I had been reading through the book of Nehemiah, and was thinking "I've never written a story song", and then this just sort of happened.
Beanfield Castle - what a crop of acoustic and more!
I'm actually my own band :) I sequence music to accompany myself, usually with me playing an acoustic instrument and singing for the final mix.
Story behind the song
I had been reading through Nehemiah, and was thinking "I've never written a story song", and then this just sort of happened. I was struck with how Nehemiah permeated his whole process with prayer, and I've tried to portray this aspect by having the "prayer" sections have a different feel from the "active work" sections of the song.
This is a rough sketch that I'm using to work up the song in a more filled-out format. I'm thinking of using just a solo violin, doing arpeggios for the prayer sections.
Lyrics
Nehemiah, hangin’ out, servin’ the king.
His buddies came up from Judah, he said “How’s every little thing?”
They said “There’s a few brothers left behind in Jerusalem,
But the wall’s torn down and the gate got burned, and it’s really bummin’ them.”
Then Nehemiah sat and cried,
He fasted and he prayed,
Got on his knees before the Lord
And this is what he said:
Oh Lord, we have sinned
Oh Lord, we’ve done wrong.
Please bring us back again
To the place where we belong.
So Nehemiah went to work, servin’ the king
The king looked up and said to him “How’s every little thing?”
Nehemiah breathed a prayer, then he said to him
“Please pack me up and send me off to Jerusalem.”
So the king said to him
“Nehemiah, what all you need?”
Then gave him everything he asked for –
God is good, indeed!
Oh Lord, we have sinned
Oh Lord, we’ve done wrong.
Please bring us back again
To the place where we belong.
So Nehemiah packed his bags, took off for Jerusalem,
Scoped the walls in the middle of the night so no one would see him.
He said “Things are bad, I see that, but this one thing I know –
God is good, He’s put us here to build the walls – Let’s go!”
They worked all day and half the night,
They hardly even ate.
Hauling stones and bangin’ boards,
They built from gate to gate.
Oh Lord, we have sinned
Oh Lord, we’ve done wrong.
Please bring us back again
To the place where we belong.
Now some nasty dudes, they were tryin’ to raise a scare.
Nehemiah said “Come on, try it if you dare.”
He prayed to God, and set a guard to make it safe to work,
Then those dudes they all went away, every single jerk.
So the wall was finished then,
And Ezra read the law,
Proclaimed the day as holy,
Said “In reverence, stand in awe!”
You blessed our hands at work,
We bless Your Holy Name,
You’ve brought us back again,
The Lord Almighty reigns!
Nehemiah trusted God in every little thing.
