Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity feature the song Guadalupe by Tom Russell, a legend in the Americana music scene. Mary is an ever-faithful guide in all of our discernment journeys.
“I carry a prayer card of Our Lady of Guadalupe with me. I wrote the song after spending Christmas in Mexico City in 2004 and visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The original shrine on the hill was sinking into the Mexican earth, so I spent the afternoon in the new shrine watching the pilgrims go by Our Lady.” – Tom Russell
Lyrics
There are ghosts out in the rain tonight
High up in those ancient trees Lord,
I’ve given up without a fight
Another blind fool on his knees
And all the Gods that I’ve abandoned
Begin to speak in simple tongues
Lord, suddenly I’ve come to know
There are no roads left to run
Now it’s the hour of dogs a-barking
That’s what the old ones used to say
It’s first light or it’s sundown
Before the children cease their play
When the mountains glow like mission wine
And turn gray like a Spanish roan
Ten thousand eyes will stop to worship
And turn away and head on home
She is reaching out her arms tonight
Lord, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down on me
From Guadalupe on her hill
But who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
I am most in need of hope
She appeared to Juan Diego
She left her image on his cape
Five hundred years of sorrow
Have not destroyed their deepest faith
But here I am your ragged disbeliever
Old doubting Thomas drowns in tears
As I watched your church sink through the earth
Like a heart worn down through fear
She is reaching out her arms tonight
Lord, my poverty is real
I pray roses shall rain down on me
From Guadalupe on her hill
But who am I to doubt these mysteries
Cured in centuries of blood and candle smoke
I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope I am the least of all your pilgrims here
But I am most in need of hope
About Tom Russell Musician
Since releasing his first album in the mid-1970s, Tom Russell has become a legend in the Americana music scene, with over 30 recordings. He has worked with many of the top musicians in his genre, such as Dave Alvin, Lucinda Williams, and the band Calexico. His songs have been covered by Johnny Cash, Nanci Griffith, Doug Sahm, Jerry Jeff Walker, Suzy Bogguss, and many others.
Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti has this to say: “Tom Russell is Johnny Cash, Jim Harrison, and Charles Bukowski rolled into one. I feel a great affinity with Tom Russell’s songs, for he is writing out of the wounded heart of America.”
Tom is also a painter and has done many portraits of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Here‘s one of them.
About Tom Russell Artist
Tom Russell’s art has been acquired by the El Paso Museum of Art and is featured in a dozen galleries around the world, including The Rainbow Man in Santa Fe, The Liss Gallery in Toronto, Yard Dog in Austin, the Silvia Gallery in Switzerland, Cattle Tracks and Bill Bishop Gallery in Scottsdale, and others. Russell, a colorist in the tradition of Fritz Scholder, has been painting since 2003. He has published two books of his art, Blue Horse Red Desert and Folk Hotel: Reflections, Paintings, Lyrics.
Hollywood director Monte Hellman (Two Lane Blacktop) is a collector of Tom Russell art who states: “Tom Russell’s art brings together primitive, Native American, Southwestern, and Mexican influences as he does in his music, with a eye as keen as his ear.”
Brian Kanof, fashion photographer and owner of “Man In Black Tequila” with Kinky Friedman) is a Tom Russell collector who notes: “Rarely does an artist cross over to another discipline and reach—and exceed—the creativity and success that he did in his original pursuit. Tom Russell has done exactly that.”
Links
Tom Russell Art – Original Artwork and Prints For Sale
https://www.facebook/russelltom
