2026 Competition Entry:
Raise up the Ghost by J. Stephen Smith
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Lyrics
Raise up the Ghost.
Hard winds rifle sand across the bleeding sky.
Shallow breathing, salt on skin, burning eyes
Dry lips beg for life, walk on blistered feet.
I see vultures circling in the vicious heat.
Then you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Your lips pressed on mine are now breathing life.
Your face eclipsed the sun bringing the gentle night.
Yes, you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Down in the muddy water
Wash my sins away
Raise up the ghost forgotten.
Let it be today.
(break)
Yes, you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Down in the muddy water
Wash my sins away.
Raise up the ghost forgotten.
Let it be today.
Hard winds rifle sand across the bleeding sky.
Shallow breathing, salt on skin, burning eyes
Dry lips beg for life, walk on blistered feet.
I see vultures circling in the vicious heat.
Then you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Your lips pressed on mine are now breathing life.
Your face eclipsed the sun bringing the gentle night.
Yes, you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Down in the muddy water
Wash my sins away
Raise up the ghost forgotten.
Let it be today.
(break)
Yes, you come to me
Like rivers in the desert
You exhume me.
Like water in the wilderness
You consume me.
Down in the muddy water
Wash my sins away.
Raise up the ghost forgotten.
Let it be today.
Author
Bio
J. Stephen Smith is an American singer-songwriter and music industry entrepreneur with over forty years of writing experience. His 2010 album Land of Plenty, recorded with The Redemption Center, received critical recognition — even as far away as Melbourne, Australia, where a reviewer compared his songwriting to the work of Mark Heard and T-Bone Burnett — and the Aquarian Weekly praised its “gritty hooks, intelligent lyrics and heartfelt vocals” in the tradition of Steve Earle. Drawing on the literary folk sensibility of Bruce Cockburn, the narrative grit of Steve Earle, the spiritual Americana of the late Mark Heard, and the fearless honesty of Lucinda Williams, Smith’s songs explore faith, loss, grace, and the human condition without easy answers.
In 1995 Smith founded Blind Records while living in Rochester, New York — initially as a platform to get unsigned and unheard artists airplay at local radio stations. The label grew to release several compilation albums under the series title The Immutable Record, and later released full albums by Jesse Sprinkle, Every Eye Closed, Mojo Heroes and The Redemption Center.
In 1995 Smith founded Blind Records while living in Rochester, New York — initially as a platform to get unsigned and unheard artists airplay at local radio stations. The label grew to release several compilation albums under the series title The Immutable Record, and later released full albums by Jesse Sprinkle, Every Eye Closed, Mojo Heroes and The Redemption Center.
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