Joan Baez - Forever Young

Joan Baez : Carrickfergus, Bratislava 1989​

GK Chesterton said, "The great gaels of Ireland are the men the gods made mad. For all their wars are merry and all their songs are sad."

Lyrics

I wish I was in Carrickfergus
Only for nights in Ballygrand
I would swim over the deepest ocean
Only for nights in Ballygrand

But the sea is wide and I cannot swim over
And neither have I the wings to fly
I wish I had a handsome boatman
To ferry me over, my love and I

My childhood days bring back sad reflections
Of happy times we spent so long ago
My boyhood friends and my own relations
Have all past on now like the melting snow

And I'd spend my days in ceaseless roving
Soft is the grass and my bed is free
Oh, to be back now in Carrickfergus
On that long winding road down to the sea

Now in Kilkenny it is reported
On marble stones there as black as ink
With gold and silver I would support her
But I'll sing no more now 'til I get a drink

'Cause I'm drunk today and I'm seldom sober
A handsome rover from town to town
Ah, but I'm sick now, my days are numbered
Come all me young men and lay me down
 
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Strongly disagreed with her politics, but her voice will still thrill me.
Her Mexican songs are superior to her English lyrics....

Her first autobiography was pitiful. barely readable, I cannot believe she wrote it. (Middle sixties)
Of course, she was a hippy, not known for their ability to write.

She wrote one song, 'Sweet Sir Galahad,. for her sister. (I think)
I do admire those that write their own lyrics; the pen was a bit beyond Joan's ability
 
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Meanderer, that song, Hello in There, is my favorite song written by John Prine. It actually caused me to change my behavior. Since hearing those heartbreaking lyrics, I have always stopped to say "Hello" if I see an "old person" looking lonely.

"We lost Davey in the Korean War,
And I still don't know what for,
Don't matter any more..."

Of course, it's a little harder now, with everybody wearing masks. But I still nod and smile at them, and usually get a nod and smile back.
 
Sunny said:
Meanderer, that song, Hello in There, is my favorite song written by John Prine. It actually caused me to change my behavior. Since hearing those heartbreaking lyrics, I have always stopped to say "Hello" if I see an "old person" looking lonely.

"We lost Davey in the Korean War,
And I still don't know what for,
Don't matter any more..."

Of course, it's a little harder now, with everybody wearing masks. But I still nod and smile at them, and usually get a nod and smile back.
Click to expand...
Hello, Sunny. It's good to hear you say that, I feel that your saying "Hello" is as beneficial to you, as it is to the one who hears you. Thank you for sharing that.
 

Boxer​

Simon & Garfunkel
I am just a poor boy
Though my story's seldom told
I have squandered my resistance
For a pocketful of mumbles
Such are promises
All lies and jest
Still, a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway station
Running scared
Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places only they would

Asking only workman's wages
I come looking for a job
But I get no offers
Just a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue
I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome
I took some comfort there



Then I'm laying out my winter clothes
And wishing I was gone
Going home
Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me
Leading me
Going home

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of every glove that laid him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
"I am leaving, I am leaving"
 
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