Memorial Day...

Well, here we go again, folks. It's Memorial Day. Seems the Memorial "just gets bigger as we go. Bales of memory like boats in tow." 

Memorial Day

It's Memorial Day
I'm goin' back to the old town
Back to the little white Church
Up on that Higher Ground
Gonna walk in the street
Gonna see the parade
Gonna smell all the flowers
Gonna visit the graves
On Memorial Day

And we'll talk about the kind of man
Who'd lay his life down
I've seen him on the street
He's from our hometown
The catch, the "gleam of glory bright"
Is seeded on the mound
Here’s hopin’ that the cause was just
‘cause the cost keeps comin’ round

On Memorial Day
Back in the hometown
Back at the big white house
Up from the old playground
Gonna sit on the porch
Sip lemonade
The sweet and the sour
Go together... these days

Dusk fallin' on this oak-lined street
My toddler trips across my feet
Comfort's arms don't keep
A Crescent Moon
From hangin' in the east
And I ponder on a way of life
That draws it's strength from war and strife
Demands the bloody sacrifice
And wonder
That there might be a better way

On Memorial Day
I'm goin' back to the old town
Back to the little white Church
Up on that Higher Ground
Gonna walk in the street
Gonna see the parade
Gonna smell all the flowers
Gonna visit the graves
Gonna sit on the porch
Gonna sip lemonade
The sweet and the sour
Go together today
...Memorial Day

© 2006, D. Dain

Too Big

Too Big


Slippery slope, dominoes down  
Tear a brick from the wall of our movie-set town  
To patch a hole in the hull of a boat run aground
Full of hope that don't float, dreams that done drowned

We conjure our money right out of thin air
Backed by faith in faces with cool New York stares  
They’re talkin' the Bull and walkin' the Bear  
Treadin' where only derivatives dare
Aiaa, I... Aiaa, I...
Aaaaiii

We don't make anything, anymore
Not counting food for the world, fodder for war  
Clothes are from China, cars from Japan  
All too big to fail.  What don't you understand?

Capital cronies, all skull and bones  
Makin' the book on all of our loans  
They guild 'em with Gold, Man, and Sachs 'em like Rome
Bet it all on the red, hell, it’s only a home
Aiaa, I... Aiaa, I...
Aaaaiii

No safety, just a Lie too big to fail
Run the shell game, bail your buddies out of jail 
Leveraged debt is just the way of life
Grab the bonus, baby, run away and hide  

Stick and carrot, fake retirement plans
Most are left with empty, open hands
Lucky bowl of soup and sandwich and a 
“Please, please, Mister, if you can?”
Aiaa, I... Aiaa, I...
Aaaaiii

We don't make anything, anymore
Not counting food for the world, fodder for war 
Oh, and words, we make words - just watch 'em fly  
Hot air to flutter the flags 
On a Forth of July
Hot air to flutter the flags
Oh, flutter the flags
Aiaa, I... Aiaa, I...Aaaaiii
Aaaaiii

© D. Dain, 2009 

Fall Away

Call me home,
my own have never been that far from You
And I've been as all
since lilacs bloom, the stripers run and Summer's come
With only hope
I'm born into that Nature thing
Knowing right and doing wrong
I let it fall away

And I can't help
but think on where we used to be
Crying out to anything
Whistling past that fancy yard of our communal separation
We drive toward home
and all that all those left behind can say
Is that knowing right and doing wrong
We let it fall away

And call me home
But while I wait, I live here
Remember me
to my Dad, he won't forget
No matter how many
transient tears and sorrowful no mores get wiped away
It still springs
Oh, it still springs

"The least of these",
my arrival may be very unexpected
Having been nothing
but the subject of vague hope from just a few
Draw a line, Pretending to Belief to Destination
And it still springs
Oh, it still springs

Oh call me home
I've never been that far from You
Across the Vale,
of field and forest, river, mountain, wailing wall of waiting
It cannot be that far for me,
I'm counting
Still, knowing right and doing wrong
Oh, don’t let me fall away
Oh, knowing right and doing wrong
Don't let me fall away

Clue

This song started from a comment that I heard Lucy Kaplansky make about her mom.
So... leave clues. Lucy's mom said to.

Outside of "Bell In My Chest", this is probably my favorite personal composition. And, it IS personal. Not an untrue word or wish.

You know who you are -- Love Love Love

Clue

I didn’t leave a footprint in the sand
I’m not by the ocean
Ya' might find one in the mud
I’m a stick – been stuck for years
Won’t be walkin’ on the Strand
I never made that kinda jack and those are not my people
Might be hangin’ with the band
They let me sing sometimes

And if you look for me, you’ll find me
Tho’ I never had one, I surely left a clue
If anybody knows, I’m certain that it’s you
‘cause you been there
It’s where I carry you…

Please, just no jokes ‘bout me
Drownin’ in my tears
‘cause there’s the very good chance
That this is true
We all have our
Worries, doubts, and wants and fears
And sometimes
Even deeper shades of blue
And when the clock is ticking
And you see it all so clear
Get right down to the matter
Count all that's truly dear; and...

All and all and all and all
Is Love Love Love
All and all and all and all
Is Love Love Love

And if you look for me, you’ll find me
Tho’ I never had one, I’m sure I left a clue
If anybody knows, I’m certain that it’s you
‘cause you been there
It’s where I carry you…
Oh, you been there
It's where I carry you

© Daniel Dain, 2006.