The Maker

SATB, tenor soloist, and piano

An arrangement of Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Lanois’s song, “The Maker,” a beautiful testament to a person’s desire for hope.

The Text

Words & music by Daniel Lanois (b. 1951)

Oh, deep water, black, and cold like the night.
I stand with arms wide open.
I've run a twisted line.
I'm a stranger in the eyes of the Maker

I could not see for fog in my eyes.
I could not feel for the fear in my life.
And from across the great divide, in the distance I saw a light.
Jean Baptiste’s walking to me with the Maker.

My body is bent and broken by long and dangerous sleep.
I can’t work the fields of Abraham and turn my head away.
I’m not a stranger in the eyes of the Maker.

Brother John, have you seen the homeless daughters
Standing there with broken wings?
I have seen the flaming swords
There over east of Eden

Burning in the eyes of the Maker.
Burning in the eyes of the Maker.
Burning in the eyes of the Maker.
Burning in the eyes of the Maker.

Oh, river rise from your sleep.
Oh, river rise from your sleep.

Performed by Conspirare
(Craig Hella Johnson, conductor).