The Questions Live

OKEH/SONY | 2018 | 2019

With the release of his critically acclaimed album The Questions earlier this year, Kurt Elling responded to our tumultuous times with a wide-ranging set of music that explored some of humanity’s most timely and timeless struggles. Drawing upon material from jazz standards and American Songbook favorites to contemporary classics by influential songwriters like Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, Elling meditated on the political and the existential, the spiritual and the global.

Track Listing

||||||Did you call her today?
Did you call her today?
Did you make time to say . . .
that you need her today?
Most girls rely on a message . . .
some text or tweet.
One call can give your expressage . . .
something much more sweet.
So did you call her today?
You should call her today.
From a stop on the way . . .
at the club or cafe.
Every day you’re away . . .
make the time just to say . . .
that your baby’s your bae.
Did you call her today?

I dig that touring life now it’s a gasser
It’s just what I asked fer!
Blowing hosannas on the stand
with cats who can dazzle on the stand / is unsurpassed / sir
You get out and shake that moneymaker night and day
You circle the world by tipping tempos & sail away
with every horn that’s looking for something
some unspeakable signature figure that signals a swinger

Big math stuff ain’t no thing for cats who swing
I like my dirty / greasy / no-fool soul food / from the old school
where vibe is the rule
vibe that’s from the sweet-hot street
I like feeling that beat / & tapping my feet / from my seat
to Hi-Fi vinyl on the sweet repeat
Oh wax spinnin’

But none of that’s winnin’ if you’ve got no baby
a’waiting for you when you tumble to home
You turn the key to lonely echoes of empty
A man needs a family for his house a home to be

So take a tip from one who sees / the short & quick
the guarantee of what’s happy
Without love you’ll sink / like a rock gone inky in the drink / boy

One love
One real love will see you through when time & tide
gets to busy beating you black and blue
You lose that blue hue with one true beautiful baby

So make that call without no more delay.
And tell that pretty baby you will sway / heaven and earth
just to keep her your queen / and to stay
Man / promise her the milky way
if it means that she will keep time with you one more day

*Instrumental*

Did you call her today
You should call her today
From a stop on the way
At club or cafe
Every day you’re away
Make the time just to say
That your baby’s your bae
Did you call her today?
Boy you should call her today||Afloat and all at sea / the stars align in threes
They’re so fine and free / in blue and in green
Like leaves on endless trees

Come climb the sky with me / come hear and come to see
Melody in perfect symmetry / in love / in light / in key

______________________

I went out at night alone;
The young blood flowing beyond the sea
Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings—
I bore my sorrow heavily.

But when I lifted up my head
From shadows shaken on the snow,
I saw Orion in the east
Burn steadily as long ago.

From windows in my father’s house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a boy
Above another city’s lights.

Years [a]go, dreams [a]go, and youth goes too,
The world’s heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east
The faithful beauty of the stars.
Intro: A Happy Thought
A Happy Thought (Live)
Intro: I Have Dreamed
I Have Dreamed (Live)
Intro: Every Day You're Away
Did you call her today?
Did you call her today?
Did you make time to say . . .
that you need her today?
Most girls rely on a message . . .
some text or tweet.
One call can give your expressage . . .
something much more sweet.
So did you call her today?
You should call her today.
From a stop on the way . . .
at the club or cafe.
Every day you’re away . . .
make the time just to say . . .
that your baby’s your bae.
Did you call her today?

I dig that touring life now it’s a gasser
It’s just what I asked fer!
Blowing hosannas on the stand
with cats who can dazzle on the stand / is unsurpassed / sir
You get out and shake that moneymaker night and day
You circle the world by tipping tempos & sail away
with every horn that’s looking for something
some unspeakable signature figure that signals a swinger

Big math stuff ain’t no thing for cats who swing
I like my dirty / greasy / no-fool soul food / from the old school
where vibe is the rule
vibe that’s from the sweet-hot street
I like feeling that beat / & tapping my feet / from my seat
to Hi-Fi vinyl on the sweet repeat
Oh wax spinnin’

But none of that’s winnin’ if you’ve got no baby
a’waiting for you when you tumble to home
You turn the key to lonely echoes of empty
A man needs a family for his house a home to be

So take a tip from one who sees / the short & quick
the guarantee of what’s happy
Without love you’ll sink / like a rock gone inky in the drink / boy

One love
One real love will see you through when time & tide
gets to busy beating you black and blue
You lose that blue hue with one true beautiful baby

So make that call without no more delay.
And tell that pretty baby you will sway / heaven and earth
just to keep her your queen / and to stay
Man / promise her the milky way
if it means that she will keep time with you one more day

*Instrumental*

Did you call her today
You should call her today
From a stop on the way
At club or cafe
Every day you’re away
Make the time just to say
That your baby’s your bae
Did you call her today?
Boy you should call her today
Intro: Endless Lawns
Afloat and all at sea / the stars align in threes
They’re so fine and free / in blue and in green
Like leaves on endless trees

Come climb the sky with me / come hear and come to see
Melody in perfect symmetry / in love / in light / in key

______________________

I went out at night alone;
The young blood flowing beyond the sea
Seemed to have drenched my spirit’s wings—
I bore my sorrow heavily.

But when I lifted up my head
From shadows shaken on the snow,
I saw Orion in the east
Burn steadily as long ago.

From windows in my father’s house,
Dreaming my dreams on winter nights,
I watched Orion as a boy
Above another city’s lights.

Years [a]go, dreams [a]go, and youth goes too,
The world’s heart breaks beneath its wars,
All things are changed, save in the east
The faithful beauty of the stars.