Songs Of Conscience & Concern   1999

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Wasn't That A Time

Our fathers bled at Valley Forge, the snow was red with blood
Their faith was worn at Valley Forge,
Their faith was brotherhood.

Wasn't that a time, wasn't that a time?
A time to try the soul of men,
Wasn't that a terrible time?

Brave men who fought at Gettysburg now lie in soldier's graves
But there they stemmed the rebel tide
And there their faith was saved

Wasn't that a time, wasn't that a time?
A time to try the soul of men,
wasn't that a terrible time?

The wars are long, the peace is frail, the madmen come again.
There is no freedom in a land where fear and hate prevail.

Isn't this a time, isn't this a time?
A time to try the soul of men,
Isn't this a terrible time?

Our fathers bled at Valley Forge, the snow was red with blood
Their faith was worn at Valley Forge,
Their faith was brotherhood.

Wasn't that a time, wasn't that a time?
A time to try the soul of men,
Wasn't that a terrible time?

Pastures Of Plenty

It's a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled that hot dusty road
Out of the dust bowl and westward we rolled
Your desert was hot and your mountains were cold

I've worked in your orchards of peaches and prunes
I've slept on the ground in the light of your moon
On the edge of your city you've seen us and then
We come with the dust and we go with the wind

California, Arizona, I make all your crops
Then north up to Oregon to gather your hogs
Pull the beets from your ground, cut the grapes from your vine
To set on your table your light, sparkling wine

Green pastures of plenty from dry desert ground
From the Grand Coulee Dam where the water runs down
Every state in this union us migrants have been
We'll work in your fight and we'll fight til we win

Well it's always we ramble that river and I
All along your green valley I'll work til I die
My land I'll defend with my life if need be
Cause my pastures of plenty must always be free

Power

[Chorus:]
Just give me the warm power of the sun
Give me the steady flow of a waterfall
Give me the spirit of living things as they return to clay.
Just give me the restless power of the wind
Give me the comforting glow of a wood fire
But please take all of your atomic poison power away.

Everybody needs some power I'm told
To shield them from the darkness and the cold
Some may see a way to take control when it's bought and sold.

I know that lives are at stake
Yours and mine and our descendants in time.
There's so much to gain, so much to lose
Everyone of us has to choose.

[Chorus]

We are only now beginning to see
How delicate the balance of nature can be
The limits of her ways have been defined
and we've crossed that line.

Some don't even care or know that we'll pay
But we have seen the face of death in our day.
There's so little time to change our ways
If only we together can say

[Chorus]

All of your atomic poison power
All of your atomic poison power
Away.

If I Were Free

[Chorus:]
If I were free to speak my mind,
I'd tell a tale to all mankind
Of how the flowers do bloom and fade
Of how we've fought and how we've paid.

This weary world has had its fill
Of words of war on every hill
The time has come for peaceful days
And peaceful men of peaceful ways.

[Chorus]

When all mankind has ceased to fight
I'll raise my head in thanks each night
For this rich Earth and all it means
For golden days and peaceful dreams.

[Chorus]

All My Trials

All my trials Lord, soon be over.

I had a little book was given to me,
And every page spelled Liberty.
All my trials Lord, soon be over.

If religion were a thing that money could buy,
The rich would live and the poor would die.
All my trials Lord, soon be over.

Too late my brothers, too late, but never mind.
All my trials Lord, soon be over.

There is a tree in Paradise
The Pilgrims call it "The Tree Of Life"
All my trials Lord, soon be over.

Too late my brothers, too late, but never mind.
All my trials Lord, soon be over.
All my trials Lord, soon be over.

Coming Of The Roads

Now that our mountain is growing with people hungry for wealth
How come it's you that's a-going
and I'm left all alone by myself?
We used to hunt the cool caverns deep in our forest of green
Then came the road and the tavern and you found a new love it seems

Once I had you and the wildwood, now it's just dusty roads
And I can't help but blamin' your going
On the coming, the coming of the roads

Look how they've cut all to pieces our ancient redwood and oak
And the hillsides are stained with the greases
That burned up the heavens with smoke

You used to curse the bold crewmen
who stripped our earth of its ore
Now you've changed and you've gone over to them
And you've learned to love what you hated before

Once I thanked God for my treasure, now like rust it corrodes
And I can't help but blamin' your goin'
On the coming, the coming of the roads.

Once I thanked God for my treasure, now like rust it corrodes
And I can't help but blamin' your goin'
On the coming, the coming of the roads.

And I can't help but blamin' your goin'
On the coming, the coming of the roads.

El Salvador

There's a sunny little country south of Mexico
Where the winds are gentle and the waters flow
But breezes aren't the only things that blow
in El Salvador

If you took the little lady for a moonlight drive
Odds are still good you'd come back alive
But everyone is innocent until they arrive
in El Salvador

If the rebels take a bus on the grand highway
The government destroys a village miles away
The man on the radio says 'now we'll play South of the Border'
And in the morning the natives say,
We're happy you have lived another day
Last night a thousand more passed away
in El Salvador

There's a television crew here from ABC
Filming Rio Lempe and the refugees
Calling murdered children the 'tragedy'
of El Salvador

Before the government cameras 20 feet away
Another man is asking for continued aid
Food and medicine and hand grenades
for El Salvador

There's a thump, a rumble, and the buildings sway
A soldier fires the acid spray
The public address system starts to play South of the Border
You run for cover and hide your eyes
You hear the screams from paradise
They've fallen further than you realize
in El Salvador

Just like Poland is 'protected' by her Russian friends
The junta is 'assisted' by Americans
And if 60 million dollars seems too much to spend
in El Salvador

They say for half a billion they could do it right
Bomb all day, burn all night
Until there's not a living thing upright
in El Salvador

They'll continue training troops in the USA
And watch the nuns that got away
And teach the military bands to play South of the Border
And kill the people to set them free
Who put this price on their liberty?
Don't you think it's time to leave
El Salvador?

The Great Mandala (The Wheel Of Life)

So I told him that he'd better shut his mouth
And do his job like a man.
And he answered "Listen, Father,
I will never kill another."
He thinks he's better
than his brother that died
What the hell does he think he's doing
To his father who brought him up right?

[Chorus:]
Take your place on The Great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time.
Win or lose now you must choose now
And if you lose you're only losing your life.

Tell the jailer not to bother
With his meal of bread and water today.
He is fasting 'til the killing's over
He's a martyr, he thinks he's a prophet.
But he's a coward, he's just playing a game
He can't do it, he can't change it
It's been going on for ten thousand years

[Chorus]

Tell the people they are safe now
Hunger stopped him, he lies still in his cell.
Death has gagged his accusations

We are free now, we can kill now,
We can hate now, now we can end the world
We're not guilty, he was crazy
And it's been going on for ten thousand years!

Take your place on The Great Mandala
As it moves through your brief moment of time.
Win or lose now you must choose now
And if you lose you've only wasted your life.

All Mixed Up

You know this language that we speak,
is part german , latin and part greek
Celtic and arabic all in a heap,
well amended by the people in the street
The Choctaw gave us the word "okay";
"vamose" is a word from Mexico way.
And all of this is a hint I suspect of what comes next.

[Chorus:]
I think that this whole world
Soon mama my whole wide world
Soon mama my whole world
Soon gonna be get mixed up.
Soon mama my whole world
Soon mama my whole wide world
Soon mama my whole world
Soon gonna be get mixed up.

I like Polish sausage, I like Spanish rice,
and pizza pie is also nice
Corn and beans from the Indians here
washed down by German beer
Marco Polo traveled by camel and pony,
he brought to Italy, the first macaroni
And you and I as well we're able,
we put it all on the table

[Chorus]

There were no red-headed Irishmen
before the Vikings landed in Ireland
How many Romans had dark curly hair
before they brought slaves from Africa?
No race of man is completely pure,
nor is anyone's mind, that's for sure
The winds mix the dust of every land,
and so will woman and man.

[Chorus]

This doesn't mean we will all be the same,
We'll have different faces and different names
Long live many different kinds of races
It's a difference of opinion that makes horse races
Just remember the rule about rules, brother
What could be right for one could be wrong for the other
And take a tip from La Belle France: "Viva la difference!"

[Chorus]

Danny's Downs

On the day little Danny arrived
His father stared and his mother cried
They knew his name but they didn't know why
He looked the way he did
This thing happens to other kids
How in the world are we gonna live
With a boy like that?

Doctor said,"Dan's the first bad news
Second is his heart won't make it through
It must be fixed unless you choose
To send him back where he came
Starve the boy from his name
Just six short days of pain
Or maybe less"

[Chorus:]
Danny's Downs but Love is up
It's been known to be more than enough
For more and more of us
Danny's downs but Love is up

"I'm not that strong," his father said
"The dreams are gone, the hopes have fled
Won't be long after he's dead
We'll try again to find
The child we had in mind
Where the hell are those papers to sign?"
And the man broke down

In a private room Danny's mother wept
As an old Jamaican woman swept
And not by chance their eyes met
(And she said)
"God's gifts are only good y'know
And there ain't no Love the Lord can't grow
Aw honey, take that boy with ya when ya go
Back home

[Chorus]

It's been eight years since the surgery
His sister's 5, his brother's 3
He goes to school and he knows how to read
He takes the bus home by himself
Puts his lunch pail back upon the shelf
And he hugs his Momma till she melts
To the floor

They're more than a home, they're a family
'Cause blood and bones are still souls y'see
And someone's baby's just another Danny
And in the guest room in the back
Lives this old Jamaican black
'Cause when you give a gift
God gives it back again.

[Chorus]

Don't Laugh At Me

I'm a little boy with glasses
The one they call a geek
A little girl who never smiles
'Cause I have braces on my teeth
And I know how it feels to cry myself to sleep
I'm that kid on every playground
Who's always chosen last
A single teenage mother
Tryin' to overcome my past
You don't have to be my friend
But is it too much to ask

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm the beggar on the corner
You've passed me on the street
And I wouldn't be out here beggin'
If I had enough to eat
And don't think I don't notice
That our eyes never meet

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

I'm fat, I'm thin, I'm short, I'm tall
I'm deaf, I'm blind, hey, aren't we all

Don't laugh at me
Don't call me names
Don't get your pleasure from my pain
In God's eyes we're all the same
Someday we'll all have perfect wings
Don't laugh at me

Home Is Where The Heart Is

On the corner there's this nice man
His name is Mark, He's always smiling
He's got this mom who comes on Wednesdays
In the evening with soup so steaming
He shares his house with his friend Martin
They're not brothers, they're not cousins
My little girl wonders all about these men
I take hold of her hand, and I begin

[Chorus:]
Home is where the heart is
No matter how the heart lives
Inside your heart where love is
That's where you've got to make yourself
At home

Across the yard live Deb and Tricia
With their tools and ladders
And their room addition
My kid yells over, "Are ya having a baby?"
They wink and smile, they say, "Someday maybe."
But through their doors go kids and mommies
Funny how you don't see the daddies go in
My little girl wonders
'Bout this house with no men,
I take hold of her hand
And I begin

[Chorus]

'Round the corner, here comes Martin
He's alone now, he tries smiling
He roams around his well stocked kitchen
He knows that fate will soon be coming
My little girl wonders where he will live
I take hold of her hand and I begin

[Chorus]

Martin sits and waits with his windows open
His house is empty, his heart is broken
We bring him toys and watercolors
He loves to hear my little baby's stories
She's the gift I share
She's his companion
She's the string on the kite
She guides him into the wind
My little girl wonders who will care for him
We take hold of his hand and we begin

There But For Fortune

Show me the prison, show me the jail
Show me the prisoner whose face is growin' pale
And I'll show you a young man with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I
You and I.

Show me the alley, show me the train
Show me the hobo who sleeps out in the rain
And I'll show you a young man with many reasons why
there but for fortune, go you or go I
You and I.

Show me the famine, show me the frail
Eyes with no future, that show how we've failed
And I'll show you the children with so many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I
You and I.

Show me the country where bombs had to fall
Show me the ruins of buildings once so tall
And I'll show you a young land with many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or go I
You and I.
You and I.

There but for fortune, go you or go I
You and I.

Old Coat

Take off your old coat and roll up your sleeves,
Life is a hard road to travel, I believe.

I look to the east, I look to the west,
A youth asking fate to be rewardin'.
But fortune is a blind god, flying through the clouds,
and forgettin' me on this side of Jordan.

Take off your old coat and roll up your sleeves,
Life is a hard road to travel, I believe.

Silver spoons to some mouths, golden spoons to others,
Dare a man to change the given order.
Though they smile and tell us all of us are brothers,
never was it true this side of Jordan.

Take off your old coat and roll up your sleeves,
Life is a hard road to travel, I believe.

Like some ragged owlet with its wings expanded,
Nailed to some garden gate or boardin'.
Thus will I by some men all my life be branded
Never hurted none this side of Jordan.

Take off your old coat and roll up your sleeves,
Life is a hard road to travel, I believe

Because All Men Are Brothers

Because all men are brothers wherever men may be
One Union shall unite us forever proud and free
No tyrant shall defeat us, no nation strike us down
All men who toil shall greet us the whole wide world around.

My brothers are all others forever hand in hand
Where chimes the bell of freedom there is my native land
My brother's fears are my fears yellow white or brown
My brother's tears are my tears the whole wide world around.

Let every voice be thunder, let every heart beat strong
Until all tyrants perish our work shall not be done
Let not our memories fail us the lost year shall be found
Let slavery's chains be broken the whole wide world around.

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