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Ben Harper

American singer-songwriter and musician

Benjamin Chase "Ben" Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter musician and two-time Grammy Award winner, known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live performances and activism.

The lifetime we've left behind with strangers
Promises and lies both have their dangers.
I just can't be wrong enough and I can't hide for long enough
So far away, but I still feel your pain.
~ Fool for a Lonesome Train

Quotes

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  • Make no mistake about it, making a good record is pure, unadulterated pain. If you fall and break your leg--that's pain. But I'm telling you, the phase between pain and death? That's making a good record. It's extreme.
  • Every time feels like my first time. And I just find that the process of it feeds into one's own self-obsession.
  • My band is the best band in the world, period. So, I insist on every song being better then it is on the record. So by the end of the tour, we have to be playing the song better then how it’s recorded.

Song lyrics

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All songs written by Ben Harper, except as noted.

Welcome to the Cruel World (1994)

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  • You see mama don't watch your damn football
    And your beer drinkin' just won't do
    You're just stayin' out late
    And you're preachin' the hate
    And you never have been true

    You see mama she want her somebody
    Who will let her be herself
    So she's leavin' you
    And your stinky damn ways
    Cause she's found somebody else

    • Mama's Got a Girlfriend Now.
  • You may write me down in history
    With your bitter twisted lies
    You may trod me down in the very dirt
    And still like the dust I'll rise.

Fight for Your Mind (1995)

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  • I believe in a few things:
    God the devil and love.
    'Cause I've looked up from the bottom
    And I've stared down from above.

    I have faith in a few things:
    Divinity and grace.
    But even when I'm on my knees
    I know the devil prays.

    And you're working your way
    From the ground on down.

    • Ground On Down.
  • My choice is what I choose to do.
    And if I'm causing no harm
    It shouldn't bother you.
    Your choice is who you choose to be.
    And if your causin' no harm
    Then you're alright with me.
  • Excuse me Mr.
    But isn't that your oil in the sea?
    And the pollution in the air Mr.
    Whose could that be?

    So excuse me Mr.
    But I'm a mister too
    And you're givin' Mr. a bad name,
    Mr. like you.

    • Excuse Me Mr.
  • It will make a weak man mighty;
    It will make a mighty man fall.
    It will fill your heart and hands;
    Or leave you with nothing at all.
    It's the eyes for the blind
    And legs for the lame.
    It is love for hate,
    And pride for shame.

    That's the power of the gospel.
    That's the power of the gospel.
    That's the power of the mighty power.
    That's the power of the gospel.

    • Power of the Gospel.
  • Listen stranger, passerby,
    And those I never knew.
    There's not one day that you are living
    Has been promised to you.
    • God Fearing Man.
  • In my life I have been blessed
    In my life I have been cursed
    I have lived the best of times
    I have suffered the worst
    Do you know which road you're traveling?
    Do you know where you want to be?
    With so many roads to travel,
    There's just one can set you free.
    • One Road to Freedom.

The Will to Live (1997)

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  • Sometimes I feel I know strangers
    Better than I know my friends
    Why must a beginning
    Be the means to an end?

    The stones from my enemies
    These wounds will mend
    But I cannot survive
    The roses from my friends.

    • Roses From my Friends

Burn to Shine (1999)

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  • Could've sworn I heard you say amen this morning, showing some kind of sign that you believe
    Did it fall from your tongue without warning or just another trick to fall from your sleeve?
    Did I hear you say that you believe in angels? I guess I bring the devil out in you.
    But we can both remove our halos 'cause even an angel needs love too.
    Even angels need love too.
    • The Woman in You.
  • Where did you learn to do that so well?
    Where did you learn to do that so well?
    I guess that would be like kiss and tell.
    If it's a secret, why did you show me?
    • Suzie Blue.
  • Real life has let you down.
    Real life has let you down.
    Someone stripped the jewel from your crown.
    Everybody owes somebody something.
    • Suzie Blue.
  • Now I love to feel that warm southern rain,
    Just to hear it fall is the sweetest sounding thing.
    And to see it fall on your simple country dress
    It's like heaven to me I must confess.
  • Now I've been hangin' 'round you for days,
    Bt when I lean in you just turn your head away.
    Oh no, you didn't mean that.
    She said I love the way you think, but I hate the way you act.
    • Steal My Kisses.

Diamonds on the Inside (2003)

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  • I can change the world
    With my own two hands
    Make a better place
    With my own two hands
    Make a kinder place.
  • A candle throws its light into the darkness
    In a nasty world, so shines the good deed
    Make sure the fortune, that you seek
    Is the fortune you need.

There Will Be a Light (2004)

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with The Blind Boys of Alabama

  • Take my hand when you are worried
    Take my hand when you're alone
    Take my hand and let me guide you
    Take my hand to lead you home.
    • Take My Hand.
  • Children come running to the truth
    But you've got to peel the skin to get the fruit
    And while one's living high another's grieving
    But what's sweet by morning is bitter by the evening
    Oh - What's sweet by morning is bitter by the evening.
    • Wicked Man.

Both Sides of the Gun (2006)

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  • The world awakens on the run
    And will soon be earning
    With hopes of better days to come
    It's a morning yearning.
    • Morning Yearning.
  • Fools will be fools,
    And wise will be wise.
    But I will look this world
    Straight in the eyes.

    What good is a man
    Who won't take a stand?
    What good is a cynic
    With no better plan?

Lifeline (2007)

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  • When your whole world is shaken from all the risks we have taken,
    Dance with me, dance with me into the colors of the dusk.
    • Into the Colors.
  • The lifetime we've left behind with strangers
    Promises and lies both have their dangers.
    I just can't be wrong enough and I can't hide for long enough
    So far away, but I still feel your pain.
    • Fool for a Lonesome Train

White Lies for Dark Times (2009)

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with Relentless7

  • The very thing that drives you, can drive you insane
    Got a head full of thought crimes and a number with no name
    Got an eleventh hour Jesus and a mouth full of blame
    A casket lined with silver dollars and a number with no name.
    • Number With No Name.
  • You can run away from home
    But you can't run away from your pain
    I sit here alone
    There's always someone else to blame.
    • Up to You Now.
  • Now that you've grown up
    You can finally learn to be a child
    We made it to the end of the world
    But we'll never make it out alive.
    • Skin Thin.
  • Some things
    You have to let be lost
    Some battles, some battles
    You have to leave unfought.

    Then the truth just wastes away
    In all we dare not say.
    And in all we can't explain
    But I faithfully remain.

    • Faithfully Remain.
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