homecoming (to god, in june for snow)/ with democracy

i’ve been away a bit– even though of course most of the time i have been sitting right here– i have been working on my own music– if someone would have told me a year ago that i would be learning how to play the banjo i probably would have been rolling on the floor– but . . . i am now the proud owner of one and i haven’t had this much fun since i began to learn the guitar– the two songs below were both written with the banjo in mind– homecoming was written on the banjo but ended up being primarily guitar with input from the keyboard and a choral group that happened to be passing by as they were singing dirges– i have been reaching back quite a bit lately into music which was before my time– pete seeger, woody guthrie, leadbelly etc . . .– i find it interesting that bruce springsteen recently put out a record of pete seeger’s music– perhaps there is a need for some basic home brew in the air– if you have an interest you can here two great recordings of pete seeger’s song “bring them home”, one by pete and one by bruce at http://www.peteseeger.net/ –

although i have already posted the lyric for “with democracy”, here are the lyrics for both songs– unfortunately both songs are “real”–

homecoming (to god, in june for snow)

i had a dream
it was the middle of winter
a foot of snow was in the air
and a foot was on the ground
your sister vicki called
it had to be five in the morning
i normally would be mad
but she said our kids were coming home

a feeling, it was more then elation
the tears fell with joy from my eyes
i heard a bell ringing off in the distance
perhaps our country could be saved
and no more would have to die

then i was standing in the kitchen
making coffee for the big trip
the country was going to bristol
where they have that big parade
then we were standing we were cheering
the men and the women
who lost their lives in battle
they all proudly marched before us
yes, even the wounded and the slain

and we all held each other for the moment
it felt so good to be united again
i heard a bell ringing off in the distance
we all thanked god the kids were home
we all thanked god the kids were home

verse– instrumental

a feeling, it was more then elation
the tears fell with joy from my eyes
i heard a bell ringing off in the distance
perhaps our country could be saved
and no more would have to die

i woke up
i was laying in my own sweat
i ran to the window to look out at the moon
and it lit up the green grass
and i cried out and hung my head low
it’s the first time i’ve prayed in my life
to god– to god, in june for snow

a feeling, it was so overwhelming
the pain fell with tears from my eyes
i heard a bell ringing off in the distance
i heard a bell ringing off in the distance
another soldier had died
another soldier had died

god is great
god is good
let us thank him for taking another soldier into heaven

with democracy

we’ve been fighting a war now for five years
since the world trade center was dropped down to the streets
as we watched our eyes showed the horror
and our tears fell within democracy

our leaders they rallied together
and the whole world prayed with us down upon their knees
king george he said we’d get osama bin laden
and we’d pull through with democracy

our troops they went to the country afghanistan
to clear the camps where osama’s soldiers did meet
we chased the taliban round and round the whole mountainside
and installed the puppet karzai with democracy

king george he said that there was an evil axis
iran, iraq and north korea they were the three
and he said that iraq they had wmd’s
and they threatened our democracy

so we took a detour to iraq to kick saddams ass
we napalmed children who fell and died in the streets
and though we didn’t ever find any wmd’s
we were killing them with democracy

now our children are all fighting in iraq
and george has forgotten the 9/11 families
and he can’t speak to a fallen soldiers mother
a soldier who was fighting with democracy

how can it be that bush lies to you all the time
yet you trust him with your liberties
as he sends all your children to slaughter
and he says it’s with democracy

could it be that you are to proud of your country
and your eyes they are to blind to see
as we torture and maim and kill muslims
and george says it’s with democracy

and now they listen to your phone calls day and night
and they watch all your online activity
soon they will take you away in the dead of night
and george will say it’s with democracy

back in the old folky days . . .

last night i was amused to see a story on msn’s home page “five dream jobs for women”– this was right beside a similar article which was titled “five dream jobs for men”– i found the whole idea humorous and sexist at the same time, realizing that both articles could have been written as one, “ten dream jobs for men and women”– but the author laura morsch, a writer with careerbuilder.com who wrote both articles obviously wanted to make the distinction quite clear– boys over here– girls line up over here– just like getting ready for recess in grade school– isn’t this the kind of foolishness that we were trying to get away from during the seventies? obviously not– i guess not everyone grew up in a liberated household where women were considered equal and able to pursue the same careers as their male counterparts– obviously not– obviously there are a lot of americans who still like to segregate, classify and pigeonhole their fellow citizens—

and what were the dream jobs??? well for women, the top of the list was “hollywood wardrobe stylist”– perfect– let’s put those skills you girls learned in home-economics to good use now– first step– can you still thread a needle? curtsy while you do it and we’ll really be impressed– perk= “wardrobe stylists get to keep some of the clothes.” wow, nothing a girl likes more than a new outfit—

third job on the list– “ice cream creator”– okay we don’t even have to waste time here– do you remember your betty crocker ice cream factory? get it out and crank it up– we’re gonna like it on this one– perk= pig out!!!!

and skipping right along to the fifth and last dream job– “doll fashion designer”– barbie i’m home– perk= you get to continue playing with barbie—
okay, women like to dress up, eat ice cream and then dress up their dolls– sounds like a daytime talk show to me–

and the dream jobs for men??? number one– “video game designer”– well considering that the vast majority of video games are violent . . . perk= you get to kill and maim other contestants etc. etc., all the time training for the big boys group (the army)—

number two??? “brewmaster”– hell, what real man doesn’t like to get shit-faced and even better, you get paid for doing it– perk= reality postponed indefinitely—

and the third job??? “toy creator” perk= make toys/play with them–

fourth??? “comic book guru” perk= everyday is like the sunday morning comics–

okay, so guys like to play games, read comic books and get shit-faced– right– laura must have grown up in a gated community– and if that don’t get your round peg into the square box then let me get the damn hammer–

seriously. . , to me it’s kind of scary to see that so many americans want to go back to the ward and june cleaver days– and it is also scary to me that most americans think that those days really existed– there has never been an average family with mom and dad and two and a half kids– there are so many variances when it comes to the “family” but the fundamentalists keep trying to drag us back to something that never was—

and . . . on that same train of thought i then noticed an article on the same home page that put it all into proper perspective–

“bush urges federal marriage amendment/ measure would prohibit states from recognizing same-sex unions”–

you know, who can blame the fundamentalists for being scared of same sex marriage??? just think how confusing it would be for them to then continue to assign roles to the “husband and wife”— can you imagine . . .

no really fred, i do wear the pants in the family when it comes to making decisions about vacations, but when it comes to the bedroom then that’s when i put the red dress on . . .

and who gets to throw the bouquet???

personally, i will be glad when our government gets out of our computers, off of our phone lines and the hell out of our bedrooms– if some couple wants to delude themselves that they can have a ward and june cleaver kind of life then who are we to tell them that they can’t– and by the same token, if ward and ward or june and june want to have their own sort of life, who the hell are we to tell them otherwise– and also . . . let them go after whatever career they may choose– folks, the american family hasn’t vanished– the american family (as fundamentalists see it) was never really there—