Subject: RE: Stan Rogers Remembered on WFDU and ??
From:
George Papavgeris
Date: 27 May 03 - 02:14 PM
I still remember watching the accident on the TV news; but I had not heard of Stan then, or any of his music. Years later, I was introduced to, and fell in love with, both his music and his voice. With the anniversary approaching, I asked for next Monday, singers night at the Herga folk club in London, to be used to remember the man and his music. I am furiously learning "Aboard the Nancy", while my wife is learning "Lies"; others I know plan to sing "Last watch on the Midland", "Lock keeper", "Barrat's Privateers", "Mary Ellen Carter" etc...But in addition, driven by the irony of my "not knowing what I was losing when I lost it", I also wrote a song in his memory, for all of those-us who have never met the man but are living proof that his memory, and his influence, go on. I gave the song to Dan McKinnon, who will pass it on to Stan's mum in good time (but not around the anniversary, for reasons of sensitivity). Meanwhile, here are the lyrics; it's just "Stan through my eyes" but perhaps you'll find something common there...
I WISH I COULD HAVE MET YOU
(for Stan Rogers)
George Papavgeris, April 2003
They say you were a big man, Stan,
They say that you could shade the sun
Just standing there a solid six foot four;
And when it was your turn to sing
The windowpanes they say would ring
As your voice seemed to rise up through the floor.
If every thing about you was just half of what they say
It would have been enough to turn me green.
Yet I didn't know the treasure that was lost that summer's day
As I watched your death upon a TV screen.
(chorus)
And I wish I could have met you
And I wish I'd known you well
For your songs are ringing in my ears
As clear as any bell;
But every time we reach out
In chorus or refrain,
Like the Mary Ellen Carter
In our hearts you rise again.
Proud child of the Maritimes
The people you'd recall and times
When living could be earned with honest toil;
And passionately sang of those
Who through the centuries opposed
The forces that would raid your native soil.
Ten thousand miles away from you and twenty years too late
Your messages did reach me loud and clear;
Though little of your world I knew, your passion was so great
That I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear.
(chorus)
The world you spoke of gone is now
The times have changed and still somehow
The words you wrote now even more apply.
I am not family or friend;
This song I don't know where to send.
Perhaps you'll hear if I sing to the sky.
And one thing I can promise is we never will forget
The giant with the voice that hearts could fill.
The power of your songs will always catch souls in the net
And through the songs the man is living still.
(chorus)
No, he's not forgotten. Any day of the year. For many years to come.
|
sj
