2026 Competition Entry:
Shadow of the Gnomon * by J. Stephen Smith
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Lyrics
[verse]
Show me a man outstanding in his field
I see a man who should take a seat
Show me a woman who goes the extra mile
I see the blisters on her feet.
[Chorus]
A sundial or GPS
Will tell you when and where to start
The gnomon and the satellite
Will keep you from checking the chart
[Verse]
Show me a dog who is playing dead
I see a wolf ready to pounce
Show me a butcher with his thumb on the scale
That severed digit weighs an ounce
[Chorus]
A sundial or GPS
Will tell you when and where to start
The gnomon and the satellite
Will keep you from checking the chart
[Bridge] I have need of direction
I need certainty and a soft couch.
I want parental correction.
And a brace to correct my slouch.
*This song is a sideways meditation on the gap between the tools we use to find our way and the wisdom required to actually get somewhere — a sardonic catalog of people and systems that appear to know what they’re doing while quietly missing the point. It is a song about the peculiar modern condition of being precisely located and utterly lost at the same time.
Show me a man outstanding in his field
I see a man who should take a seat
Show me a woman who goes the extra mile
I see the blisters on her feet.
[Chorus]
A sundial or GPS
Will tell you when and where to start
The gnomon and the satellite
Will keep you from checking the chart
[Verse]
Show me a dog who is playing dead
I see a wolf ready to pounce
Show me a butcher with his thumb on the scale
That severed digit weighs an ounce
[Chorus]
A sundial or GPS
Will tell you when and where to start
The gnomon and the satellite
Will keep you from checking the chart
[Bridge] I have need of direction
I need certainty and a soft couch.
I want parental correction.
And a brace to correct my slouch.
*This song is a sideways meditation on the gap between the tools we use to find our way and the wisdom required to actually get somewhere — a sardonic catalog of people and systems that appear to know what they’re doing while quietly missing the point. It is a song about the peculiar modern condition of being precisely located and utterly lost at the same time.
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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