The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #102943 Message #2439459
Posted By: Rog Peek
13-Sep-08 - 05:36 PM
Thread Name: Songs for/about Phil Ochs
Subject: Lyr Add: STANDING IN YOUR MEMORY (Jen Cass)
STANDING IN YOUR MEMORY (for Phil Ochs) (Jen Cass)
I made an accidental pilgrimage To city streets you left behind Found myself standing in your memory Almost forty years before this time
When you walked proudly Through the city that you loved, Those buildings high above, they Used to guide you on your way And maybe I'm a stranger in a legendary town But I walk hallowed ground, And I still feel you here today.
I took the subway down to Bleecker Street Stood outside The Bitter End You got your start inside these red brick walls But you won't be coming back again
Too many martyrs and Far too many dead, Isn't that what you said Somehow you let it be again You became another tragedy, a casualty of war What were we fighting for, if you Ain't Marchin' Anymore?
In your rehearsals for retirement You said you died in '68 Content Chicago stole your soul away To take your life they'd have to wait
The years of silence when The madness raged And you couldn't fill a page But thought you had nothing left to say, And no one took an interest in a rebels dying words But you were always heard, And we're still listening today.
We hear your voice in every alleyway Spilling out of passing cars The new disciples of the Broadside years The Chords of Fame in every bar
Time will always bring The tallest to their knees, But you live on in name And every troubadour who dares to rage, A mighty protest with the beauty that remains In ugly times of change, Tells the truth from every stage.
Notes: This song is on the album 'Accidental Pilgrimage' (Jen Cass B0014EOQU6) released in 2006. RP Sept08