My senior year at Harding University I wrote a bunch of Christian-themed songs. The following summer I got my friend Kyle Sapp to sing some demo tracks for them and my church's youth minister Byron Sommerdahl to help me with our church's little recording studio, and the results are here. The songs are only piano and vocal right now. Hope you enjoy them.

Click here to download a zipped file of all 11 songs.

1. Derivative Life
2. You're Listening To
3. Passeth Understanding
4. What I'd Do
5. Black and Gray
6. Bored Out of My Soul
7. Goodbye for Sometime
8. Barbaric Barbara
9. Good Ol' Fred
10. Gentle Woman
11. Just Like You

Derivative Life (mp3)

This is the story of a girl that I met in trigonometry.
She made me into a person that I didn't wanna be.
Now why she did I don't really know...
But I don't really care 'cuz just the other day I gave her the old heave ho!

Now I felt so divided
Take you away and what's the remainder?
Can't really say I'm sorry that I pained her
Back in the day I told her to count me out.

Now I couldn't abide it.
I got my Savior, you got your fraction,
Now that's my favorite kind of subtraction.
By a factor of three I'm totally free to shout...

I'd been livin' in a derivative life, such a limited life.
Now I'm strivin' for the infinite life and you can have that old derivative life.

Now I got integrated.
Infinite line of heavenly blessings
I saw the sine and now I'm professing
How I began a free man while a slave.

Now I can't be negated.
You were an error in my equation
Now I'm aware and that's the occasion
For my desire to soar ever higher, I'm saved!

I'd been livin' in a derivative life, an irrational life.
Now I'm strivin' a new radical life and you can have that old derivative life.

Didn't have the answers, didn't know where to look,
When all of this time, they've been in the back of the book!

I'd been livin' in a derivative life...

The next year I sat by the very same girl in calculus class.
She asked me to study and I said I'll pass.

You're Listening To (mp3)

“You're listening to—WADZ: All ads, all day long!”
Oh way-ay-ay
Oh way-ay-ay…

Win the battle of the bulge!
Lose the weight and still indulge!
Would you pay
Seven? No! Six? No! Five? No! Four? No!
On the screen or in the paper, pay-per-view porno!
Exfoliating action, long-lasting satisfaction,
How much would you pay?
How much would you pay?

Wear your jeans a size too tight!
We can help with cellulite!
Say you got
Bad credit? Poor credit? Low credit? No credit?
If your wallet wants to stall it, come on, buddy, don't let it!
Our bedroom panacea cures the clap and gonorrhea.
How much would you pay?
How much would you pay?

Everybody you know thinks you're fat and you're ugly!
Nobody likes you, who'd want to be you?
Everybody you know thinks you look like a walrus!
Nobody likes you, who'd want to be you?

Wealth and romance pass you by?
Psychics Live is standing by!
Got too much
Thigh fat, face fat, belly fat, butt fat?
Never fear another mirror! Wiggle this and strut that!
They're having fun in Venice playing honeymooner's tennis,
How much would you pay?
How much would you pay?

Everybody you know is always talking about you.
Your life is boring. Who'd want to be you?
Everybody you know thinks things are better without you.
Your life is nothing. Who'd want to be you?

Please don't be happy.
Please don't be content.
Who'd want to be you?

Everybody you know thinks your hair is repulsive.
Nobody likes you, who'd want to be you?
Everybody you know thinks of you as beneath them.
Nobody likes you, who'd want to be you?

We'll match any price in town!
We finance no money down!
How much would you pay?
How much would you pay? (repeat)

Passeth Understanding (mp3)

There was a night, gentle fireside night,
When all the world faded from the mantle,
The candlelight den where grandmother reads.

There was a dawn, snowy frostlight dawn,
When all the world disappeared in batter,
The clatter of plates I hear from my bed.

I had something to tell you, if I could just remember.
I have heard there's a peace
That passeth understanding…

Come close your eyes and I'll read to you,
Cover up tight and He will comfort you.
We're going home, no worrying forever,
So sleep ‘til the dawn wakes you from your bed.

Thank you, God, for this day, for this day, for this day, for this day.
For all you've given me.

There was a night, summer firefly night,
When all the world faded from her shoulder.
I told her that night and then she tells me.

I had something to tell you. It's all you need to know now.
For I know there's a peace
That passeth understanding…
Passeth understanding…
Understanding understanding understanding standing …

What I'd Do (mp3)

Once upon a rainy day a ‘67 Chevrolet smashed my Honda's side and I apologized!
So he slapped me with a suit, lost my house and dog to boot.
Teach ya to think twice before bein' nice!

But knowing I've got friends like you I smile right through the pain,
And I'm not even insane!

I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't know what I'd do,
I don't know what I'd do without you there!
For you are my steadfast hope and comfort,
You are my joy, you are my joy, you are my joy!

In the processed cheeses biz, making brie and cheddar whiz, when the FDA took my job away!
Said we didn't pass the test, put the big cheese under arrest,
So now I'm frying shell at the Taco Bell!

But I'm still in that gouda life ‘cause awesome friends like you
Helped my family through!

REPEAT CHORUS

I don't know what I'd do without you there!
I'd prob'ly start to pull out all my hair!
I don't know what I'd do without you, I don't know what I'd do without you there!
Don't know, don't care.

Thought I'd do it all alone, tried to live life on my own but I hit the wall and I lost it all.
Then I found you people there livin' love like breathin' air
And I've got to say this is the better way.

Maybe this is how God's kingdom works in the here and now?
So I can sing about how…

REPEAT CHORUS

I don't know what I'd do without you there!
I don't know what I'd do and I don't care!
I don't know what I'd do without you, don't know what I'd do without you there!
Don't know, don't care!

Black and Gray (mp3)

I saw twenty million windows glowing in a river flowing away into nothing
Lie dala lie lie
I heard twenty million whispers hanging from a doorknob tarnished reflecting the nothing
Lie dala lie lie

And I heard a hundred million voices all alone singing out in broken unison:

I never thought it would be this way, never thought, never dreamt
A hundred million shades of black and gray in the hundred million tears we wept
Lie lie lie lie lie, lie lie lie lie lie, lie lie lie lie lie lielalie lie lie lie lie lie

I felt twenty million winters blowing down an alley wasted away into nothing
Lie dala lie lie
I knew twenty million whimpers echoing through concrete fading away into nothing
Lie dala lie lie

And I heard a hundred million voices all alone crying out in broken unison:

REPEAT CHORUS

Everybody everywhere believed ‘em when they said
To be beneath another man's the same as bein' dead
Everybody everywhere is free to do it all
Laid out on a bathroom floor while prayin' to a wall

REPEAT CHORUS

Never thought it, oh, never thought it, oh, never thought it would be this way, never thought it, oh, never thought it, oh, never thought it would be this way

Bored Out of My Soul (mp3)

Got a tradition, the mission of old,
They say worship is true if you do as you're told.
Attending's demanding and standing is bold
In the emptying echoing cold.

Tell me you don't doubt there's
Something greater out there!

I'm so bored, I'm bored out of my soul.
It ain't no way to praise the Lord, being bored out of my soul.

See intellectuals, textuals grind,
As if worship is great if debate is your line.
Want a tea cosy symposium? Fine.
We'll discuss it and be out by nine.

Tell me you don't doubt there's
Something greater out there!

I'm so bored, I'm bored out of my soul.
It ain't no way to praise the Lord, being bored out of my soul.

When your brain is feeling boredom pain
You better start to live that life.
When your skull starts to feeling dull
You better start to live that lovin' life…

I'm so bored! I'm bored out of my soul!
It ain't no way to praise the Lord, being bored out of my soul!

Cause a commotion! Emotion is in!
As if worship is real as you feel how you sin.
Confess every Sunday that Monday is when
You'll repent but you start it again!

Tell me you don't doubt there's
Something greater out there!

I'm so bored, I'm bored out of my soul.
It ain't no way to praise the Lord, being bored out of my soul!

I'm so bored, I'm bored out of my soul.
It ain't no way to praise the Lord, being bored out of my soul!

Goodbye for Sometime (mp3)

(instrumental)

Barbaric Barbara (mp3)

Hey Barbaric Barbara, smokin' on your Marlboro, tell me God is good, that there never could be a hell.
Tell me that damnation's lost in the translation then go get your fix down at Motel Six, we won't tell.
Don't you have a sister? Told her off and never missed her.
Drunk in a whirlpool, and then you...

Hey Barbaric Barbara, smokin' on your Marlboro, don't you give a cuss 'bout the rest of us? We still care.
Don't you think better open Judith's letter? Tell me there's no death high on crystal meth, no one's there.
Change every channel, long night in cold flannel, you
Took off your glasses, and then you...

Barbara Angela Kramer, 78, died October 28. Services will be held at Our Holy Father Chapel in the Wilderness from 7 to 9. Visitation will be following on Monday at the Creekwood Funeral Home on 7th and Pine. She is survived by her sister Judith Norris of Olympia, Washington.

Good Ol' Fred (mp3)

Good ol' Fred standing on his head,
What was it he said? It was something he said.

Good ol' Fred baking pumpkin bread.
What was it he said? It was something he said.

He was dancing on a riverboat when he jumped right off and told us all he could float.
Now he's singing

Man, I just can't wait for each day
'Cuz I know that there's life on it's way
And that life is good because the world is good because the one who made it's good, oh yeah.

Good ol' Fred we all thought him dead.
But he's livin' instead. He's livin' instead.

Good ol' Fred from the bottle fled.
What was it he said? It was something he said.

He'd been livin' in a microscope, with an ashtray and a little bar of soap.
Now he's singing

REPEAT CHORUS

Think of all of the children he led with a pat on the head
Telling stories of someone who bled and a life that was shed
The kids he led, oh yes the things he said, yes I know he said

REPEAT CHORUS

Good ol' Fred, yes he's our good ol' Fred, he's our good ol' Fred standing on his head.

Gentle Woman (mp3)

Streetlight girl, are your eyes turned down?
Have you won those chains? Will you meet my eye?
Ashtray girl, who was made a slave
When you ran from me, would you bid me buy?
I'll buy, slaver's woman buy, fifteen silver buy, I'll buy you.

Gentle woman of the streets, the lady of their sport,
I'll lift you to my house and raise you to my court.
I know you've played their game, I love you all the same.
I love you.

And though you looked to the window,
And though you looked to the gardens,
I'm waiting here. I'm waiting.

And I, I will touch the sky. Feel the sky respond,
Feel the sky respond to my gentle touch.
And you, you will touch the earth. Feel the earth respond,
Feel the earth respond to your gentle touch.

Gentle woman, close your eyes, hold tightly to my chest.
I'll watch you through the night and keep you while you rest.
No matter where you are, there is no place too far.
I'll find you.
I love you.

Gentle woman come, gentle woman come away, oh gentle woman won't you come with me? Come away...

And though you fled from my bedside,
And though you ran to the wild lands,
I'm waiting here.

And I, I will touch the sky, feel the sky respond,
Feel the sky respond to my gentle touch.
And you, you will touch the earth, feel the earth respond,
Feel the earth respond to your gentle touch.

Gentle woman, I'll allure you out to desert lands
And whisper in your ear, and pledge to you my hand.
For you are my betrothed,
My lover silver clothed,
I love you.

I love you.

Just Like You (mp3)

Jesus, all I know
Is what my daddy
Read to me
And I remember
Hearing your story,
And I remember
I started to pray:

I long to
Be like you,
Only
Love like you,
Give all I
Am like you.

Jesus, all I know
Is that we killed you
On a cross
But then you got up
And forgave us
Though I can't under-
Stand how come you did.

I long to
Be like you,
Only
Love like you,
Give all I
Am like you.

I long to serve like you, wash their feet the way you do.
You are my hero.
You are my hero...

All I know, all I know, all I know, all I know…

Jesus, all I know
Is that I love you
With all my heart.
I know you'll always,
Always love me
Maybe someday they'll see
You inside me.

I long to be like you
Only love like you
Give all I am like you
Simply live like you
Glorify God like you
Die like you
All I know, all I know, all I know, all I know…

Jesus
I long to be
Just like you
I long to be
Just
Like you.