(david olney)

the strange young man who comes to me
a soldier on a three day spree
he needs one night’s cheap ecstasy
and a woman’s arms to hide him
he greets me with a courtly bow
and hides his pain by acting proud
he drinks too much and he laughs too loud
how can i deny him.

let us dance beneath the moon
i’ll sing to you ‘claire de lune’
the morning always comes too soon
but tonight the war is over
he speaks to me in schoolboy french
of a soldiers life inside a trench
of the look of death and the ghastly stench
i do my best to please him

he puts two roses in a vase
two roses sadly out of place
like the gallant smile on his haggard face
playfully i tease him
hold me neath the paris skies
let’s not talk of how or why
tomorrow’s soon enough to die
but tonight the war is over
we make love too hard too fast
he falls asleep his face a mask
he wakes with the shakes and he drinks from his flask
i put my arms around him

they die in the trenches and they die in the air
in belguim and france the dead are everywhere
they die so so fast there’s no time to prepare
a decent grave to surround them
old world glory old world fame
the old worlds gone gone up in flames
nothing will ever be the same
and nothing lasts forever
oh i’d pray for him but i’ve forgotten how
and there’s nothing nothing that can save him now
there’s always another with the same funny bow
and who am i to deny them

lux aeterna luce-at e-is
domine cum sanctic tu-is in aeternum
qui-a pius es
requiem aeternaum dona e-is domine
qui-a pius es
requiem aeternaum dona e-is domine
qui-a pius es
et lux perpetua luce-at- e-is cum sancris tu-is in
aeternum qui-api-us es
tonight the war is over

(emmylou harris)

i crossed on the river
there’ll be no returning
i crossed all the bridges
i watched them all burning
and now i’m a stranger
to a strange land i’m driven
where all is forgotten
and nothing’s forgiven

but i cried a river
a river for him
that’s deeper and wider
than i’ll ever swim
the heart it will harden
the sorrow will dim
but i cried a river
a river for him

i think of him now
on the road i am taking
and wonder how long
his heart will be breaking
but he’ll never hear when
the teardrops are falling
or the sound of my voice
and the name i’m calling

but i cried a river
a river for him
that’s deeper and wider
than i’ll ever swim
the heart it will harden
the sorrow will dim
but i cried a river
a river for him

so sweep for the sons
and the dear darling daughters
for the passing of time
and the parting of waters
for all who have passed through
this world long before me
to a far distant shore line
where no one waits for me
but i cried a river
a river for him
that’s deeper and wider
than i’ll ever swim
the heart it will harden
the sorrow will dim
but i cried a river
a river for him

(lainie marsh)

i hear the clock a tickin’
see the sweat upon my brow
i know my destination
nothing’s gonna stop me now
i’m running on desire
baby i’ve got nerves of steel
coming down to the wire
lord above me guide the wheel

keep me in your prayers tonight
i’ll be weary upon that road
i know the finish line’s in sight
but i still have a ways to go

there’s a junkyard dog a barkin’
in the valley down below
he’s wanting me to stop and
gather up a heavy load
ain’t gonna heed his call
ain’t givin’ him the time of day
you mangy mutt once and for all
i said i threw that stuff away

i won’t have a bit of trouble
heading down the straight and true
i’ll fly solo on the double
into the yonder blue

i might need some intervention
out upon the icy turn
in a foggy situation
squealin’ on a hairpin curve

i’m running on desire
baby i’ve got nerves of steel
coming down to the wire
lord above me guide the wheel

keep me in your prayers tonight
i’ll be weary upon that road
i know the finish line’s in sight
but i still have a ways to go
keep me in your prayers tonight
i’ll be weary upon that road
i know the finish line’s in sight
but i still have a ways to go
got a ways to go, got a ways to go

i am a backseat driver from america
they drive to the left on falls road
and the man at the wheels name is shamus
we pass a the child on a corner he knows
and shamus says "now what chance has that kid got"
and i say from the back "i don’t know"

he says "there’s barbed wire at all of these exits"
there ain’t no place in belfast for that kid to go
and it’s a hard life, it’s a hard life
it’s a very hard life
it’s a hard life wherever you go
and we poison our children with hatred
and the hard life is all that they know

at the dairyline in chicago
a fat man in front of me
he’s calling black people trash to his children
and he’s the only trash here i see
and i’m thinking this man wears a white hood
in the night when his children should sleep
but they’ll slip to their windows and see him
they’ll think that white hood’s all they need

and it’s a hard life, it’s a hard life
it’s a very hard life
it’s a hard life wherever you go
and if we poison our children with hatred
then the hard life is all that they know

i was a child of the sixties
when dreams could be held through tv
with disney and cronkite and martin luther
and i belived, i believed, i believed

now i’m a backseat driver from america
and i’m not at the wheel of control
and i am guilty, i am worn, i am the root of all evil
and i can’t drive on the left side of the road

and it’s a hard life, it’s a hard life
it’s a very hard life
it’s a hard life wherever you go
and if we poison our children with hatred
then the hard life is all that they’ll know

and there ain’t no place in this world for these kids to go
cause it’s a hard life wherever you go
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
has anybody here seen my old friend abraham,
can you tell me where he’s gone?
he freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
i just looked around and he’s gone.

has anybody here seen my old friend martin,
can you tell me where he’s gone?
he freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
i just looked around and he’s gone.

has anybody here seen my old friend john,
can you tell me where he’s gone?
he freed a lotta people, but it seems the good die young
i just looked around and he’s gone.

didn’t you love the things they stood for?
didn’t they try to find some good in you and me?
and we’ll be free
someday soon it’s gonna be one day

has anybody here seen my old friend bobby,
can you tell me where he’s gone?
i thought i saw him walkin’ up over the hill
with abraham and martin and john.

(bruce springsteen)

tonight my bag is packed
tommorrow i’ll walk these tracks
that will lead me across the border
tommorrow my love and i
will sleep ‘neath auburn skies
somewhere across the border

we’ll leave behind my dear
the pain and sadness we found here
and we’ll drink from the brazos muddy waters
where the sky grows gray and wide
we’ll meet on the other side
there across the border

for me you’ll build a house
high up on a grassy hill
somewhere across the border
where pain and memory
pain and memory have been stilled
there across the border

and sweet blossoms fill the air
pastures of gold and green
roll down into cool clear waters
and in your arms ‘neath the open skies
i’ll kiss the sorrow from your eyes
there across the border

tonight we’ll sing the songs
i’ll dream of you my corazon
and tommorrow my heart will be strong
and may the saints blessing and grace
carry me safely into your arms
there across the border

for what are we
without hope in our hearts
that someday we’ll drink from god’s blessed waters
and eat the fruit from the vine
i know love and fortune will be mine
somewhere across the border