Song of the Week: Letters - December 14, 2019

Download Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for December 14, 2019: “Letters” The band: Chris Thile, Sarah Jarosz, Mike Elizondo, Eric Doob, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves, Brett Williams — Lyrics: TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Chris) Sleep my child and peace attend thee All through the night Guardian angels God will lend thee All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber steeping I my loving vigil keeping All through the night Though I roam a minstrel lonely All through the night My true harp shall praise sing only All through the night... LINCOLN (Sarah) My dear Sir and Madam In the loss of your noble son My affliction here is scarcely less than your own Our acquaintance began less than two years ago Yet I can proudly say we knew each other well And that the honors he labored for so laudably, and, in the sad end, so gallantly gave his life for, he meant for you, no less than for himself. May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly power Yours in our common affliction... TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Chris) Love's young dream, alas, is over Yet my strains of love shall hover Near the presence of my lover All through the night... LINCOLN: Dear Mrs. Ainesworth I’ve been informed by an adjutant general That your noble husband Has died on the field of battle I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine As sorrow threatens to blot out the sun And blind you to what might yet be won Let the memory of the brave man you loved remind you Remind you How much the prize of freedom is worth How great the role is of death in rebirth And such peace as there exists on this earth Will find you find you find you TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Sarah) Love to thee my thoughts are turning All through the night All for thee my heart is yearning All through the night LINCOLN (Chris) Dear Fanny I am deeply saddened To hear of the death your father Sadder still to think of the pain Your young heart is being made to suffer... Dear George I too was a child when I lost my first parent Dear Sir as you know I’m a parent whose buried his child So I know what I say when I say that As sorrow threatens to blot out the sun And blinds you to what might yet be won Let the memory of your father, husband, son remind you Remind you How much the prize of freedom is worth How great the role is of death in rebirth And such peace as there exists on this earth Will find you find you find you TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Sarah, then Sarah and Chris): Though sad fate our lives may sever Parting will not last forever There’s a hope that leaves me never All through the night