Billy Bragg - Tank Park Salute (1991)

Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs
Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky
A tree taps on the window pane
That feeling smothers me again
Daddy is it true that we all have to die

At the top of the stairs
Is darkness

I closed my eyes and when I looked
Your name was in the memorial book
and what had become of all the things we planned
I accepted the commiserations
Of all your friends and your relations
But there's some things I still don't understand

You were so tall
How could you fall?

Some photographs of a summer's day
A little boy's lifetime away
Is all I've left of everything we've done
Like a pale moon in a sunny sky
Death gazes down as I pass by
To remind me that I'm but my father's son

I offer up to you
This tribute
I offer up to you
This tank park salute

Category:

Music

Tags:

• billy
• bragg
• tank
• park
• salute

[WorkinMCA]

My Dad died 30 years ago. I saw Billy play about 2 years ago, and before the show, I asked him to sign these lyrics matted along with photos of me and my Dad. He said he was "honored" to do so. That hangs in our home and I'll treasure it always.

[Reluctant6]

The older you get the more emotional you become, right?

Not only does this song still make me cry but the comments from people who are emotionally attached to it thriough their own loss makes me cry too.

One of the most powerful songs ever written, this. I feel honoured to been able to listen to it for nearly twenty years.

Thanks so much Billy. Youre old man left a huge legacy through you and this song to us all.

[roquefort88888]

Superb.. I had this song on a cassette tape that someone recorded off a John Peel show years ago. It just came back into my head tonight - couldn't even recall the name, but a bit of the lyric + Google + YouTube = Here.

It is even better than I remember.

[diamondsandguns]

I love this song I reminds me of my dad!, he took the hit for me and my brother 22 years in the forces!, and we didn't see him much................August 29th 2011 I became a dad to baby Ethan and I now get the song so much more! its on 2 levels...................abit for the kids and a bit for mum and dad!

[diamondsandguns]

@RednBlackFightBack -FIGHT HARD MY FRIEND!

[RednBlackFightBack]

Its that time of year again, I think of all the people who became late when I hear this song. It makes me cry too..

[ppattley]

It's easy to love his music for Waiting For the Great Leap Forward, but it's his emotional songs that stick with you for all your life. This is a perfect example of that.

[smileatanna]

I bloody love this man, his lyrics, his energy and his passion.

[kcjack50]

A very special song to me and my family, so underated but I like it like that xx

[78RustyNail]

I don't care to admit it, makes me cry every time.

[MrThechemon]

just love this song so much

[HughDW]

@WorkinMCA I remember sitting in Sheffield City Hall with my dad who had terminal cancer (and died a year later) and a tear forming in my eye when Bragg sang the lyrics "Daddy is it true that we all have to die", knowing what was coming.