Someday
In the quiet moments of morning when I seek to untangle dreams from reality, I sense the call to get the last seeds in the ground. There is a row I prepared but left unplanted. I hope to attend to this while there is still daylight, Lord willing.
I am preparing for what may be my final album, “Plain Folk.” I have composed an album’s worth of pieces that seek to express Christian faith in a profound simplicity that I have experienced in a host of others. I want to use Americana stylistics to do so. The lyrical setting for most of the songs is the rural South (specifically, North Carolina, but hopefully expressing a “faith for living” in Rural Anyplace, USA). It’s a way for me to recognize how the faith of rural America has helped me. Though Postmodernity has impacted rural America with devastating consequences, there, yet, remains a remnant. And that remnant is undoubtedly vital to our collective future.
As I contemplate this project I am keenly aware of my increasing limitations. This is good in the sense it requires me to turn to God for help. To turn to the Lord is to necessarily seek the prayers of others. So, I humble myself before you. Please pray if this album should be, and if the Lord wills it so, then pray for the means to its fulfillment. Lift up our producer, engineers, and especially my steadfast accompanist, Miss Cindy Gibbs, whose gifted interpretation of my music has been a cornerstone in all my previous works. I also ask for your prayers for myself, as I muster the remaining strength to see this mission through. What once flowed with ease now feels like climbing a steep hill, and the recording process looms before me as both challenging and daunting. Pray for my wife as well, as she helps me navigate the pathways of this project. Indeed, she sometimes has to help me make the best decisions.
I wish to share with you a glimpse into this album by sharing the lyrics to one of the songs, “Someday.” Instead of a sermon on “The Brevity of Life,” which I have preached, I seek to express the truths of Scripture with this folk song. None of these songs are fit for worship any more than a Butterfinger would be fit for a state dinner with the King. They are just “plain folk” songs from the stories and interior revelations of “plain folk” lives. But if they convey spiritual truths through their simple expressions then we have fulfilled our mission.
James 4:13-14
“Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’ Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Psalm 90:12
“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
Someday
Words and Music ©️2024 Michael Anthony Milton (Bethesda Music, BMI).
Verse 1:
Someday when I have the time
We’ll take off and we’ll drop a line
And watch the river run in the spring
But there’s so much work I have to do
I can always spend more time with you
But for now let us just say
Someday
Verse 2:
Someday when the days are long
We’ll pack our tents and sing a song
And catch the fireflies in a Mason jar
But you and I have things to do
Soon you’ll be back at school
And let’s just say we’ll try again
Someday
Chorus:
Someday is a word we use
To justify the things we choose
Things we think will buy security
So when will we realize
We fool ourselves in telling lies
For we all know that Someday never comes
Verse 3:
Someday when the Maple trees
Begin to change and lose their leaves
We’ll take a walk and breathe the Autumn air
And a chill reminds us winter’s near
So let’s take that walk another year
And anyway I’ll see you again
Someday
Chorus:
Someday is a word we use
To justify the things we choose
Things we think will buy security
So when will we realize
We fool ourselves in telling lies
For we all know that Someday never comes
Verse 4:
Someday came like a fallen snow
And plans we made lie still below
In the frozen finality of time
So let the wiseman understand
The gift of love is in your hand
Don’t trade it for some foreign land
That you will never reach
Someday
Chorus:
Someday is a word we use
To justify the things we choose
Things we think will buy security
So when will we realize
We fool ourselves in telling lies
For we all know that Someday never comes
Thank you for your support and prayers as we take on this endeavor. More updates will follow. The Lord bless you and keep you.