No Easy Walk To Freedom  1986

 

< BACK

Weave Me The Sunshine

They say that the tree of loving
Shine on me again
They say it grows on the bank of the river of suffering
Shine on me again, and

[Chorus:]
Weave, weave, weave me the sunshine out of the falling rain
Weave me the hope of a new tomorrow, fill my cup again

If only I could heal your sorrow
Shine on me again
I'd help you to find your new tomorrow
Shine on me again

[Chorus]

I've seen the steel and the concrete crumble
Shine on me again
The proud and the mighty all have stumbled
Shine on me again

[Chorus]

Only you can climb that mountain
Shine on me again
If you want a drink from the golden fountain
Shine on me again

[Chorus]

Right Field

Saturday summers, when I was a kid
We'd run to the schoolyard and here's what we did
We'd pick out the captains and we'd choose up the teams
It was always a measure of my self esteem
Cuz the fastest, the strongest, played shortstop and first
The last ones they picked were the worst
I never needed to ask, it was sealed,
I just took up my place in right field.
Playing...

[Chorus:]
Right field, it's easy, you know.
You can be awkward and you can be slow
That's why I'm here in right field
Just watching the dandelions grow

Playing right field can be lonely and dull
Little Leagues never have lefties that pull
I'd dream of the day they'd hit one my way
They never did, but still I would pray
That I'd make a fantastic catch on the run
And not lose the ball in the sun
And then I'd awake from this long reverie
And pray that the ball never came out to me
Here in...

[Chorus]

Off in the distance, the game's dragging on,
There's strikes on the batter, some runners are on.
I don't know the inning, I've forgotten the score.
The whole team is yelling and I don't know what for.
Then suddenly everyone's looking at me
My mind has been wandering; what could it be?
They point at the sky and I look up above
And a baseball falls into my glove!

Here in right field, it's important you know.
You gotta know how to catch, you gotta know how to throw,
That's why I'm here in right field, just watching the dandelions grow!

I'd Rather Be In Love

Ocean breeze, rum on ice, lazy days and party nights
Here I am in paradise, I'd rather be in love.
Golden sun, silver sand, careless touch of a stranger's hand
I'll be rested, I'll be tanned, I'd rather be in love

I've had more fun on one rainy night
when you were there to call my name and hold me tight
Than a lifetime in this coastal scene
Just wishing you were here with me

Miles and miles, clear blue skies, not a cloud in paradise
Except the ones here in my eyes, I'd rather be in love

I remember those winter storms
When you were all I needed to keep me warm
Now those summer winds, they blow so cold
Make me wish I'd you here to hold

Ocean breeze, rum on ice, lazy days and party nights
I've had enough of paradise. I'd rather be in love.
Oh, I'd rather be in love.

State Of The Heart

There are voices by my pillow, they remind me when to rise
And they tell me if my morning's under grey or sunny skies
And then they dedicate a record, "Our Love Will Never Die",
By a group that's been disbanded,
Though it's seldom mentioned why
But they say that there's a chip in every part
Of the state of the heart

Answering an ancient invitation
When's the proper time for us to go?
Turning from our separate destinations
Now we say goodbye, and now we say hello

But there are signs out on the highway, writing on the walls
Hungry eyes and always with a drifting dreamer falls
And we can watch it on our TV's, there's a dish out on the lawn
And we wonder where the valley of reality has gone
When they say they've got a tape on every part
Of the state of the heart.

No Easy Walk To Freedom

Brother Martin was walkin with me,
And every step I heard liberty
Tho he's fallin', come a million behind!
Glory, Hallelujah, gonna make it this time!

[Chorus:]
No easy walk to freedom,
No easy walk to freedom,
Keep on walkin and we shall be free
That's how we're gonna make history

Across the ocean, the blood's running warm
I, I hear it coming, there's a thunderin' storm
Just like we lived it, you know that it's true,
Nelson Mandela, now we're walkin with you!

[Chorus]

In our land, not so long ago,
We lived the struggle, and that's how we know
Slavery abolished, comin' freedom's call
Keep on walking and apartheid will fall!

[Chorus]

Oh, bread for the body, there's got to be
But a soul will die without liberty
Pray for the day when the struggle is past!
Freedom for all! Free at last! Free at last!

[Chorus]

You and me!

Greenland Whale Fisheries

When the whale get strike and the line runs out
And the whale makes a flunder with its tail
And the boat capsized and I lost my darlin' man
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys
No more, no more Greenland for you

Twas in eighteen hundred and fifty three,
on June the thirteenth day
That our gallant ship her anchor weighed
And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys,
And for Greenland sailed away.

The lookout on the crosstree stood
With a spyglass in his hand
There's a whale, there's a whale, there's a whalefish, he cried
And she blows at every span, brave boys
She blows at every span!

Well we struck that whale and the line played out
But she gave a flunder with her tail
And the boat capsized and four men were drowned
And we never caught that whale,
We never caught that whale.

Oh, to lose that whale, my captain cried,
It grieves my heart full sore
But to lose four of my gallant men
It grieves me ten times more, brave boys,
It grieves me ten times more!

Oh, Greenland is a dreadful place
It's a land that's never green
Where there's ice and snow and the whalefishes blow
And daylight's seldom seen, brave boys
And daylight's seldom seen

When the whale gets strike, and the line runs out
And the whale makes a flunder with its tail
And the boat capsized and I lost my darlin' man
No more, no more Greenland for you, brave boys.
No more, no more Greenland for you.

Whispered Words

Whispered words and promises we made when we were wed
Thank you, Love, for meaning what you said, what you said
Thank you, Love, for meaning...

Each of us is weak and strong, but some of us are true
I am blessed to have a friend in you, in you
I am blessed to have...

You never know the worth of friends until your time of need
The way you stood beside me strengthened me, strengthened me
The way you stood beside me...

You never did deserve to know those times so hard to bear
But that's how I found out how much you care, how much you care
That's how I found out...

If I ever have the chance, I'll be there for you
To share the rarest gift I ever knew, I ever knew
If you need me...

Whispered words and promises we made when we were wed
Thank you, Love, for meaning what you said, what you said
Thank you, Love, for meaning what you said.

El Salvador

There's a sunny little country south of Mexico
Where the winds are gentle and the waters flow
But breezes aren't the only things that blow
in El Salvador

If you took the little lady for a moonlight drive
Odds are still good you'd come back alive
But everyone is innocent until they arrive
in El Salvador

If the rebels take a bus on the grand highway
The government destroys a village miles away
The man on the radio says 'now we'll play South of the Border'
And in the morning the natives say,
We're happy you have lived another day
Last night a thousand more passed away
in El Salvador

There's a television crew here from ABC
Filming Rio Lempe and the refugees
Calling murdered children the 'tragedy'
of El Salvador

Before the government cameras 20 feet away
Another man is asking for continued aid
Food and medicine and hand grenades
for El Salvador

There's a thump, a rumble, and the buildings sway
A soldier fires the acid spray
The public address system starts to play South of the Border
You run for cover and hide your eyes
You hear the screams from paradise
They've fallen further than you realize
in El Salvador

Just like Poland is 'protected' by her Russian friends
The junta is 'assisted' by Americans
And if 60 million dollars seems too much to spend
in El Salvador

They say for half a billion they could do it right
Bomb all day, burn all night
Until there's not a living thing upright
in El Salvador

They'll continue training troops in the USA
And watch the nuns that got away
And teach the military bands to play South of the Border
And kill the people to set them free
Who put this price on their liberty?
Don't you think it's time to leave
El Salvador?

Greenwood

I've seen a thousand people kneel in silence
And I've seen them face the rifles with their songs
I always thought that we could end the killing
But now I live in fear that I was wrong

The killer and the cynic waltz together
Their eyes are turned into their skulls
They do not feel the bullets in the bodies
They do not hear the dolphins or the gulls

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

If we don't stop there'll come a time when women
With barren wombs will bitterly rejoice
With breasts that dry and never fill with promise
Gladly they'll not suckle one more life

Is this then the whimper and the ending?
The impotence of people raised on fear,
A fear that blinds the sense of common oneness
Common love and life or death are here

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

Will no one light the candle in the darkness
Will no one be my guide, not let me fall
I've lost the sense that tells me where the path is
I feel the chill of winter in my soul

There's no way I can say the words more plainly
There's no one left to point at anymore
It's you and me and we must make the choice now
And not destroy the life we're living for

If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?
If we do these things in the greenwood,
what will happen in the dry?

Light One Candle

Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks that their light didn't die
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand
But light one candle for the wisdom to know
When the peacemaker's time is at hand

[Chorus:]
Don't let the light go out!
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears.

Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe
And light one candle for those who are suffering
Pain we learned so long ago
Light one candle for all we believe in
That anger not tear us apart
And light one candle to find us together
With peace as the song in our hearts

[Chorus]

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died
That we cry out they've not died in vain?
We have come this far always believing
That justice would somehow prevail
This is the burden, this is the promise
This is why we will not fail!

[Chorus]

Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!

   
   

< BACK