Josh Ritter - Thin Blue Flame

Ethereal: heavenly, extremely refined, the upper region of space. This is The Animal Years.

Listening to this while sending prayers to Ukraine, which is the latest country to join the madness unleashed by our blood thirsty governments. Iraq, Serbia, Yemen, Syria, Ukraine... how many more innocent souls are to die for a few politicians ?

How could I forget about this song ?❤️

one of the most beautifully poetic and meaningful songs ever created. thank you SO much for the Art you put into this world Josh❤️

Dagumit this song led me to believe it was over like 4 times.

Much more light was deserved here. Full COVID prevailing-comfort found here

Too much,to much

Hes gay

A nice change from the crap out there..

Still THE greatest lyric and performance ever I have heard. "Heaven is so big there is no need to look up." "Only a full house" is the best theology humanity has ever conceived.

Bob Dylan meets John Lennon. Writer genius and musical genius. I heard Josh once say in an interview that radio stations and Preachers might hate him. This retired Pastor is humbly impressed! Thanks ever so much for being SO damned real.

I can only hope this inspires folks as it did me.................Nice song when I needed a nice song............Be well and Keep Doing Your Best to Make a Difference!!!!!!!!!!!!

the lyrics are what moved me so so much. Genius!

Painful. Powerful. Beautiful. Raw. True.

i just heard this a few minutes ago while driving through town. omg...i am so blown away!

This song is so fucking good. If this is the only song you wrote, it would be enough. FUCK FASCISM. Fuck Imperialism. Fuck war.

"Only a fullhouse... only a fullhouse" bad pokernight? Awesome music though!

For Dean,
There are actually good Cowboys.

"I became a thin blue flame,
Polished on a mountain range,
And over hills and fields I flew,
Wrapped up in a royal blue,

I flew over royal city last night,
We're fighting the harms of a new born light,
Cesar's ghost I saw the wartime tides,
The prince of Denmark's father is still unquiet,
The whole world was looking to get drowned,
Trees were a fist shaking themselves at the clouds,
I looked over curtains oh 'twas then that I knew,
That only a full house go'n to make it through,

I became a thin blue wire,
That held the world above the fire,
And so it was I saw behind,
Heaven's just a thin blue line,

If God's up there he's in a cold,. dark room,
The heavenly hosts are just the cold, dark moons,
He bent down and made the world in seven days,
And ever since he's been walking away,

Mixing with Nitrogen and lonely Hoes,
Where neither seraphim nor raindrops go,
I see an old man wandering the halls alone,
But only a full house go'n' to make a home,

I became a thin blue string,
The smoke between asleep and dreams,
And in that clear blue undertow,
Saw royal city far below,

Borders soft with refugees,
Streets are swimming with amputees,
It's a bible or a bullet they put over your heart,
It's getting harder and harder to tell them apart,

The days are nights and the nights are long,
Beating hearts blossom into walking bombs,
And those still looking in the clear blue sky for a sign,
Get missiles from so high that they might as well be divine,

And now the dogs are howling at your door,
Singing about vengeance like it's the joy of the Lord,
Bring justice to the enemies not the other way around,
They're guilty where killed and they're killed where they're found,

If what's loosed on Earth will be loosed on high,
It's a hell of a heaven we'll go to when we die,
Where even Laurel begs Hardy for vengeance, please,
The fat man's crying on his hands and his knees,

Back in the peacetime he caught roses on stage,
Now he twists indecision takes bourbon for rage,
Lead Pellets, Pepper and Aluminum,
Halcyon, Laudanum and Opium,

Sings kiss thee Hardy this poison cup,
His wine and sheet is busy winding it up,
And doctor he looks for lights that have died,
You need faith for the same reasons that it's so hard to find,
And this whole thing is headed for a terrible wreck,
And like a tragedy it's what we expect,

I became a thin blue (Throat Chakra much, Rumi?)

And now they make plans for a city laid down,
The hips of a girl on the Spring covered ground,
Spirals and capitals and the twist of a script,
streets named for heroes that could almost exist,

Fruit trees from Eden and the Gardens that seem,
To float like smoke from a Lithium dream,
Cedar trees growing in the cool of the squares,
young women walking in the portals of prayer,
The future glass buildings and the past and address,
The weddings in pollen and the wine bottomless,
And all wrongs forgotten and all vengeance made right,
The suffering verbs put to sleep in the night,
The Future descending like a bright chandelier,
The world just beginning and the guests in good cheers,
In royal city i fell into a trance,
'Cause it's hell to believe there ain't a hell of a chance.

Words and ecstatic approximations collectively captured by Homo Sapiens Worldwide. Found in Biology Class. Nxt to norml school.

I woke beneath the clear blue sky,
The sun a'shout the breeze a'sigh,
The old hometown and the streets I knew,
Wrapped up in a Royal Blue,
I heard my friends laughing out across the fields,
The girls in the gloaming and the birds in the wheel,
The raw smell of horses and the warm smell of hay,
Cicadas electric in the heat of the day,
A run of three sisters and a flush of the lamp,
The lake was a diamond in the valley's hand,
The straight of the highway and the scattered out hearts,
They were coming together they were pulling apart,
And angels everywhere were in their midst,
And the ones that I loved and the ones that I kissed,
I wondered what it was I'd been looking for above,
Heaven's so big there ain't no need to look up,
So I stopped looking for royal cities in the air,
Only a full house go'n' to have a prayer,
Only a full house,
Only a full house

Considering our current political situation this song seems more relevant than ever. Who'd ever thought our next president would be an orange face clown installed by the Russians and we would know it and still------- n o t  h  I   n   g  is done to change it. I mean Bush 43 was a bad enough joke but trump ???? It's hell to know there ain't a hell of a chance

"the lake was a diamond in the valleys' hands"

I felt moved for the first time in a long while.

something is gone, probably for ever but okay