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