Joshua James: "I said, God if you can hear me, crash this train."

Joshua James was raised in Nebraska, later he made Utah his home, in a place his named Williamette Mountain, after coming to him in a dream. Ironically, he made his way some time later to Williamette Valley (Mountain Williamette), located about 70 miles east of Eugene, Oregon and home base of producer Richard Swift.

He sought the quiet life, however do not confuse him as being reclusive. He has toured across America, the UK, Romania and Japan performing before audiences with a mix of Americana, folk, and rock.

In Utah, he raises chickens, goats and his own vegetables, a fairly self-sufficient individual and song-writer. It is possible his surroundings and solitude influence his song-writing, not to mention his take on world events. Crash This Train is politically charged.

In his bio posted on his website, these words, in short sums up Joshua James and his message,  "He doesn’t so much perform these songs, as he does let them possess him, allowing his voice to be throttled from a husky whisper to a full-bodied roar."

Song Title: Crash This Train
Artist: Joshua James
Album: Crash This Train / The Garden EP


[I] hope you find what you're lookin' for
when it all comes runnin' down.
[I] hope you find it painted black on your window,
or the lips of your lover's frown.
'Cause if it dies in cold, when the clouds start to roll,
is it then that your soul, starts to bleed?

Have you ever seen the President
who killed your wounded child?
Or the man that crashed your sister's plane
claimin' he was sent of God?
And when she died in your arms,
late that night in the dark,
did you pray to your God to come home?
'Cause it ain't fair to say, that these tracks are the same.

So God if you can hear me, crash this train.
I said, God if you can hear me, crash this train.

Now a note to the President, and the Government,
and the judges of this place.
We're still waitin' for you to bring our troops home,
[and] clean up that mess you made.
'Cause it smells of blood, money and oil across the Iraqi land.
But it seems so easy here to blind us with your "United We Stand".

And it ain't hard to see that this Country ain't free.

So God if you can hear me, crash this train.
I said, God if you can hear me, crash this train.

To the mothers and to the fathers who done the best they could.
'Cause raisin' youngins in a messed up world, it ain't so understood.
So I'll cover my ears, and my eyes, pretend [that] love's the same.
'Cause with one court's signature, it all becomes erased.

It ain't hard to tell,
when it's love that we sell.

So God if you can hear me, crash this train.
I said, God if you can hear me, crash this train.
I said, God if you can hear me, crash this train.
I said, my God, if you can hear me, crash this train.

 

Article by S. Rothe' du Bois