borrowed words/mapping safe passage through this wasteland
Dear brothers and sisters,
Dear enemies and friends,
Why are we all so alone here?
What we need is a little more hope, a little more joy,
What we need is a little more light, a little less weight and a little more freedom.
If we were an army,
And if we believed that we were an army,
And we believe.
And everyone was scared.
And little lost children in their grown up clothes and poses.
So we ended up alone here, floating through a long waste of days, or great tribulations. Oh, everything felt wrong.
Good words, strong words,
Words that could’ve moved mountains,
Words that no one ever said.
(We were all waiting to hear those words and no one ever said them.)
And the tactics never hatched and the plans were never mapped.
And we all learned not to believe.
And strange loathsome monsters loped through the hills, wondering why.
And what is best to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever wonder why.
So tangle, oh tangles up in bright red ribbons.
Let’s have a parade.
It’s been so long since we’ve had a parade.
So let’s have a parade.
Let’s invite all our friends
And all our friends’ friends.
Let’s promenade down the boulevards
With terrific pride and light in our eyes,
Twelve feet tall and staggering,
Sick with joy,
With the angel fair and light in our eyes.
Brothers and sisters,
Hope still waits in the wings with the bitter spinster:
Impatient, lonely and shivering- waiting to build her glorious fires.
It’s because of our plans, man,
Our beautiful ridiculous plans.
Let’s launch them like careening jet planes.
Let’s crash all our planes into the river.
Let’s build strange and radiant machines
…Because Jericho is waiting to fall.
---From "Built then Burnt [Hurrah! Hurrah!]" by A Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band.
Dear enemies and friends,
Why are we all so alone here?
What we need is a little more hope, a little more joy,
What we need is a little more light, a little less weight and a little more freedom.
If we were an army,
And if we believed that we were an army,
And we believe.
And everyone was scared.
And little lost children in their grown up clothes and poses.
So we ended up alone here, floating through a long waste of days, or great tribulations. Oh, everything felt wrong.
Good words, strong words,
Words that could’ve moved mountains,
Words that no one ever said.
(We were all waiting to hear those words and no one ever said them.)
And the tactics never hatched and the plans were never mapped.
And we all learned not to believe.
And strange loathsome monsters loped through the hills, wondering why.
And what is best to never ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever wonder why.
So tangle, oh tangles up in bright red ribbons.
Let’s have a parade.
It’s been so long since we’ve had a parade.
So let’s have a parade.
Let’s invite all our friends
And all our friends’ friends.
Let’s promenade down the boulevards
With terrific pride and light in our eyes,
Twelve feet tall and staggering,
Sick with joy,
With the angel fair and light in our eyes.
Brothers and sisters,
Hope still waits in the wings with the bitter spinster:
Impatient, lonely and shivering- waiting to build her glorious fires.
It’s because of our plans, man,
Our beautiful ridiculous plans.
Let’s launch them like careening jet planes.
Let’s crash all our planes into the river.
Let’s build strange and radiant machines
…Because Jericho is waiting to fall.
---From "Built then Burnt [Hurrah! Hurrah!]" by A Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band.