Songs! Like, with lyrics!

Here is a song I wrote in about 1974, commemorating a pilgrimage some friends and I took to Los Alamos, NM on August 6-9 to call attention to (and address and bemoan) the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We were a rag-tag group, walking from Taos to Los Alamos through Santa Fe, sleeping in fields, and carrying signs. The inspiration was from Saint Francis, who walked about similarly, calling people to join the “new madness.” We met with the director of the Los Alamos laboratory, who assured us of the necessity of building earth-destroying bombs that he hoped we’d never have to use again. After I recorded this, a friend sent it to Joan Baez, who, I hope, had a chuckle.

Santa Fe

And, a while later, after hiking and camping along the Conejos River in southern Colorado, I wrote this peaceful song. I recorded it recently, and I can’t sing so well anymore, so…

The River Conejos

More soon. Thanks for listening!

First and Latest Songs

Here is the first song I ever wrote, at age 18, after visiting a ghost town and hearing a lame Windex ad. I used the first four notes of the Windex tune and wrote a couple verses, since slightly revised. Here’s “Tumble Down Shack.”

My first song, 1964

And my latest song, January 2021, Theme 152, titled “What’s Ours Today.”

Theme 152: What’s Ours Today

Hymn for Modern Christians, and a Poem

Modern Christendom seems to have run aground, like a beached whale, completely out of its element. Faith has turned to blind belief in conspiracies. But this is nothing new. Ancient Christians distinguished themselves as some of the most hostile, intolerant people in history. So here is a hymn that tries to span the ages. If you don’t like the words, focus on the music. If you hate the music, focus on the lyrics. If you don’t like both, well, hell, I’ve missed again.

Theme 150: Hymn

And here’s a poem that I dug up from an old notebook with poetry drafts from 1977-81. Mostly junk, but this one hit me.