Just West Of Eden - Michael McDermott

I wasn’t lookin' for somethin' different

I was sailing slowly losing all control

I was goin' down in the dirty water

Deep into the middle of my soul

There like a streak of lightning, illuminating everything in sight

I surrendered to this senseless fighting

I surrendered to this senseless light

Over top of yonder mountain, over there where the rainbow ends

I took a drink from the holy fountain

Down around where the river bends

The further I followed this fallen path

The more I trusted in this fear

Then revealed in the aftermath

I didn’t know who I was, what, or where

Just west of Eden, from Chicago to Gethsemane

Just west of Eden, the flowers smelled like tragedy

Just west of Eden

Communion came like rollin' water

Like a feast to a hungry beast

I knelt beside a ploughman’s daughter

Whose thirst never seemed to cease

The gateway to the wicked led the lost under their wing

Silence fell upon this hopeless town and the bells of innocence began to ring

Just west of Eden, where Cain paved a pavement of sin

Just west of Eden, the trumpet wailed and the walls caved in…

Just west of Eden

Graced by the hours and the mindless traps

In which even the noblest fall

Love’s longing flower brought humility unto us all

I stood engulfed by temptations smile

Searching for the only key

Reverent eyes fell upon my brow

While she moved in the air like poetry

Clutching on to this sword, I hold the names of all the men

I rip myself from this chord

Falling free to find myself again

I seize the darkness with a sharpened tongue

Then spit it out at last

I watch the lighthouse from the water

Beware of the coming of the past

Just west of Eden, crucifixions while the cities burn

Just west of Eden, the priest wailed and the poet yearned

Just west of Eden, insolence, prejudice, and cowardice are learned…

Just west of Eden