Harry Chapin
With That Message Coming Clear
Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:29
4.227.62.19

Now you battle dragons -- but they'll all turn into frogs
When you grab the wheel of fortune -- you get caught up in the cogs

First your art turns into craft -- then the yahoos start to laugh
Then you'll hear the jackals howl 'cause they love to watch the fall
They're the lost ones out there feeding on the wounded and the bleeding
They always are the first to see the cracks upon the walls
(here's the kicker) - Yeah the minute man is going soft -- the mirror's on the shelf
Only when the truth's up there -- can you fool yourself
I am the aged jester -- who won't gracefully retire
A clumsy clown without a net caught staggering on the high wire - Yesterday's a collar that has settled round my waist
Today keeps slipping by me, it leaves no aftertaste
Tomorrow is a daydream, the future's never true
Am I just a fading fire or a breeze passing through?

Hello my Country
I once came to tell everyone your story
Your passion was my poetry
And your past my most potent glory
Your promise was my prayer
Your hypocrisy my nightmare
And your problems fill my present
Are we both going somewhere?

Step right up young lady -- Your two hundred birthdays make you old if not senile
And we see the symptoms there in your rigor mortis smile
With your old folks eating dog food and your children eating paint
While the pirates own the flag and sell us sermons on restraint

And while blood's the only language that your deaf old ears can hear
And still you will not answer with that message coming clear
Does it mean there's no more ripples in your tired old glory stream
And the buzzards own the carcass of your dream ? Dance Band On the Titanic....
-[ http://www.harrychapin.com/music/onechoice.shtml ] Rejoice and Make a Glad Sound Unto The Almighty !

• An Afterthought On The Road To Kingdom Come — Harry Chapin, Thu Jul 29 10:44
• Legends Of The Lost And Found — Harry Chapin, Thu Jul 29 11:12