Listening to Andy Gullahorn’s songs, I often feel slightly exposed, trying to remember if I told anyone I felt that way or thought those things. Great art reminds us that we are not alone.
When the Square Pegs were playing weekly shows at the Radio Cafe here in Nashville last year, my favorite new song that I heard was Andy’s Holy Ground. Andy just finished his new CD, Reinventing the Wheel, and Holy Ground is on it, as well as More of a Man, Roast Beef (a song about Andy Osenga’s toe), That Guy, and several others that he’s been singing at shows for the last year or two. You can get it from Jill and Andy’s webstore or pick it up at one of Andrew Peterson’s Christmas shows.
Holy Ground, like many of Andy’s songs, draws you into a story and then shifts the focus at the end. The song is about an old abandoned church that is discovered by the homeless. Here are the lyrics:
A good half-inch of dust had built up on the pews / There were pieces missing from the stained glass dove / There was a broken lock on one of the basement doors / You could open if you pushed it hard enough // It was wintertime / The streets were cold as hell / They laid their sleeping bags / Along the alter rail //
It was holy ground / It was holy ground / It was holy ground //
As the word got out the sanctuary filled / With folks who had no other place to call their home / At night they’d share a meal and pass a bottle around / Something they were all accustomed to alone // The piano’s out of tune / Some keys don’t even work / But one guy could play a song / Out of the hymnal book //
It was holy ground / It was holy ground / It was holy ground //
The local priest soon got word / of the vagrants in the empty church / He was told to go to the house of God / And clear them out because after all / It was holy ground // He was met at the door by a man with open arms / Saying “welcome to the one place we belong” / He saw the shiny floors beneath the sleeping bags / He could hear the sound of laughter down the hall / Later on that night / As they broke the bread / He asked them if there’s room / for an extra bed //
It was holy ground / It was holy ground / It was holy ground //
Oooo. I love that! Thanks for the intro.
Andy G – what an incredible songwriter.