Download Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for December 14, 2019: “Letters” The band: Chris Thile, Sarah Jarosz, Mike Elizondo, Eric Doob, Chris Eldridge, Alex Hargreaves, Brett Williams — Lyrics: TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Chris) Sleep my child and peace attend thee All through the night Guardian angels God will lend thee All through the night Soft the drowsy hours are creeping Hill and vale in slumber steeping I my loving vigil keeping All through the night Though I roam a minstrel lonely All through the night My true harp shall praise sing only All through the night... LINCOLN (Sarah) My dear Sir and Madam In the loss of your noble son My affliction here is scarcely less than your own Our acquaintance began less than two years ago Yet I can proudly say we knew each other well And that the honors he labored for so laudably, and, in the sad end, so gallantly gave his life for, he meant for you, no less than for himself. May God give you that consolation which is beyond all earthly power Yours in our common affliction... TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Chris) Love's young dream, alas, is over Yet my strains of love shall hover Near the presence of my lover All through the night... LINCOLN: Dear Mrs. Ainesworth I’ve been informed by an adjutant general That your noble husband Has died on the field of battle I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine As sorrow threatens to blot out the sun And blind you to what might yet be won Let the memory of the brave man you loved remind you Remind you How much the prize of freedom is worth How great the role is of death in rebirth And such peace as there exists on this earth Will find you find you find you TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Sarah) Love to thee my thoughts are turning All through the night All for thee my heart is yearning All through the night LINCOLN (Chris) Dear Fanny I am deeply saddened To hear of the death your father Sadder still to think of the pain Your young heart is being made to suffer... Dear George I too was a child when I lost my first parent Dear Sir as you know I’m a parent whose buried his child So I know what I say when I say that As sorrow threatens to blot out the sun And blinds you to what might yet be won Let the memory of your father, husband, son remind you Remind you How much the prize of freedom is worth How great the role is of death in rebirth And such peace as there exists on this earth Will find you find you find you TELEGRAPH OPERATORS (Sarah, then Sarah and Chris): Though sad fate our lives may sever Parting will not last forever There’s a hope that leaves me never All through the night

Tom Papa reads an excerpt on grandparents from his book Your Dad Stole My Rake during our December 7, 2019 show. Find more about the book and Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

This week: our Out In America correspondent Tom Papa heads to San Diego, where he visits an oceanfront bar, ponders ways to live a stress-free life, and chats with a business traveler from Queens named Gladys. Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Download Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for December 7, 2019: “How’s the Weather Where You Are?” The band: Chris Thile, Aoife O’Donovan, Mike Elizondo, Chris Eldridge, Marcus Gilmore, Brittany Haas, Brett Williams — Lyrics: 1. Morse: A nibble! Lincoln: A bite! A reason to be thankful— M: —for another sleepless night But how best to set the hook? L: How best to reel him in? M: Hmm...what to send? L: Hmm...what to send? M + L: Not my name L: He’ll know it M: Rendering this another unclean slate L: Another couple hours answering for these Divided States M: And being the amplifier of this rift between Americans Won’t help me make a friend L: What to send? M + L: Hmm...what to send? L: What are the chances of this meeting? I won’t let it get away M: Who else will dance me through the dead of night unto the break of day? L: If I believed in God I’d ask him M: Father, tell me M + L: what to say To make a friend out of this stranger on the wire L: How’s the weather where you are? 2. M: It’s hot as stock in Western Union The air’s as thick as the brow of a grim patent judge L: Is that your field of law? M: Nice try. How’s the weather where YOU are? L: Hot as the barrel of a freshly fired cannon Air as thick as the skull of McDowell at Bull Run And the smoke rising up to the sky Over sons that were loved as much as mine was M: I’m sorry for your loss. L: I’m grateful for your ear I hope I haven’t scared you off M: Fellow stranger au contraire Any night you feel like hopping On this wire I’ll be here Waiting to ask you how’s the weather where you are L + M: How’s the weather where you are? M: Cold as the sweat I woke up in an hour ago L: Cold as each toe in each boot marching south through the snow M: Exactly further yet from their hearths and our peace Were I Abe I would bid each brave toe retreat* L: What of the war for freedom lost? M: I don’t believe it’s ours I hope that doesn’t scare you off L: Fellow stranger au contraire Any night you feel like hopping On this wire I’ll be here Waiting to ask you how’s the weather where you are ‘Cause you can learn a lot about someone from asking how they feel about the weather where they are

Tom Papa spends some time in Chicago’s depressingly festive O’Hare airport, talks with a pair of Green Bay Packers fans, and commiserates with a gate agent who’s beset by frustrated travelers. (Originally from our December 8, 2018 broadcast.) Find Tom’s tour dates at tompapa.com.

Download Chris Thile’s Song of the Week for November 23, 2019: “You’re Just Doing Your Job.” The band: Chris Thile, Anaïs Mitchell, Jon Cowherd, Eric Doob, Alex Hargreaves, Armand Hirsch, Chris Morrissey. — Lyrics: Here’s a song For the good folks who We pay to look for bombs In each other’s boots Sure this line is long Longer than my fuse But you’re just doing your job And what a job you’re doing For the put-upon Bearers of bad news Now and forever caught here Between us and our due As platinums golds and silvers Singing the Delta blues “I can’t believe it’s not in your Power to move me To the seat I want And just forgot to choose I know you’re doing your job But what a job to do” And for the mom Running stoically through Each kid-unfriendly gauntlet Doing the work of two ‘Til the boarding process Drops her off next to A childless man of business Whose cares are few Enough to voice his problems with Her toddler on fumes I heard her tell him off like “Who the hell are you To assess this job That you could never do Just put your headphones on” Then away we flew Then away we flew