Calling Branches Home

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About this song

When you come across the true vine on a long and lonely night

Lyrics

CALLING BRANCHES HOME
A Song from the Vineyard to the Garden
Based on John 15-18
[Intro: Fingerpicked acoustic guitar, contemplative]
[Verse 1]
Passover night, the whole world gathered
Every house lit up but mine
I'm alone among the trellises
Keeping watch over someone else's vine
Voices coming through the darkness
Torchlight moving through the rows
A rabbi speaking to his followers
Words I wasn't meant to know
[Verse 2]
He said "I am the true Vine
My Father is the Master Gardener
Every branch in me that's fruitless
He cuts away, He cuts away"
I know that cut — I've made it
A thousand times these hands have chosen
Dead wood from the living
I've thrown the withered branches on the fire
[Verse 3]
"But the branch that bears good fruit
He prunes to bear still more"
I felt the knife twist inside me
I've been cut down to the core
"Abide in me," He told them
"Apart from me you're nothing"
And I crept out from the shadows
Close enough to hear him speaking
[Chorus: Add gentle harmony]
So I followed at a distance
Close enough to hear
Far enough that no one saw me
A shadow in the dark
Something in His voice
Spoke to the cut-off and alone
The voice of the True Vine
Calling branches home
[Verse 4]
They walked on and I followed
Keeping to the shadows of the trees
He spoke of love and laying down your life
Of friends, not servants, on their knees
"You did not choose me — I chose you"
Words I wasn't meant to hear
But my heart burned like a torch flame
And I could not stay away from here
[Verse 5]
He prayed out loud to Heaven
For the ones who walked beside Him
And then He prayed for others yet to come
Who'd hear the word and believe it
Did He mean me? Could He mean me?
A cut-off branch alone at night?
The True Vine praying in the darkness
Before everything went wrong
[Chorus: Fuller harmony]
So I followed at a distance
Close enough to hear
Far enough that no one saw me
A shadow in the dark
Something in His voice
Spoke to the cut-off and alone
The voice of the True Vine
Calling branches home
[Verse 6: Building tension]
I found a place behind the garden wall
Cold stone against my back
I watched Him pray while His friends slept
Then torches coming up the path
A kiss — and then the chaos
Soldiers grabbing at the Vine
One of His drew a blade and swung it
Blood black in the torchlight
[Verse 7]
But the rabbi — He reached out His hand
And healed the wound His friend had made
The last thing I saw Him do as a free man
Was undo the cut of the blade
Then they bound Him like a criminal
And dragged the True Vine away
His followers scattered into the darkness
And I didn't know what to do but stay
[Bridge: Stripped down, solo vocal]
Now I'm alone behind this wall
The torches fading down the road
My heart still burns but I have no answers
Just the echo of what He told
[Verse 8: Quiet, reflective]
I walked back through the vineyard
The same rows I've walked a thousand nights
But nothing looks the same now
Something's changed behind my eyes
He said "Abide in me"
But they've taken Him away
And I'm still just a branch out here
With nothing left to do but wait
[Final Chorus: Soft, unresolved, fading harmony]
I followed at a distance
Close enough to hear
Far enough that no one saw me
A shadow in the dark
Something in His voice
Spoke to the cut-off and alone
The voice of the True Vine
Calling branches home

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