Soul Is…

Maybe soul is just a paper bag filled with air

maybe a little baby, who feels when his mother’s there

a studio apartment that sorely needs new furniture

your body an electric motor,  then soul is the armature

Soul is, that’s what soul is…

Soul is so simple like biting an apple or a three chord blues

soul is so complicated like all your unpaid dues

a tired yellow, orange sunflower that autumn opens like a hand

a foreign language sometimes you dream you understand

Soul is, that’s what soul is…

Soul is some sparrows playing in a leafless tree

chirping and chasing, being exactly who they have to be

white steam rising from a sewer grate on a winter’s day

a bill you think you owe but you don’t have to pay,

Soul is, what soul is…

Soul is a prayer flag that high clear mountain wind says for you

a tedious job it turns out you don’t have to do

a black shiny crow flying holes through a pale blue sky

do priests or poets, doctors or lawyers, or you or I, know what

Soul is, what soul is…?

 

Written By: John Stano Copyright 2009

Acoustic Guitar, rack harmonica, vocals: John Stano

From the album: “Caribou Bar & Grill”

Published by: John Stano and Playing Records 2010

You can buy this song from iTunes here.