Show The Way
from Hard Place To Find by Tobin Mueller
SHOW THE WAY by David Wilcox
(with extensive revisions)
Some say they see no hope
They say they see no reason we should dream
That the world would ever change
They're saying love is foolish to believe
'Cause there'll always be some crazy with an army or a knife
To wake us from our day dreams, put the fear back in our lives...
Look, if someone wrote a play
Just to glorify what's stronger than hate,
Would they not arrange the stage to look as if the hero came too late
He's almost in defeat
It's looking like the evil side will win,
On the edge of every seat,
from the moment that the whole thing begins...
It is love that makes the mortar
And it's love that stacks these stones
And it's love that lights the stage here
Though it looks like we're alone
In this scene that's set in shadows
Like the night is here to stay
There is cruelty cast around us
But it's love that writes the play...
For in this darkness love can show the way
So now the stage is set.
Feel you own heart beating in your chest.
This life's not over yet.
So we get up on our feet and do our best.
We play against the fear. We play against those reasons not to try
We're playing for the hope burning in that place behind our eyes
Your love has made the difference
Your love has filled my bones
And your loving lights my stage here
Showing me I'm not alone
In this scene set like a wasteland
Once a garden of lost years
There's a script I've left unfinished
Waiting here for us to fill...
As my witness, love, you've shown me the will
We'll find the way
Song Notes: David Wilcox is an uncanny songwriter. He has many songs worhty of deeper investigation. This one is my favorite, and not only because of its use of the theatre as its central metaphor. Its sense of power and belief is truly inspiring.
It is, however, a self-consiously Christain song. Like many great Christian songs, it is easily convertable into a love song. For it to seem authentic coming from me, I needed to change nearly half of the lyrics. In no way do my changes alter the premise of the song, however. It is now an honest and intimate expression of my life and my art. As a playwright, I know well the way ghosts and lovers animate actors, lights, wood and stone. Please look up Wilcox's original lyrics and note the changes, especially in the final stanza.
I think of this as the last song in a four song medley: Alfie/No More/Heaven/Show The Way. It provides an excellent answer for Alfie, as well as a confirmation for both The Baker and his Father.
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