To the rhythm and rhyme of 'Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again' by Bob DylanThe MC introduced her and Kristina took the stage,
Her golden hair was falling round her shoulders just like rain.
And she strapped on her guitar, without any noise or rage
She played the song of Life and Time as she had now and then.
Standing in the shadow leaning against the back of the hall,
A stranger stood leaning against the wall, drawing on a coffin nail.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
Softly she sang of bitter hunger in all its dangerous forms;
Of warfare's stupid futilities and bigotry's brutish yawns;
Of the religious and unbelievers who are all mixed in the song.
She sang of the wandering troubadors like Guthrie and Dylan,
Like Emmylou and Johnny Cash, Joni and Laura Marling.
Of the greed and venality that lead strange men to kill
For one last wild hurrah with a very little, pointless end.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
She sang of the lovers, the lone and lonesome ones;
The contenders and somebodies, even the worn out bums
Who did their best to struggle and fought and fell to dust
The ones who bought their precious beauty dearly with lust;
Furnishing it desperately with gold, tho' it makes no difference
When to Death's favour and old age they come.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
She sang of the fight-less newborns who came
And went untouched by Life and Time's savage claws;
Who slip away into the night without a simple pause.
And those like us who struggle up into the light
Demanding that the world hear them sound aloud
For we won't bid the world goodnight, before we've touched the ground.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
The Rag Man and crazy Grandpa, on Main Street finally ran out;
Bob says they left their mark in some ways full of hope and doubt.
But Christina hushes up her sweet voice and with her dark eyes;
She looks into the audience and reminds them of why,
The Song of Life and Time goes on, when we all say goodbye.
For while we were all hollering and struggling through the night
Death stood leaning against a wall smoking a coffin nail cigarette.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
Her golden hair was falling round her shoulders just like rain.
And she strapped on her guitar, without any noise or rage
She played the song of Life and Time as she had now and then.
Standing in the shadow leaning against the back of the hall,
A stranger stood leaning against the wall, drawing on a coffin nail.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
Softly she sang of bitter hunger in all its dangerous forms;
Of warfare's stupid futilities and bigotry's brutish yawns;
Of the religious and unbelievers who are all mixed in the song.
She sang of the wandering troubadors like Guthrie and Dylan,
Like Emmylou and Johnny Cash, Joni and Laura Marling.
Of the greed and venality that lead strange men to kill
For one last wild hurrah with a very little, pointless end.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
She sang of the lovers, the lone and lonesome ones;
The contenders and somebodies, even the worn out bums
Who did their best to struggle and fought and fell to dust
The ones who bought their precious beauty dearly with lust;
Furnishing it desperately with gold, tho' it makes no difference
When to Death's favour and old age they come.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
She sang of the fight-less newborns who came
And went untouched by Life and Time's savage claws;
Who slip away into the night without a simple pause.
And those like us who struggle up into the light
Demanding that the world hear them sound aloud
For we won't bid the world goodnight, before we've touched the ground.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
The Rag Man and crazy Grandpa, on Main Street finally ran out;
Bob says they left their mark in some ways full of hope and doubt.
But Christina hushes up her sweet voice and with her dark eyes;
She looks into the audience and reminds them of why,
The Song of Life and Time goes on, when we all say goodbye.
For while we were all hollering and struggling through the night
Death stood leaning against a wall smoking a coffin nail cigarette.
O Kristina can this really be the end,
Of the Song of Life and Time that you sing now and then?
4 comments:
That, my friend is goosebumpy!
Kristina Olsen (sorry Griffin..I doth forgot it was a K) ~ at Blue Mountains Music Festival in March this year..
drawing on a coffin nail..yep..I guess it seems so:-)
Methinks Kristina would enjoy this very much..she'd be taken with it as they say...
Perhaps we're living in a time where 'Furnishing it desperately' seems to be a full-time occupation for some...oh the urgency
tonight my thoughts and hugs are with those who are making their goodbyes...
"I couldn't say what I was feeling so I had to write songs to keep from exploding, there was no choice in the matter, I had to write."
a Kristina quote
lyrics to 'I'm Keeping This Life of Mine'
http://www.kristinaolsen.net/pdfs/chorale/lifealto.pdf
Your chant here easier to follow and figure than Dylan's unfathomable -- though I think that chaos was his point.
Of course I had to hear the original to get the rhythm, led to a long listening session that day!
"...fight-less newborns..." what an image!
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