When I heard the choked voice of loss turned to sound byte...

[rbnyc]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNg1e0Ak3lY&feature=youtube_gdata

When I wrote this song, the number of lives lost on September 11th as a result of the attacks was still unclear. I believed that number to be 6,000 at the time I wrote the song and chose not to revise the number after an official count was settled.

I've been thinking a lot about public vs. private tragedy today. I've been thinking a lot about narcissism. I've been thinking a lot about community dialog and what is happening to the nature of sharing in our culture.

I'm sharing this song anyway.

I invite conversation on any aspect of this.

Thanks.

Smokescreen

When I saw the smoke rise across the river,
I saw a smokescreen rise.
Use it to cover the desperate agenda
Of a hand that is closed on time that is gone.

6,000 people killed twice,
Once on that Tuesday and once as we write
Their names on the bombs we drop on Kabul.

When I saw the ash fall and smelled what I can’t say,
I saw a Trojan Horse made.
Stuff it with clutching and fear-informed measures
Of a dying self-righteous leftover regime.

6,000 people killed twice,
Once on that day and once as we use them
As a reason to hold 800 without bond.

When I saw Mark Roger Wells hung up with duct tape
On the side of a pay phone
And I knew that he was loved…
When I heard the choked voice of loss turned to sound byte
And I lost the heart to write…
When United We Stand is a pizza box slogan
And I wake up ten times a night…

6,000 people killed twice,
Once on that Tuesday and once if we fear to say,
This isn’t justice and this isn’t right.

[RebelOne]

1. Wonderful and heartfelt song. Were you the vocalist? n/t

[rbnyc]

2. Yes, thanks.

I wrote, sang and played guitar. My husband did the drums and my friend david played the glockenspiel.