THE WATCHER
[ a poem ]
You know the nearer your destination,
The more you're slip slidin' away...
Bringing you the ‘cool’ tunes from radio station K-O-O-L
A soothing balm for your tired brain of slow burning hell
From the Malibu palm tree breeze of cool Pacific Ocean seas
Where the ‘cool’ Hollywood cats frolic and do as they please
As they dance to good vibrations of slow rhythm rhapsody
In the ‘cool’ soothing rapture of our sweet rock-n’-roll harmony
Where the blues of all that jazz reach for notes of perfection
As the dark lyric line bends your soul to our direction
So if your get up and go has done got up and went
And you can’t get no satisfaction ‘cause yo' money ain’t heav'n sent
Just tune in to radio K-O-O-L’s ‘cool’ rhythm n’ blues tune
And we guarantee not to leave you justa howlin’ at the moon
We spin all those ‘cool’ tunes that make your tired rock roll
Do they not save your soul? Do they not make it whole?
I was watching from paradise above garden fountains eastward in Eden
When you laughed and chose to eat the one sole thing that was forbidden
And when you thought to build a tower that would reach up into heaven
You were brought low to the ground in languages of world confusion
My straight arrow’s mark can be seen throughout history’s terrible page
Though my lord keeps it well hidden from the modern science sage
I saw Nebuchadnezzar when he lifted up his foolish heart
Seeking to be the god of kings and gross injustice to impart
When he said in his wanton pride of great folly and vanity,
“Who is greater than I and who dare rise up against me?
For am I not king of kings and is it not my sole decree
Who it is who lives in chains and who it is who shall be free?”
So, I struck his mind’s eye with my light’s piercing arrow
His nails grew like vulture claws, his soul was cut to the marrow
I kicked him in the ass and made him eat the oxen’s grass
Until he cried out for mercy that his tribulation would pass
As an untamed beast he lived in the cruel elements at large
For a season seven times, 'til he understood who's in charge
Now, you may worship in a stain glass cathedral underneath religion’s lie
Or you may believe in modern science, not comprehending who rules the sky
And you may imagine no one has control, all is random and nothing is true
But Alexander soon began to flounder and Napoleon quickly met his Waterloo
Throughout bloody pages of violent ages some aspire to gain world control
But what can an evil empire give in exchange for salvation of her corrupt soul?
They call me The Watcher, I see nations rise and see them fall
And I swiftly bring them low when they stand too proud and tall
I see American Babylon’s tower rising in a night of bright laser skies
And her capitol city slowly burning amidst Sodom’s mass pollution lies
Her wicked leaders of wealth and war pilfer from the sick and poor
And think to create a new world order dedicated to Babylon’s whore
American Lazarus now weeps at Wall Street’s deception gates
While reprobate senators pray for peace on corruption’s capitol steps
My lord, he now laughs, at your war machine of gold’s delusion
In a searing heat of white-hot anger he binds your dreams in confusion
And he has no regard whatsoever for your Christian bell token
Yeah, they call me The Watcher and my lord, he has spoken
Bringing you the ‘cool’ tunes from radio station K-O-O-L
A soothing balm for your tired brain of slow burning hell
From the Malibu palm tree breeze of cool Pacific Ocean seas
Where the ‘cool’ Hollywood cats frolic and do as they please
As they dance to good vibrations of slow rhythm rhapsody
In the ‘cool’ soothing rapture of our sweet rock-n’-roll harmony
Where the blues of all that jazz reach for notes of perfection
As the dark lyric line bends your soul to our direction
So if your get up and go has done got up and went
And you can’t get no satisfaction ‘cause yo' money ain’t heav'n sent
Just tune in to radio K-O-O-L’s ‘cool’ rhythm n’ blues tune
And we guarantee not to leave you justa howlin’ at the moon
We spin all those ‘cool’ tunes that make your tired rock roll
Do they not save your soul? Do they not make it whole?
Oh, sing us a song of the winepress
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
No more tears in heaven
Behind the door, there’s peace for sure
There’s smoke of Babylon’s funeral pyre
Rising up from the city of the dead
The White Night is walking backwards
And the Red Queen’s lost her head
Someone said the seas are gonna dry up
And the stars are gonna fall from the sky
The moon will drown in an ocean of blood
Guess we can kiss our greedy ass goodbye
The grapes of wrath are slowly fermenting
It’s all been written in the book
There’s a long slow train a coming
Best drink the water while it’s still in the brook
Yeah, it's all coming down to a great world war
It’s all been written in the book
Lincoln Duncan’s train is slowly coming
Best drink the water while it’s still in the brook *
...God only knows, God makes his plan
The information's unavailable to the mortal man
We work our jobs, collect our pay
Believe we're gliding down the highway,
When in fact we're slip slidin' away" ¹
The Children's Health Fund Maryland Food Bank
American-Nicaraguian Foundation
Americans for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba
DEDICATED TO: Paul Simon and Bob Dylan who, in the tradition of King David and the Hebrew prophets, have crafted for generations to come, a lyrical legacy of quality, depth and perception, songs of anger and sorrow and hope, of the soul and of the heart. Also dedicated to B.B. King, long enduring king of the blues, to Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday and the American maestros of all that Jazz and to the late Connor Clapton , "no more tears in heaven".
Credits:
1. "Slip Sliding Away" by Paul Simon, from Greatest Hits, Etc. (1977).
*FootNote: Based on the Old Testament Hebrew book Daniel, chapter 4; various lyric from songs of The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, The Jefferson Airplane, Peter, Paul & Mary and Paul Simon.
'Click Here to eMail the Author Copyright © August 20th, 2003 by Richard Aberdeen. |