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Land of Promise

from Land of Promise by Jacob Mau

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lyrics

I went to sleep beneath an old oak tree, and in my dreams my great-great Grandpa came to me. He rode upon a horse, his overalls worn thin. His silver eyes just like old photographs I’d seen. Without a word he led me from the cool shade of the river’s wooded bank. Through grass stretched tall and past a field of sorghum standing taller still.

Then came a girl stepping silently out from the purest colors of the landscape like a painting and she walked beside me. She said, “Please do forgive my Pa, he only speaks German you see. His name is Abraham and I am Emma. We have come to Illinois just recently.”

I said, “Emma so pleased to meet you. Won’t you take me to your home? And Emma as we walk there tell me from where did your family come?” 

“We came from Union County Pennsylvania to Salina where Pa bought this piece of ground you’re walking on. By the fall of 1852 we’d cleared the field and raised a house and barn up from the prairie ground. Ma lost two young ones in the early years. They’re buried just to the east.”

Then Emma slowed her pace, pointed her finger. There the farmhouse standing in the sunlight shined before me. And Abraham smiled...

I spent the afternoon shaking hands with family, meeting neighbors who gathered there each Sunday morning for they had no church building. On the porch the men spoke slowly of the work yet to be done. Some said they were certain that soon a railroad line would come.

So I listened and I learned just how Salina came to be while Emma and her dear father introduced each one to me. Meet brother Oliver and baby Allen, Mother Amelia, Aunt Sarah too. Little May has gone to get us water, but here comes William, he’ll be Emma’s husband soon. His father is the Reverend Riegel, who visits us each third week. But then the evening came upon us quickly, and it was time for me to leave...

So I said farewell and turned back down the trail I’d come. The tall grass turned to shadows in the dusk of the setting sun. Soon its soft light warmed my eyelids and I stretched upon green ground. From behind the oak tree I leaned upon came the river water’s sound. And a mourning dove spoke to me of the dreams that now are gone. Perched upon a high branch, he sang his lonesome twilight song.

He called, “Abraham this promised land has served your children well. Tomorrow they’ll pave it all and build an interstate motel.”

credits

from Land of Promise, released July 4, 2013

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Jacob Mau Chicago, Illinois

Jacob Mau spins compelling stories of misfit people and misplaced landscapes oft overlooked by others, and ignored by history. As this year's winner of Chicago's longest-running open mic competition, hosted annually by Uncommon Ground, he is clearly a standout among the city's best singer-songwriters. Good things await this young musician."

-Scott Schaefer
Label Manager
Bloodshot Records ... more

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