They have uploaded two of the performances to their website. Click here to watch "Halfway" and "Lose You."
   Best to you all as the winter turns to spring. I never get tired of watching it happen.

Love,
Sandra

P.S. I'm now posting on Twitter (@sandramccracken) if you are the type to tweet.

Calling, Waiting, Hoping

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:23:00 -0500

I've been thinking again about calling, in the most primal sense. We spend so much time planning, calculating, setting our expectations, and storing up for the future. These are all important aspects of being human. But outside these day to day exercises, the most basic human experiences are totally out of our control. When we are born. When we take our final breath. The chemistry of attraction. Falling in love.

We had a baby girl born last week, and this idea came into full view because I had ample time in the days and weeks leading up to her arrival to contemplate the when's and how's of childbirth. When left to a natural course, there is no way to predict the hour that labor will begin. I recognized some signposts that it was nearing, having had a baby before, but even for the most self aware individual, there is no calculation that can measure when it will happen.

All that to say, it is such a rare privilege (if I may call it that) to experience this intense kind of waiting. I remember doubting that I'd ever meet "the one." I was thinking it would never happen, deconstructing the romantic ideals aside under the guise of cynicism. But then it did, and here we are 8 years strong. I remember waiting to be pregnant. It seemed like it would never happen, until it did. I remember waiting for our son to be born. And now a daughter, too. Just when you think you can't wait any longer...then it's the perfect time. And implanted somewhere in my memory is the same anxious waiting for the baby God to be born in a far away village. And then he was.

So, I take all these tiny hopes and faiths, and string them together as one giant hope and expectation for that same Jesus to revive and refresh us while we are waiting for his return. Like a cup of cold water on a long distance run. This exercise of waiting, and of experiencing a lifetime of little fulfillments, does my heart good.

Happy New Year

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:12:00 -0500

Here is a beloved poem by Wendell Berry, along with the original lyrics to Amazing Grace in celebration of the closing year. I learned this weekend that Newton wrote this famous hymn for a New Years service, as a reflection and a resolution for the past and the new year. Good words to ponder...

"The dark around us, come,
Let us meet here together,
Members one of another,
Here in our holy room,
Here on our little floor,
Here in the daylit sky,
Rejoicing mind and eye,
Rejoining known and knower,
Light, leaf, foot, hand, and wing,
Such order as we know,
One household, high and low,
And all the earth shall sing. "

-Wendell Berry

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, hut now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
      The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
      And grace will lead me home.

      The LORD has promised good to me,
      His word my hope secures;
      He will my shield and portion be,
      As long as life endures.

      Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
      And mortal life shall cease,
      I shall possess, within the veil,
      A life of joy and peace.

      The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
      The sun forbear to shine;
      But GOD, who called me here below,
      Will be for ever mine.

-John Newton

Favorite Music of 2008

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:48:00 -0500

Here is a list of my favorite music of 2008, which is always a challenge because I am slow to absorb and appreciate new music sometimes. Maybe I should make a 2007 list instead? Well, for now, I'll stick to the rules. Top 5 records of 2008. Oddly, many of the selections are EPs. Is it a coincidence, or is it becoming a more digestible format? Getting back to the point, here's the list:

Top 5 Records of 2008

5. Waterdeep, Pink & Blue

4. Katie Herzig, Apple Tree

3. Ray LaMontagne, Gossip in the Grain

2. Thad Cockrell, To Be Loved

1. Joe Pug, Nation of Heat

Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Peace,

Sandra

snowflake seasons: no two are alike

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 13:12:00 -0500

    I had this thought tonight about life seasons thinking about how fall is sneaking into winter, trying to go out unnoticed. It's my first night home after days and weeks of a bustling tour. It is so quiet in the house, the baby is asleep.   I'm too tired to call a friend, although I'm craving both solitude and connection at the same time. I figure that tension is a good indication that my human-ness is fully functioning. I have the TV on, but it's muted.   The glow of light gives me some company as I write.

    I've been journaling for my son about his short life updates; new teeth, new words, new revelations. It reminded me that in just a few more months, we will have another baby out in the world--in this house, to be more specific. It makes me a little sad to say goodbye to the current season. I like the quiet evenings, after Rhodes is in bed, and the long, uninterrupted nighttime sleep. Just when you get the feeling you have figured out a few things, it all gets tossed back into the bucket and re-sorted. I feel as though I have one foot in the familiar rhythms we have established, and one foot in anticipation of what's ahead.

    This is a bit of a cliche, but it comes into my head tonight like it's a brand new thought.   I'm just sitting here thinking how life's seasons are each so short, and no two are exactly alike.   Semesters of school, summer jobs, illness, boyfriends and breakups, adolescence, pregnancy, mid-life crisis, tours, election campaigns...whatever the case may be. Each stage gives the feeling of being so all-encompassing.   At the time, you are convinced that it might be this way for the rest of time, but it vanishes into the next season without warning.

    It makes me want to learn to number my days, to endure challenges with more faithfulness, knowing that they are fleeting, and they are usually functioning to shape my character. It makes me want to really breathe in the joys of everyday moments, too. Sharing old wine with friends. Talking to my sister on the phone about every stupid or profound thing that we care about. Sitting on my front porch when it's raining. Hearing Derek's songbird voice in harmony with me in the middle of a show, and realizing that we get to DO this together for a living. I could go on...

    I want to savor these last days of having only one child, and look forward to how our lives will be made more beautiful and complex when his little sister arrives in February. He, quite literally, won't remember life without her. Each human life seems to bring with it a fresh provision of love and time and possibility, like a self addressed stamped envelope. You can't imagine it in advance, but when it arrives, you will have all the ingredients you need. It is a small glimmer of calling, and learning to walk by faith. You see the path, you move your feet, and widen the stakes of your tent. You make room for what you can't yet see or imagine. Summer to fall to winter, the Earth shows us what it looks like to walk on.

A day coming...

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:24:00 -0400

I can't wait for this election to be behind us. Not long now, and we can begin picking up the partisan pieces and move forward. I miss Tim Russert. I don't know much about politics, but he always seemed to so humble and informed in his opinions. He was able to agitate and diffuse in the same stroke.

This presidential campaign seemed to start so early, and has regurgitated the same themes and sound bites for so long that i can hardly stomach it. As the end approaches, people on both sides are finding less common ground than ever, and i have seen even more polarity within circles and families around me than I can remember.

I agree that it is a very pivotal moment for our country, but the banner of fear that is prevailing is not constructive and will be hard to remove after the decision has been made. Neither side is a perfect platform, and past next week, we will still have to all do the dirty work of caring for our communities, our neighbors, and making the most of our resources for the greater good.

So, like the rest of us, I am looking forward to the other side of things. I hope the new leadership will help toward resolution and progress toward peace in the middle east and diplomacy all over the world. I hope for the rebuilding of our domestic economy, starting by caring for the poor and the sick and the voiceless among us. I hope for the conservation of our environment and sustainable communities within our nation. Most immediately, I hope that we as a people can unify after this election. It seems like such a hateful cultural climate and I welcome some peace between us.

I urge everybody go out and vote. Vote early and be done with it. Then we can go back home to the day to day shaping of our character as families, as communities, and as a people. The president elect can't do that for us. We have to do it ourselves.

The way i see it, these things I'm thinking about are not really political. I have a wary faith in politics as a substantial solution for these big issues. But I believe there is a day coming when all things will be made right. And that IS the big hope on which all these little hopes hang. Haste the day.

Curator Magazine Interview (part 2)

Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:48:00 -0400

Sandra McCracken:
A Red Balloon of Hope (Part 2)

By Jenni Simmons ⋅ October 17, 2008 ⋅

This is the second of a two-part interview with singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken. You can read the first part here.

Is there a certain atmosphere in which you write best? A time of day, room in the house; tea or coffee?

It happens sporadically; it’s somewhat unexpected when that actually occurs. If I feel inspired to write something, I have to take advantage of it as quickly as I can because they are fleeting moments, those clear moments of inspiration or a clear thought; journaling is really helpful. The music part can happen a lot more easily and regularly. If I sit down, I can chip away at something and I’ll come back to it and reevaluate and reshape it. But especially the lyrics and ideas - they happen when they happen. The challenge is to carve out enough space in my brain and schedule where I can be open and listening to that voice in my head.

I do like to record and sing vocals in the morning. Having a home studio is really conducive to that. When you’re paying for a studio by the hour, there’s often a lot of pressure. It’s such a different environment than having a home studio and going upstairs with a cup of coffee, still in your PJ’s, and recording something before you have time to over-think it. We did a lot of that on Red Balloon.

(read the rest of the interview [Part 2] here)