Details below the lyrics
--------------------------------
Close the door, turn out the ligfht
Try ot keep your tears inside
Remember when all hope has died
To keep stargazing
Your mother and I may be gone
When the morning light has come
You're in charge now my son
So keep stargazing
This memory will never fade
I hope you understand one day
Why we had to go away
I hope, I pray
So take your sister by the hand
When the light touches the sand
Leave this Godforsaken land
I hope, I pray
God, won't you help me now
Close the door, turn out the light
When you look back on this night
Try ot keep your faith alive
When your stargazing
----------------------------------
During WWII, Russia, supposedly an ally at the time, requested the aid of Poland's best and brightest. They responded by sending over 20,000 of their top engineers, pilots, doctors and infantryman. Russia thanked them by shooting them all in the back of the head and dumping their bodies in a mass grave, and then spent the next 60 years denying any part in the atrocity.
On April 10 of this past year, Polish president Lech Kacynski was flying to Katyn - the site of the massacre - when his plane went down. The world reacted with a collective shrug. "TIME" magazine ran a single page piece declaring that the disaster, which took nearly half of the Polish parliament with it, might eventually be a good thing.
My wife, a Polish immigrant, and I were recently talking about this and we wondered if there would be as much apathy had it been French diplomats, or a plane full of Jews, flying into a recently admitted German concentration camp.
************EDIT*****************
Sometimes I forget that youtube is an international venture. The prior comment wasn't intended as an attack on Germany or our German friends and family. I was just trying to illustrate the horrific event using a well known comparable from the same time period.
***********************
Perhaps this was on my mind when I tried to determine what this song was about. Closing my eyes and listening to the erie music, a terrifying image came to me. It was of a father, knowing full well his family is about to be taken away to some unspeakable hell, hiding his children in a secret compartment. As he's locking the door behind himself, he implores them to remain hopeful; to keep their childlike wonder alive.
This is a live recording done with a camera, so please accept my apology for the occasional pounding notes (reverb added afterward). If time permits, I am thinking about doing a multitrack version of this, let me know if you think it is worth the investment or if you'd like to work on it together. .
I hope the new year is treating everyone well. Thanks for your friendship and support. I will do my best to stop by and check out your newest uploads as soon as I can.
Wow what a story behind the song. It was an incredible time,a bad time back in WWII. The Russians did that to Poland? That's not nice. The song is absolutely beautiful! Justin my buddy you have a special way with a song,always giving us memorable beautiful melodies,love the simplicity of it. :) And your lyrics give us hope.It's a beautiful lullaby to comfort the children in times of trouble. I love your vocals,very tender & great fingerpicking! Also I like the old time film effect. Fabulous! :))
cbrb40 1 year ago
great song :))
externalcontrol 1 year ago
The story grabbed me first as it revealed depths I didn't know about before. If I knew you better I'd have joked with you a bit after you posted the first more recent couple of political songs that you sound as though you are having a mid-life crisis...and I like the intensity it brings to subject matter. Actually even California had something different in a storytelling way. This is another excellent moody song with a complex sentiment and thoughtful construction (picking, objective writing).
CurtisMateer 1 year ago
back again...beautiful guitar
reliablebow 1 year ago
Yes. A very fine job indeed. Sorry I can't think of something more to say. Words cannot describe.
mytosis33 1 year ago
bravo Justin
really good
jean
masje 1 year ago
Brilliant!
jimmymac30 1 year ago
Back again...this is brilliant Justin...Rob- Aka Fingercheese
TheMinstrelSpirit 1 year ago
Absolutely heart felt...soul touching...top notch song writing my friend...the fingerpicking...the vocals...all impart a genuine feeling of hope...sadness...the bittersweetness of the human condition...all conveyed...understood...just an amazing song Justin...& I would think that a produced version with a few added bells n whistles could only be just as amazing...tho this stands perfectly well on its own...
TheMinstrelSpirit 1 year ago
I have a confession to make...I was here the other day listening to this...I was so moved that I couldn't gather myself enough to comment at that particular moment...So I vowed to return...This is one of your most magical and tragic songs...The progression is perfect...The intensity of 2:55-3:20 is hair raisingly great, and I loved that little transition finger dance at 3:47...Wonderful
LadyWeaver 1 year ago