About twelve years ago, I laid down my beloved guitars, and put my total effort into the fight for the Bill of Rights.
I got out my acoustic last week to re-acquaint my fingers with the strings and picking to work out a song I intend to play with my sons for my brother, who is yet to be laid to rest in peace and the plan we have devised to do so is now scattered as the fires that appeared out of nowhere overnight.
The last evening I played I unzipped one of the compartments on my soft case and found a stack of papers containing the music I was working on when I abruptly stopped twelve years ago. I sat and went through them to fond memories and regret. In doing so I came across a bluegrass song, which is one of the last I had written. I love bluegrass and had always loved playing it with my brother and my sons, sometimes into the night. Oh, what happiness.
Anyway, the song spoke so true to the world I am sitting in today that I felt compelled to shares it with my brothers and sisters. Never had the chance to record it, but here are the lyrics.
I wish I could have lived in the good old days
When the trees grew tall and the grass grew green
When the spring ran clear down a mountain stream
Down through a holler where a song bird sang.
I long to look up at a clear blue sky
On a warm spring morning where the only sound
Is a gentle breeze as it cools my face
So what ever happened to those good old days?
Well a rich man came and took it away
He cut all the trees in a single day
He dammed up the stream in just five more
And on the seventh day he opened his store.
People came from the city and built a town
That grew to a city by the next sundown.
They said it was progress that needed to be
And hell instead of heaven’s what they left for me.
Now he paved the land and polluted the air
I wouldn’t drink the water on a double dog dare
The cars and factories are so damned loud
You wouldn’t hear a bomb with a mushroom cloud.
I wish I could have lived in the good old days
When the trees grew tall and the grass grew green
When the spring ran clear down a mountain stream
Down through a holler where a song bird sang.
I long to look up at a clear blue sky
On a warm spring morning where the only sound
Is a gentle breeze as it cools my face
I wish I could have lived in those good old days.
I agree the lyrics speak volumes. It is a shame that all those things have been destroyed but remember that God will destroy them that destroy the earth!
Yep, Revelation 11:18. And love the lyric, Henry! A bluegrass-like tune came into my head as I read the lyric. Can just picture you playing that guitar….
Would love to hear you guys play it.
Henry, that is a beautiful song which conveys the thoughts of my own heart. I always admired the way the Native Americans took such good care of the land they lived upon. They understood that the land was a living part of them. They respected the Earth and in return, they lived prosperous, peaceful lives until the invasions began.
great lyrics Henry
‘I love bluegrass and had always loved playing it with my brother and my sons, sometimes into the night. Oh, what happiness.’ I can visualize the scene and I smile at the joy in that place.
Nice, hope one day we can hear the tune and words play..
Geez man, those lyrics really bring a lump to my throat. Very powerful, timely indeed, and truly heartfelt.
Make a youtube video when the danger subsides, please. I’d love to hear it to a tune. 🙂
That’s a beauty, Henry, and yet it brings up resentment for all the life they’ve stolen from us. I’m glad you have that side within you, those creative qualities, but this also makes me think of what more you could have written in those 12 years, 12 years where we who cherish freedom have had to give most of our days to the fight against tyranny. We’ll never get that time back, so when we bring them to justice they will feel the sting of what it means to steal life from innocent people. I jus’ gotta believe, Henry, that you will one day get that “warm spring morning” and that “gentle breeze.” May all in the creation assist to make it so.
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wow very well written speaks volumes in our times