Somewhere East of Eden

Lyrics

Verse 1
Somewhere in the wilderness
See Adam walk away
Banished from the One Whose hands (Gen. 3:22-24)
Had made him from the clay (Gen. 2:7)
Looking back to Eden
He saw only what he’d lost
But if he could have looked beyond
He’d have seen a cross

Chorus
Somewhere east of Eden (Gen. 3:24, Gen. 4:16)
There is hope for fallen man (Gen. 3:15)
God knew what we needed
When this sinful world began (Eph. 1:4)
Jesus went to Calvary (Matt. 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, John 19:17-18)
To suffer in our place (Isa. 53:5, Rom. 5:8, I Cor. 15:3, Gal. 3:13)
Somewhere east of Eden (Gen. 3:24, Gen. 4:16)
There is grace

Verse 2
If you’ve wandered far from God
Down some long, lonely road
He’s waiting now to welcome you (Luke 15:20)
Just turn around and go (Luke 15:17-19, Isa. 55:7, Ezek. 33:11, Acts 3:19)
Wherever east of Eden is
For folks like you and me
For Adam’s children everywhere (Rom. 5:12, I Cor. 15:22)
These words will set you free

Repeat chorus

Bridge
Look to the Lord
When you cannot find your way
Forces east of Eden
Will try to make you stay

Repeat chorus

Tag
Jesus went to Calvary
To suffer in our place
Somewhere east of Eden
There is grace

Release Information

Released on Somewhere East of Eden (CD/streaming, 2020).

Author & Composer

Words and Music by Dianne Wilkinson and Daniel J. Mount

Publishing Information

Completed on May 3, 2013.

Song Story

In 2013, I was living in North Carolina. I was listening to a sermon that Mark Hamilton preached at my parents’ church in Ohio. He observed that when God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, He banished them to the east (Genesis 3:24). And when He banished Cain after murdering Abel, it was further east (Genesis 4:16).

I thought it would be an incredible metaphor for where we are in our moments farthest from God’s presence—in those moments where He meets us and shows us grace. So I wrote a lyric draft that was quite sorrowful and lamenty. Each verse ended with “To till the sod and reap the thorns / Somewhere east of Eden.”

I mentioned this song idea to Dianne Wilkinson, and she loved it. She knew of the novel and movie by the same name (I had been oblivious!) But she heard the idea as an energetic country- or Southern Gospel-style song, ending in “Somewhere east of Eden / there is grace.”

It was totally different from where I thought the song would go. But her melodic direction had such an infectious energy and enthusiasm that I loved it and agreed to go in that direction.

But when you have a line that’s good enough, you don’t throw it in the trash can. Even though it didn’t fit this song, “till the sod and reap the thorns” only had to wait a few months until it found its rightful home in another song, “Remember We Are Dust”!

Ben Garms of The Garms Family did an exceptional job with the track. I think it was his first time recording something in this particular style, but it doesn’t sound like it! And my brother Michael Mount was gracious enough to sing the second verse and some chorus harmonies!