Without You, Lord (long version)

I’m a rainbow with no colors;
I’m a fence that has no gate.
I am sugar without sweetness;
I’m a knife without a blade.
I’m a house that has no framework;
I am teeth that have no bite.
I’m a can that has no contents;
I’m a forest without trees.

refrain:
Without You, Lord, without You, Lord,
I can’t be all You want me to be.
Without You, Lord, without You, Lord,
I can’t do all You want me to do.

I am gold that has no glitter;
I’m a sparrow with no song.
I’m a joke that has no punchline;
I am fire that has no flame.
I’m a book that has no pages;
I’m a table with no legs.
I’m a phone that has no number;
I’m a pizza with no cheese.
(refrain)

I’m a compass with no needle;
I’m a window without glass.
I am mail without an address;
I’m a pill that gives no cure.
I am steel that has no hardness;
I’m a blimp that holds no air.
I’m a door that has no hinges;
I’m a lamp that gives no light.
(refrain)

I’m a camera without focus;
I’m a plane that has no wings.
I’m a map that has no markings;
I’m a clock that tells no time.
I’m a riddle without answer;
I’m an ocean with no salt.
I’m a speech that serves no purpose;
I’m a screw that has no threads.
(refrain)

I’m a jukebox with no music;
I’m a pen that has no ink.
I’m a well that has no water;
I’m a mousetrap with no spring.
I’m a mirror without an image;
I’m a rose that has no scent.
I’m a box that has no bottom;
I am soap that does not clean.
(refrain)

About this Song:
Roger-2021

Last week I shared the short version of this song, in which only one word changes from stanza to stanza. This longer version couldn’t be more different.

Do you recall how Paul begins 1 Corinthians 13, the “Love Chapter”? If not, here’s the NIV translation:

“1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Although my song doesn’t talk specifically about love, it uses a similar pattern of thought. Without God at work in our lives–“Without Him”–we are as useless as the forty items listed in the lyrics of this song.

Those lyrics were among my most difficult to write. Primarily because I had such a hard time stopping once I got started!

Not only that. Some of them were hard to describe the “without” part of and remain in the specified rhythm.

I’ve never recorded or sung this song publicly, but–should I ever do so–I would do well to omit a couple of stanzas so I won’t find myself “Without My Audience.” It doesn’t need this many to make the point, does it?

Nonetheless, I hope you’ve found them thought-provoking. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

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About Roger E. Bruner

Seventy-five-year-old Roger E. Bruner is the author and publisher of twenty Christian novels and the writer of more than two hundred Christian songs and choruses, a handful of musical dramas, and a number of shorter works. He sings, plays guitar and bass, and records his original songs in his home studio. He is active in his church's nursing home ministry He also plays bass guitar on the church raise team. Married for seventeen years to Kathleen, he has one grown daughter. Kathleen has two. Roger enjoys reading, moderate exercise, photography and book cover design (he's done all of his own except for Rosa No-Name), playing Snood, making walking sticks, and complaining about the state of the nation while continuing to pray for it.

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