THE POET'S CRY
(SONG FOR PHIL OCHS)

(LEN WALLACE)

© Len Wallace; by kind permission of the author.

• LEN WALLACE'S HOMEPAGE

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LEN WALLACE:
I don't believe much in heroes, but there were musical influences in my life. One of them was PHIL OCHS.

For a long time I wanted to write a song about Phil. With the encouragement of PETE SEEGER and SIS CUNNINGHAM, here are the words.

See him stand, guitar in hand,
He sings the wonders of the land
And beckons to the beauty
Of a dream yet to be born.
See the shining flame
In a voice that cleaves the darkest hour
And cries for the burning cities
And the ship lost in the storm.

Chorus:
Did we listen to the words that he had to say?
And did we understand him when he turned away?
And the questions, the questions that he asked never fade away.

The poet seeks the truth
And anger spins his motion.
He laughs at the great ones
Spitting out the lies.
And through abandoned streets
The singer walks the lonely beat
Raising up his voice
and lays his heart out on the line.

CHORUS

In the corridor of power and might
His voice cries in the darknest night
For the ones who lack the power
Forced to war and die.
And in the shame of order
He's locked from out the chamber
But he hammers on the door
And asks the reason why.

CHORUS

The flowing of the time
Moves like a raging river
That sweeps away the memories
Of the ones who've come and gone.
But the poet walks the other shore
And there he sings for evermore.
He stands at the rivers edge
And we listen to his song.

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