Spring 1985 in Washington, D.C., the cherry blossoms adorned the streets. I was 25, feeling virile and wanting to write something different. My lyrics typically tell tales of women, which interest me as a heterosexual man. By contrast, “Road to Jericho” is the hero’s story—man fighting against other men and weakness within himself.
I am no scholar of Old Testament stories but admit with some certainty that the tale this song tells isn’t in the Biblical record. Being unfamiliar with the historical period when writing 30 years ago, armaments aren’t right either. So I take poetic license, for which I ask your pardon if someone of Faith.
I wrote lyric and melody while working outside on a beautiful April day. Initially: first two stanzas, chorus, verses five and six, next chorus, and last two original stanzas. Later that day, or maybe the next, I added the rest, wanting there to be stronger catalyst than just prayer for the protagonist’s revival of will.
Also this: During the initial writing, I had no plan for whom this story would be about. The decision to be Biblical figure Joshua came later, after I sang the opening verses and melody enough times to remember them. I had no pen, paper, or typewriter nearby when inspiration flourished.
The melody, which the lyric’s rhythm matches, is my strongest. “Road to Jericho” is my sixth lyric posted since the new year. The others: “Cries by Day, Cries by Night“. “Dank Deep Eyes the Darkness“, “Disco Queen“, “Empire State“, and “Surrealistic Pillow“.
Road to Jericho
He turns his head to the horizon
A swirl of sand fills his eyes
Swollen red from his crying
As he watched his children die
And he kneels before the morning
Where the stars become the day
And a trumpet call issues warning
They have come again, not so far away
His will reaches for the scepter
To cut his heart from his chest
In the wake of his captors
Relief is to draw his last breath
BUT THE NIGHT is pierced by crying
A babe is born, where the dead lay
Before the Host arrows start flying
Though they have come, he bows again and prays
All through the night
He’d prayed all alone
In the darkness of Hell
Awaiting the morn
He’d bow low his head, and he wept and he cried
“God, my God, how can we survive?”
He pulls his torso from his knees
A mighty fortress he stands
The wind whips his skin where he bleeds
He spits out blood onto the sand
And he lifts his staff in defiance
And he raises the standard on high
His heart and soul make a new alliance
Before the coming dawn THEY WILL TASTE THE NIGHT!
His eyes reach across the desert plain
To catch the soldiers of Hell
The ark they seek to defame
And the daughters of Israel
And he spurs his horse in anger
And he raises his sword high to kill
Before his wrath stand no remainders
Red he paints the night across their battlefield
A terror in the night
He rides all alone
Like the wrath of God he flies
Driven by a power unknown
He raises his arms and lets go the call
“God has come, hear O, Israel!”
The lightning flashes across the sky
To burn the silhouette of a man
Before whose strength None can defy
It’s more than They can understand
And the sun arises from resting
To claim the sons who belong
The Host of Hell breaks now arresting
As the cry of Joshua fills the morning dawn
A pillar in the light
He stands all alone
A statuette of might
Lifted by a power unknown
He raises his arm and lets go the call
“God has come, hear O, Israel!”
He turns his head to the horizon
A swirl of sand fills his eyes
Swollen red from his crying
As he prayed through the night
And he kneels before the morning
Where the stars become the day
And a trumpet call issues warning
Jericho awaits, not so far away.
And a trumpet call issues warning
Jericho awaits, NOT SO FAR AWAY!
©1985 Joe Wilcox
Note: The lyric’s copyright is one of this blog’s exceptions: All Rights Reserved. Because the work as presented here is only partial. Melody is missing.
Photo Credit: Leonardo Rizz