Joe--thanks for asking. Just a few corrections as made below.I usually sing the last verse of Foster's "Hard Times Come Again No More" but took it out of this posting. In answer to your question on how to reach me, permission, etc...just send an email to "mysundayshoes@googlemail.com" or mail at PO Box 641, Essex, CT. 06426. DEAR FRIENDS AND GENTLE HEARTS (Larry Kaplan) Down at Bellevue Hospital Out on those nameless wards, Tonight a young man passed away Alone, without a word. Brought there from a boarding house On the Bowery downtown, And on his bed a list of things The nurses there had found. A coat, a hat, his pants, a vest And a beat-up pair of shoes, And, in his pocket, signed by him A dollar I.O.U., And a slip of folded paper Torn off from a paper bag, The first words of another song The (this??) whole world might have had. CHORUS: "Dear friends and gentle hearts..." Whatever (WHEREVER??) your last songs may be Are they lost out in America Between the centuries? Are the melodies still waiting For the ones who need to hear, Though the piano halls and minstrel shows Have faded through the years? Well, the hospital had sent for me But no more would they do, My name and my address taken from Poor Stephen's I.O.U. They said "he's just a vagabond" So many more like him. They spend the last few cents they have On poor man's rum and gin. But hard times in America Are hard times for us all, Some folks bide for better days Some must take the fall. Some can turn to poetry Or lose themselves in song, Some set out to change the world, Then lose the path they're on. CHORUS: So, yes, I know this gentleman Perhaps you've heard the cheers When Mr. Foster graced this country's Finest halls for years. And he led us in the choruses This whole great nation knew But he never recognized his worth Or what his songs could do. Now pride brought down by poverty Is such a tragic thing. No matter who the man may be It steals most precious things. It takes the faith to know yourself It robs the will to try, But, if it spares your poetry The music never dies. cho: Words and music by Larry Kaplan Copyright,c,1992, Hannah Lane Music,BMI Recorded: 1993, "Worth All The Telling" Folk Legacy Records,Inc. CD-122, Sharon, Ct.
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