Human Liturgy by Frank Hart

His band-mates from Atomic Opera are all on board for this project, Kemper Crabb playing mandolin, recorder, mountain dulcimer and singing harmonies, Johnny Simmons playing various percussion and full drumset, and Trip Wamsley adding his fretless bass be-wonderment throughout.

Frank is happily married to Kim Hart and has two beautiful children, his daughter Von Behr Hart and his son Angel Hart. Frank is also the worship leader at CrossPoint Church in Katy, Texas.

Fans of all beautiful music that aches will not want to miss this album.

Here are Frank's notes and lyrics from the liner notes:

EPHPHATHA!

Ephphatha! Be opened. They say the first chapters in any biography are the most interesting. We meet people where they begin, as children, the full weight of their future packed into cute innocence. Although the first seven years of my life were surrounded by violence, I survived at the center of the whirlwind with only whispered scars of angry voices and bad dreams. I was spared the bulk of what could have been. I was loved. I was warm and fed. The anger that filled every crack around me was highlighted by clouds of cigarette smoke and shadows cast on my bedroom door like dragons.

Will I wake up

From this sleeping dream

Dragon smoke-rings Mother,

Reach for me

Scratching shadows

On my childhood sleep

An endless opening

What may be will be

On me, mercy on me, on me, mercy (merci)

Sleep for seven years

Afraid of my dreams

Angry voices calling

Whispering

I love you through my guilt

It’s how I learned to teach

Surviving love that haunts me

Remembering

We carry our childhood through our lives.

Track Notes: Mark 7:33-35 The words of Christ to open a mute man's speech. I have been a fan of William Ackerman for years, and this acoustic guitar riff is heavily influenced by his sparse, beautiful music. It was this drop-D riff that gave me the idea to do an acoustic-based solo album. I borrowed a Taylor acoustic guitar from my friend Chris Whittington (great sounding/playing guitar) and recorded all of the acoustic guitar parts with it. I did that 5 years ago. This is an album that has taken a long time to make. When I started this album, I didn't have any children, and I couldn't play the sitar. Since then, my house has flooded, and my daughter, Von Behr, was born, then my son, Angel, was born. (Certain purists would most likely say I still can't play the sitar, but I get it to do what I need it to do.) The play between the sitar and guitar is really made complete by Trip Wamsley's meandering fretless bass. It's short, but one of my favorite moments on this record is the bridge--when Johnny's big Zeppelin drums come in, and Mandy and Maggie play the super-cool viola and cello parts with an Indian scale.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Sitar

Trip Wamsley - Fretless Bass

Johnny Simmons - Udu, Drum Set

Rob Camper - Egg

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

SHADOW

Maybe lots of things. Lots of things that seem pretty certain. Maybe? We see reality through a dark glass, but I hear one day we will see face to face. I was not raised around faith. We didn't go to church. Most people, it seems to me, believe in God, but they are angry with Him. They think He should do things differently. I was raised by people who believed in God but didn't pay much attention to Him. It is the American paganism. We believe in love, we believe in God, and we live in the shadow of faith, love and hope. When I was twelve, I opened the big, stuffed, white family Bible, turned to the middle and found faith. Somewhere in the Psalms.

Maybe there is no sky

Maybe there is no rain

Maybe there is no world without end

And maybe there is nothing

In the Shadow of Love

Maybe there is no Love

Maybe we’re not afraid

Maybe there is no God to hate

And all of His Word is fake

In the Shadow of Love

I hope that we will find faith

It's faith that can teach us to love.

Maybe there is no sound

(And maybe there is something)

Maybe there was no fall

(And maybe we’re alone)

Maybe there is no life before death

Maybe you’re not here at all

In the Shadow of Love

(Maybe there's no Maybe)

Track Notes: Shadow is in open G tuning. Mandy and Maggie, along with Trip and his EBow bass, make a really spooky soundscape for Kemper and me to sing over.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

Kemper Crabb - Harmony

Johnny Simmons - Drum Set

Trip Wamsley - Fretless Bass, EBow Bass

WILDFIRE

My parents divorced when I was seven. This song is not about that. Not directly. When my brother got a divorce, I had a conversation with him, his four-year-old son and his nine-year-old daughter. I couldn't even sing the song without choking up for more than a year. I still might. Divorce is destructive, and the destruction never seems to stop.

Dad:

It was late in the afternoon and the sky was clear

When I felt the tears roll up in my eyes

You said what you had to say

And then you turned to walk away

And took the first steps to walk out of my life

Son:

I was four years old when my world was changed

I still don’t like to talk about it

Everything was boxed up

Then we moved away

Nothing ever really felt like home again

Daughter:

When I was nine, I can’t get it out of my mind

Mom and Dad went their different ways

I was forced to choose and I was the first to lose

When everything I knew went up in flames

All:

Our love is like what’s left after a wildfire

Do you remember all the things that we burned down

I hope someday I’ll learn to understand you

'Cause it’s hard to make much sense of this now

Track Notes: WildFire is also in open G. Yes, it sounds a little like a country song. It won't be the last time that happens. Bart's solo in the bridge is a really cool moment. His band (Occam's Razor) was recording in my studio, and he asked if he could throw a slide solo on WildFire. It was a one-take miracle. A couple of years later, I came up with the harmonies one night just messing around; it's the choir of Franks. The strings added a whole new life to this song. Some have said it is too depressing to include on the album, but you have to admit...it sounds really cool.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Bass

Johnny Simmons - Drum Set

Bart Postlewait - Slide Solo

Michael Selph - Hammered Dulcimer

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

CONFESSION

The confession of Malachi and the thief. The book of Malachi accuses the people of God of a lot of horrible things. As I was reading through it one night, I realized that I have done everything the prophet mentioned. So I wrote a song that repented of it all. I feel like the thief who said to Christ, "Please remember me." When I first played it for Kim, she said, "You don't sound like a very good person." I have done much that I regret, and now you can sing along.

I have not recognized Your name

Nor Your love for me

Hear this burden I speak of

I have not given You the honor and the glory

And I have dared to hate Your love

Lift these words up to the sky

Please remember me

I have polluted and poisoned the things You give me

And I have learned how to despise

I have offered You the smallest broken nothings

And I believe my own disguise

From the rising of the sun until the darkness falls on me

I can’t undo this man who I have come to be

I have not done the things I know that I should have done

I have done much that I regret

I have not loved you.

I fail You with my thoughts, words and my own deeds.

Have mercy on me. Please do not forget.

I have spoken death to my soul when I speak against You

And I have stood tall with the proud

I have believed there is no point in following and seeking for You

I have lived as though there is no God

I live as though there is no God

Lift these words up to the sky

Please remember me

Lift this prayer and hear this cry

Please remember me

Track Notes: Confession started out as the rhythm track for someone else's song. A girl named Emily Barker came to my studio to record a few songs. She sings and plays piano. I added sitar and percussion under one of her tracks; I think it was called "Dream." About a year later, I was just listening to the sitar and percussion track solo and got an idea for some music. This music. So, from her song, I kept the sitar, cello and doumbek. I added a completely different chord progression on the guitar and wrote a new melody with different lyrics. Johnny added a bunch of cool percussion and really brought it to life. I like my classical guitar solo. A $50 classical guitar from eBay.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Electric EBow Guitar, Classical Guitar Solo, Sitar, Cello, Harmony

Johnny Simmons - Tabla, Doumbek, Shakers, Kick Drum

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Chris Whittington - Harmony

A GIRL WITH RAIN

My poetic friend Allison Leal writes some great stuff. This was a piece that she wrote and graciously allowed me to distort into a song. St. John of the Cross wrote about the dark night of the soul. Following the light of faith is often the night of doubt. She knows what is right, she is listening for God's voice, but He seems to be speaking in tongues. Yeah, I've been there.

She needs life inside

But the wind blows there

She has fire in her eyes

But she does not know it

We all crave the holy

But we hate the separation

I taste the rain tonight

As I follow the nameless

I'll wait for You again

The wind makes me hungry

There is no edge of You

And no time for reasons

She's weighed down by these Unspeaking intuitions

A night of silence

The unmeasured voice

A girl with rain

Alone in her dark night

A girl with rain

She knows what is right

God, You speak in tongues

Track Notes: A Girl with Rain was going to be an Atomic Opera song at one time. OK, maybe more than one time. We have recorded it a couple of times for albums, but it never made the final cut. That probably explains the bridge, eh?

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Sitar

Johnny Simmons - Udu, Doumbek, Drum Set

Stan Nelson - Bass

Mandy Campbell - Female Voice, Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello, Harmony

Rob Camper - Hi-Hat On Verse

LOVE IS ONLY LOVE

I have a wonderful marriage. It is practically supernatural. This song is my philosophy on romantic love. We feel love for people. Romantic love, even. Sexual love. It kills me when people say, "I don't love so and so anymore." As if they don't have any choice. I started loving Kim when we were in high school. I am very blessed to have her to love and for her to love me back. But, here's the thing...I feel the love I have for her when I love her. Verb. Love is something we do. Patience, kindness, giving, and all that. Love is not magic. Love is not God. Romantic love is not the highest and most noble cause in the universe (no matter what your favorite movie says). Those things are lies. Love is only love.

It is a deep breath

You only feel it when you breathe

It is a deep word

You cannot say it when you speak

It is a circular motion

You only have it when it returns

It is a raging fire, love

You only feel it when it burns

We believe that it is the center of our life

It’s not a feeling

Doesn’t mean you cannot feel it

Not a religious thing

Doesn’t mean you can’t believe in it

We trade our life for it

We live and die for it to grow

We’ll stand and fight for it

We only hold it if we let go

We believe that it is the meaning of our life

Love is everything and

Love is nothing more than

Love is only love

Love, it is not God and

Love is not romance and

Love you cannot make and

Love you cannot fake it

Love is something that we all must do

Do you love?

We all believe in it

We all have need of it

We believe that it is the reason for our life

Track Notes: Love Is Only Love came to me after working for a year at a concert hall called Rockefeller's. As a sound engineer, night after night I would see great Texas music acts, and some of the regional music rubbed off on me. You might not be able to hear the influence, but I sure can. Of course, there were a lot of non-Texas music acts that played there, too. Michael Hedges was there a couple of times. I actually met Trip at a Michael Hedges concert at Rockefeller's. His bass on this song is pure funk love, and the strings that Mandy and Maggie played are a trip in themselves. By the way, Mandy and Maggie are twins. They play in the group Clouds Cry. I'm producing an album for them right now. They did all the strings on my record in one very long 15-hour session.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar

Johnny Simmons - Drum Set

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Kemper Crabb - Lots of Harmonies

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

LITTLE ONE

When I met my brother's first child, Cherish, she really touched me. A newborn baby from my own baby brother. I had never really paid any attention to babies before. I wrote this song after that. I wrote it for her, but I was also thinking of my future child...if we ever had one. Kim and I have been together since we were kids. Her maiden name was Von Behren. I always thought it was a cool name, and we used to say we would name our first child Von Behr Hart. Boy or girl, it didn't matter. Well, ten years after Cherish was born, I was waiting on Kim to get finished with her second trimester checkup at the birthing center, and I picked up a book in the waiting room called "Baby Names and Their Meanings." I wanted to know what "Von" meant. Just out of curiosity. Beside the name Von was written two words: "little one." May you believe...

Little One, may you grow

To be happy and healthy

May you always have plenty,

May you Dream

Little One, may your life

Be filled up with living

Be filled up with giving

May you bring love

Little One

Little One, may you learn

To be Faithful and lovely

Helpful and holy

And be wise

Little One, may you know

The strength of the patient

The calm of the gracious

May you find life

Little One

May you sing

May you dance

May you laugh in joy

May you know

Happiness

May you believe in Hope

Little One

Track Notes: Little One is a sort of Irish blessing-type song. The final vocal on the record is my seventeenth attempt at singing the song. I don't mean the seventeenth take, I mean the seventeenth FINAL take. I couldn't figure out how to sing the song. Part of the problem was Emily Barker. She recorded a version of this song for her record. It was so pretty and Kate Bush/Loreena McKennitt sounding that I just couldn't get my scruffy voice to live up to her version. So, I gave up and went for a total "Tom-Waits-scruff"...and there it was. The piano is left over from her version. She did a nice job.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Cello

Emily Barker - Piano

Kemper Crabb - Recorder Flute, Mountain Dulcimer

Mandy Campbell - Viola, Harmony

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello, Harmony

Johnny Simmons - Doumbek

Trip Wamsley - Bass

MAD

I love you, but you make me mad. There is a lot of anger in our lives, but most of it is not deserved. The people who we love the most are the only people who can really hurt us, but most of the time, we do it to ourselves. This song really came alive when I came up with the line "Whenever I stand in the way of this thing that we have," because it puts the blame back on me, where it belongs. My friend Thadd Grimm and I were talking about songwriting and, to illustrate a point, I said that anything you say can be a song. Some of the best songs come from carefully listening to yourself speak. Just pick a phrase that sounds cool from any conversation, like, "I love you, but you make me mad."

I love you, but you make me mad

I love you, but you make me sad, sometimes

Whenever I stand in the way of this thing that we have

... It’s too sad ...

I love you, but you make me mad

The things you want I want to give

But I don’t have them in my hands

The times you start

And then you stop

Why can’t you finish all the things you plan

No one gets to me

The way that you can get to me

I love you, but you make me mad...

You want my time, I want yours, too

I can’t control it any more than you

To see our dreams We both must sleep

Then we can speak in the morning

No one gets to me

The way that you can get to me

I love you, but you make me mad...

Only a person in your heart

Can drive you right outside your head

Look where we fall after love

Track Notes: Mad is a dark little pop song. Bittersweet. Have you ever heard a cello solo sound so angry? I kept pushing Maggie, so I'm not sure that she is only pretending. Hopefully she still loves me.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Harmony

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Johnny Simmons - Drum Set

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello Solo

BABY FORGIVE ME

Kim and I waited until we had been married sixteen years to have our first child. I know you have heard stories about fathers falling in love with their child. I call it "baby drunk." You might even have one of your own. You are not going to believe me when I tell you how far I fell. I didn't want to do anything but hold my little girl for about three years. (Isn't the fact that this record took so long proof enough?) When Von Behr was born, for the first two weeks I held Von on my chest all night and listened to every breath. I had it bad. I would actually feel like I needed to repent before Almighty God if she was reaching for me and I didn't notice. This song is born of that impulse. It is not a dark impulse. It's like a lullaby version of “Cat's In the Cradle.”

I don’t even know how to begin

There’s everything to say

When my baby came into my life

And everything else fades

How many times was she looking at me,

And I was busy looking somewhere else

Ah, Baby forgive me

I won’t even begin to pretend

That I can understand

How my baby can fill up my world

And hold me in her hand

How many times was she reaching for me,

And I was busy doing something else?

Ah, Baby forgive me

I don’t want to miss a magic moment

With my baby

I don’t want a tear to go unnoticed

On my baby...Ah, no.

There is nothing as sweet in the world

As the sound of her voice

When her words are a song in my heart

And my soul rejoices

How many times was she calling for me

And I was busy listening to something else?

Ah, Baby forgive me

Track Notes: Baby Forgive Me is one of Trip's finer bass moments on this CD, although he pretty much rocks all the way through. The voice at the beginning is Von Behr at one year old making little baby singing sounds. She would watch me sing and try to sing along. The guitar solo is played on her toy guitar (kind of a cool sound). I should have used one of her rattles for a shaker...

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Harmony, Toy Guitar Solo

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Johnny Simmons - Jimbe

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

NOTHING

We live our lives in constant amazement. Frustration. Joy. Despair. Hope. Faith. Doubt. God does not change, truth does not change, nothing really changes.

Everyone who has sold themselves for sin

Want to buy themselves back over again

Telling the same sad stories over again

The future is not a secret from the beginning

All these years change nothing

Day after day, the same routine

Doubt can drive us back to sleep

Faith in the Truth is not group hypnosis

The breath of the wind will whisper peace

All these years change nothing

There is a language of words that cannot speak

Speak the Word and I'll wake up from this sleep

Now that I'm at the center of my life

The darkness of my heart turning white

All These years change...

Telling the same sad stories to children

The future will be here when we begin

All these years change nothing

Track Notes: Nothing shows my love for all things Windham Hill again. Trip's bass and the strings really brought this simple little song alive. The viola solo that Mandy plays is stunning.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Mandy Campbell - Viola, Viola Solo

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

SHE'S SO BLUE

Who is she, and what is she doing on my record? Hmm. Well, whoever she is, she walked into a big, pretty church and started arguing with God and trying to be nicer than Him. O, Sister, where art thou?

It’s a stained glass world

And it doesn’t come cheap

But it didn’t cost her a nickel

She walked in right out off of the street

And she sat down

And she looked around

Some words are truth

Some words are lies

She thinks knows the difference

But look her right into the eyes of her faÃ*ade

You just can't win an argument with God

She tries so hard

But you just can't win an argument with God

When she finds that it's hard to believe

In everything she knows is true

Lead her back to The Way

She can believe in everything that leads to You

She's so blue

Well it all sounds right

But it all goes wrong

Standing on the science

With her faith under a microscope too long

And that’s not where it belongs

It can’t be true

She knows better than that

There’s no way she can believe it

It would be completely wrong and pretty odd

To think she has a bigger heart than God

She tries so hard

But you just can't win an argument with God

It’s a tear-stained world

And it doesn’t come cheap

But it doesn’t cost a nickel

If she has faith and can believe when it is hard, find a way to know it in your heart

She tries so hard

But you’ll never win an argument with God.

She tries too hard

She's so blue

Track Notes: She's So Blue is probably another product of my year spent at Rockefeller's. The Variax does a pretty good impression of a dobro and banjo. The drums are a tambourine played with a brush. The big stand-up bass is a hack job that I bought in Mexico, and it has a unique sound. I have to stuff it full of foam to keep the rattles from being louder than the bass tone.

Frank - Vox, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar (Banjo, Dobro), Stand-Up Bass, Harmony

Johnny Simmons - Tambourine

Kemper Crabb - Mountain Dulcimer

AMEN FOR THE DAY

The moments when we are alone. Defining moments. The light in our eyes when we are born; we are completely weak, yet our entire life is ahead of us. Each day, one after another, the seasons of our life, we live each moment before the Face of God. Amen. Let it be. Amen. So be it. Amen.

When the darkness ends

Then the day begins in a moment all alone

Please remember me

And forget my weakness where I will let you down

Say another alleluia, amen for the day

When I am afraid

When my strength has lost all the will to follow through

Say another alleluia, amen for the day

My eyes look for You

My hands reach for You

I will to always search for You

When my breath is gone and my life is over

Say another alleluia, amen for the day

When You will return and the new life comes

Say another alleluia, amen for the day

Track Notes: Amen For the Day is a piano savant. I have never actually learned how to play the piano, but for some reason, I have always been able to play this song. I really can't play much else on the piano. Only this. It doesn't make any sense, but there it is. I was thirteen years old when my Mom heard me playing on a school piano (we didn't have one at home) and said, "When did you learn how to play the piano?" I said, "I don't know how to play the piano, I just know how to play this." I rented a grand piano for the Emily recording session (it barely fit in the studio). So, one evening after the session, I hit record and played for about fifteen minutes. Years later, I edited the bits together and made this song. You people out there who really play the piano are not impressed, I know, but I think it's "kinda purdy." As usual, Trip, Johnny, Kemper, Mandy and Maggie infused wondrous life into the song.

Frank - Vox, Piano

Trip Wamsley - Bass

Kemper Crabb - Harmony

Johnny Simmons - Bells, Shakers, Jembe

Mandy Campbell - Viola

Maggie Fleetwood - Cello

Who else did what:

Produced by Frank Hart

Recorded at Digital Penguin Studio (Frank's House)

First Mix by Ryan Birsinger at Rocket Science Studio (Kemper's House)

Final Mix by Frank Hart at Digital Penguin

Mastered by David Hartung at Digital Penguin

Photos by Rob Camper at Times Infinity

Art by Frank Hart

Special thanks: Kim, Von Behr and Angel Hart, Thadd, Pam, Maddie, Ford and Jude Grimm, Johnny and Jenni Simmons, Michele Garza, Trip and Sarun Wamsley, Kemper and Shanna Crabb, Ryan and Amy Birsinger, David and Caroline Hartung, Michael and Pattie Selph, Emily Barker, Chris Stafford, Bart Postlewait, Matt Hunt, Ben Huggins, Wayne and Allison Leal, Max Dyer, Ty Tabor, Kevin and Jemis Lewis, Thom and Gloria Maples, Rob and Vikki Camper, Chris and Mandy Campbell, Maggie Fleetwood, Kristin Jensen, Chris and Joanne Whittington, Jeff and Julie Hart, Cherish and Gabe Hart, Randy and Connie Matlock, Barbara and Bob Hart, Kurt and Jenny Behrent, Michele and Clem Boulter, Gunter Ford, Sheila and Scott Steinsiek, Doug Van Pelt, Vito Rosolino, CrossPoint Community Church, Matt Popovitz, James Zeigel, Bill Woolsey, Tim Miesner, Jason Koch, David Hyde, Sonya Valentine, Mike and Marie Morrison, David Wallace, Eric and Kim VanDevender, Joel Wetzstein, Stan Nelson, Bill Dickson, Jonas and Allie Velasco, FDMB: Sam Hoyle, Brad Farha, Phil Sackenheim, GFH, David Whiteman, Don Norwood, Vince Sahr, Brian and Liz, JJ, Lee Gunter, Gregg, Tony, Mikal, Capt Argo, David G, Ben., MVH, Chad, Kev, 5h4n3, Daddave, DrGonzo81, Dennisaur, Guy, Zen, Joseph and all the others.

Five years ago, Kim and I were going for a walk, and I started assembling a list of possible solo-album songs in my head. I started with 20 and ended up with 12 on the final album. There have been many people who have encouraged me along the way. Many people who have added to the project. Thank you.

It must be said that all glory, honor and ultimate thanks are due to Jesus Christ, God incarnate, Creator and Sustainer of all things. World without end. AMEN.

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