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Description
This is a remix and reshuffle of the original tune with brother Willnlf. He edited the lyrics some and I restructured the song a little and laid down a new vocal. The result is a shorter "radio version" of the earlier tune. Thanks to everyone who made suggestions. I thought I was gonna rerecord the whole thing, but I can't find the time to go over old ground when there's so much new ground to break.
Better? Beats me.
Better? Beats me.
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Lyrics
I was 12 back in 60 when JFK got in
For democrats and Catholics more than just a win
It felt like the sun had risen on a brand new day
The past all behind us the future here to stay
The Cuban missile crisis scared us half to death
We dreamed of missiles falling hid beneath our desks
But somehow we got through it stared the Russians down
All the dark clouds lifted rejoicing all around
Fifteen in ’63 when JFK was shot
Everyone crying everyone shocked
All our hearts broken on that awful day
A light of hope gone out our dreams all blown away.
The promise of a better world where hand reached out for hand
Dissolved into a world of fear darkness ruled the land
Storms clouds gathered now we had LBJ
Off beyond the horizon an unknown enemy lay
And now I’m pushing 60
The life I have is great
But the world I see around me
Is filled with greed and hate
So I ask each morning
In the simple prayers I say
To be of help to someone
Sometime throughout the day
Twenty-one in ’69 and Tricky Dick was in
Soldiers died each evening on the television
Malcolm, Martin and Bobby all behind us now
Drugs and rock our gods our sacred word ‘wow’
We chanted down in Washington end the bloody war
Peace and love we chanted that and nothing more
Then other heroes left us Jimi and Janice dead
Drop out became our anthem drop out feed your head
I was 27 in ’75 when we finally left Saigon
Crowds of people pushing trying to climb on
To the whirling helicopters that hovered in the air
Above the US Embassy the helpless people there
Forty-one in ’89 when the wall came crashing down
The ruins of the Cold War lying on the ground
But we’ll keep finding enemies like we’ve always done
Till we kill them or they kill us each and everyone
And now I’m pushing 60
The life I have is great
But the world I see around me
Is filled with grief and hate
And so I ask each morning
In the simple prayers I say
To be of help to someone
Sometime throughout the day
And if you may be wondering
What a single man can do
Then add your prayer to my prayer
Together we’ll be two.
For democrats and Catholics more than just a win
It felt like the sun had risen on a brand new day
The past all behind us the future here to stay
The Cuban missile crisis scared us half to death
We dreamed of missiles falling hid beneath our desks
But somehow we got through it stared the Russians down
All the dark clouds lifted rejoicing all around
Fifteen in ’63 when JFK was shot
Everyone crying everyone shocked
All our hearts broken on that awful day
A light of hope gone out our dreams all blown away.
The promise of a better world where hand reached out for hand
Dissolved into a world of fear darkness ruled the land
Storms clouds gathered now we had LBJ
Off beyond the horizon an unknown enemy lay
And now I’m pushing 60
The life I have is great
But the world I see around me
Is filled with greed and hate
So I ask each morning
In the simple prayers I say
To be of help to someone
Sometime throughout the day
Twenty-one in ’69 and Tricky Dick was in
Soldiers died each evening on the television
Malcolm, Martin and Bobby all behind us now
Drugs and rock our gods our sacred word ‘wow’
We chanted down in Washington end the bloody war
Peace and love we chanted that and nothing more
Then other heroes left us Jimi and Janice dead
Drop out became our anthem drop out feed your head
I was 27 in ’75 when we finally left Saigon
Crowds of people pushing trying to climb on
To the whirling helicopters that hovered in the air
Above the US Embassy the helpless people there
Forty-one in ’89 when the wall came crashing down
The ruins of the Cold War lying on the ground
But we’ll keep finding enemies like we’ve always done
Till we kill them or they kill us each and everyone
And now I’m pushing 60
The life I have is great
But the world I see around me
Is filled with grief and hate
And so I ask each morning
In the simple prayers I say
To be of help to someone
Sometime throughout the day
And if you may be wondering
What a single man can do
Then add your prayer to my prayer
Together we’ll be two.
rtcooper
LOVE the 1st Person run down and the hagiography of the Times.
Sonically, it reminds me of Crazy Horse and Dylan's "Jeter and the Monkey Man" ("It was you to me who taught, In Jersey everything's legal, long as you don't get caught.") kind of Talking Blues.
Especially like the suggestion of how to "be Two.", it is so True to the ethos of the Times that you describe.
Coop