I was headed to the woods just to see how it feels
Yellow light, take a right, breathing steady to the beat of my heels
And I was hoping to find out how to unwind doubt along the stream
Where great rock walls will rise and fall I will run 
At a crawl through its mysteries

It’s starting to feel
Almost like good & evil
Though the feeling is real
Might need a better label
It’s starting to feel
Almost like good & evil
And though the feeling is real
Might need a better label

And so I settled on a spot, put my backpack down and opened a water
Gave a little to the roots of hydrangea as I sat down beside her
As I lean back to gaze up out at blue, gray, brown, and green
With jagged rocks angry as my thoughts growing slowly soft as they sing

It’s starting to feel
Almost like good & evil
And though the feeling is real
Might need a better label
Oh it’s starting to feel
Almost like good & evil
Though the feeling is real
Might need a better label

Why did I feel so defensive when you questioned my language?
Is there a way this could broaden our perspective to uplift what has languished?
I check my footing is sure then leap into a story, we’re tracking the blame
When headed home I nod, “Hello” to a stranger with three dogs and a violin

It’s starting to feel
Almost like good & evil
And though the feeling is real
Might need a better label

Why would we rush an abundance to waste
When well paced time appreciates?

Good & Evil

Old river, won’t you wash away
All the fear from between these toes?
On an overcast early autumn day
I’ll be skipping from stone to stone

Maybe we can work it out
Maybe we can work it
Try to care for what I’m given

Old river, what will remain
As the constellations turn and fold?
On the cusp of a sunny summer rain
Sitting singing here on a stone

Maybe we can work it out
Maybe we can work it
Try to care for what I’m given

Running away
Close gate
Breathe in a taste
Of oxygen to feed to flame
Running away
Close gate
Breathe in a taste
Of oxygen to feed to flame
Fuel the fire then give it a break

Pure consciousness 
Comes through us in the dark
I wonder is 
It a prison or prism?

Maybe we can work it out
Maybe we can work it
Try to care for what I’m given

Running away
Close gate
Breathe in a taste
Of oxygen to feed to flame
Fuel the fire 
Then give it a break

Work It Out

I was not given hands just to keep them
Though blow by blow, oh so slow, I am defeated
But the sun doesn’t stop, it keeps on rising up
We try again

Hello trees are you like me, are you breathing?
In the streets or by a stream its same seasons
Oh but all this change it shakes my weary brain
Til we fall again

Oh my sun will rise and shine again
In the eastern sky, that’s our old friend
Oh won’t you fill us up
Then we will empty our cups
We’ll shine again

I only know as much as I need to
To get our toes on down the road to where we see you
Beneath a starry sky I live to close my eyes
And feel the wind

Oh my sun will rise and shine again
In the western sky, that’s our old friend
Oh won’t you fill us up
Then we will empty our cups
We’ll shine again

My Old Friend

I have needs
Come on, tell me what you need
Come on, all the same then we
Better get what keeps us well enough

Oh I was sitting there, cutting hair and counting the days
A pretty something bumped into me, I’m howling in pain
Behind the camera crying foul a shy queer kid caught in my brain

And so I said sternly, “Dear I love you so
But those scissors nearly cut me, accidently I know
How did you get in such a hurry, is there someplace you need to go?”

When in doubt, go in

Draw back, look at that, take it in slow
Ask the river how we got here as if water oughta know
How to move from here to center, finding balance at the heart of a stone

When in doubt, go in

And then we’re home, rest a telescope against the eye
Jupiter and Saturn rising through the darkening sky
Hold you close beneath the linden as a northern cardinal cries

And I have needs
Come on, tell me what you need
Come on, all the same then we
Better get what keeps us well enough
I have needs
Come on, tell me what you need
Come on, all the same then we
Better get what keeps us well

When differently is only half way
A spider web listening
Come to see it is just that way
Common thread spun whispering
And I’m acting like a ghost who done it
Settle in for the final play
Sat there staring oh so long
That a fly landed on my nose
Mmmmmm

In Need

Though the people I know come and go
I’ll stay home

When it is my time to go, I’ll go
But now I’m home
Now I’m home

And when it is our time to go, we’ll go
But now we’re home
Now we’re home

Home

Sitting by a light in the middle of the night
Whoa baby, won’t you treat me right, never make me hide my stripes
Keeping it tight, limelight, out of sight
Inspired by a higher flying, spackle buying state of mind
Sitting out beneath the sky, peppered by
Suicide notes from a lantern to the boat
Broken in half, whippersnap, check your facts
Quick act, safe attack, body rack
Brick-a-brack, a red hot ash
Smack dab in the middle of a country
Smack dab in the middle of a country, singing:

Blue by the ocean side
Sandy cracks open both of her eyes
Cuts me off a thick slice of her lime
And with a drifting hum her lips parted
For mine

Beautiful little gull
Don’t give me none of that heady bull
I just want to fall with the curtain drawn
Playing sandy, nude, warm beach volleyball
I said

Sitting by a light in the middle of the night
Whoa baby, won’t you treat me right, never make me hide my stripes
Keeping it tight, limelight, out of sight
Inspired by a higher flying, spackle buying state of mind
Sitting out beneath the sky, peppered by
Suicide notes from a lantern to the boat
Broken in half, whippersnap, check your facts
Quick act, safe attack, body rack
Brick-a-brack, a red hot ash
Smack dab in the middle of a country
Smack dab in the middle of a country, singing

Beach Volleyball

No rush on my account
Turn no body out
Try as in a dream
Easy at the seams
Draw back and pull a thread
Lifting of your head
Learning how to be
Close to what seems

We were facing death
Through the eyes of queen
Battered on the floor
Heart beating fast and barely breathing
When it came to rest
Wed my will to the ground
Angry as a stone when I 
Felt something pull me 
Around
Around
Around
Around

Neutral Affect

Be honest with yourself
Owe truth to no one else
Still share some anyhow
Be there as it rebounds
And hold the rest inside
As fuel for a fire
To burn all winter long
Deep roots will keep us strong

Neutral Affect

Neutral Affect

Crunching through the forest
Learn how to soften our disturbance
And I know that the work is worth it
Because our love affair with Earth is

And every time I bare my feet
They move into a harmony
With the deepest secrets that we keep
To well beyond language’s reach

And I could go on and on
But let’s just sit for now
Cause every time I write a song
I ask, “What’s it about?”
Oh no, I don’t just go along
I seek a deeper route
Wherein I slowly hone
Till each word brims of sound

On & On

Jonathan Jordan Childs first released Willow Dreams in 2010 a few months after waking from beneath the bows of an ancient willow. Their first album follows the emotional arc of this dream, from city to country, slowly settling into the sorrow of endless flight.

Released twelve years later, Gardening Songs is a short selection of 8 from the 60+ that they have written since releasing Willow Dreams. Recorded in the same style, utilizing their laptop's in-built microphone and garage band with a cacophony of instruments and collected sound, these songs have taken on the texture of yet another year in search of home.

They would especially like to thank their loving partner, Sylvia Bevington Estes, for her support, editing, production assistance, and backing vocals. These recent recordings would not be what they are without her.

Thank you for listening ----

Wild Isaac

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