Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago

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Music and words by Gordon Downie
Spoken word by Rob Baker
Sound design by Josh Cwintal
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Website - gorddownie.com
gorddownie.lnk.to/cokemachineglow
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I Stand Before The Songwriters' Cabal
by Gordon Downie

I Stand Before The Songwriters' Cabal,
bearing gifts of drugs and alcohol,
They say, "That's not enough and that's not all
and go stand stand over there 'til your number is called."
O I'll step up to the mic and sing
'til god or a reasonable facsimile appears.

Called before The Songwriters' Cabal,
wide-eyed just to be included in all this
exuding of warmth to the point
when a voice, at once calming and benign,
that's soothed the soul every time after time,
like a barré chord swiped down the register line,
says, "Don't invent a demand in your mind.
And don't tell them more now than they believe.
Don't tell them what they've already heard.
Don't describe the footsteps you've taken
or the horizon you serve."

I stepped up to the mic and sang
voice tinkling like a chandelier
when god or a reasonable facsimile appeared.
I sang, "Don't Tell Us More Than We Believe"
and "Don't Tell Us What We've Already Heard."
I sang, "Don't Describe Your Footsteps,
and The Horizon You Serve."