Where I Was When the Wall Came Down

I was having a drink

And my friend told me about it

The wall

The wall is down

Crazy how we--

How I--

I just sat there

And I said, ‘Oh, how nice’

And I kept right on drinking

Because what was I to do?

Rush to where--

There were dissidents everywhere

Screaming, protesting

People with real passion

For what had just happened

And I was, uh--

Not my cup of tea, you know

To be the type of person

Who is there for something like that

But cheers to those people

Good on the ones

Who helped it happen

I just--

My father

He was a protester

He was one who spoke out

And when the walls would come down

For him

Wherever he was

The walls he helped bring down

He would celebrate

And not come home

For days on end

That was the life he wanted

And the kids he had were--

They were something

That he bumped into

Along the way

Do you know

What I’m saying, so--

So I have associations

With that kind of thing

I understand what they are

But I have them

And there’s not much
I can do about that

The pendulum--it swings

It goes back and forth

Because one generation

Costs another something

And so that one

Pays a price

And so on

And I’ve thought about--

I’ve thought about

What the cost was for me

And what I’m willing to pay

I’ve thought about it

A lot

Quite a lot

Too much, in fact

When they told me

The wall was coming down

I finished my drink

Paid my bill

And retired to my apartment

My nice apartment

Where I watched a little bit of the news

And then put on a film

I hadn’t seen in quite some time

One my father used to like

That was my way of saying--

To you, old man

Another victory

For your kind

That was the most I could do

That was…

All I was capable of

You know, I went to see a play

And, uh, a line from the play

It was something like--

Memory passes by you

But it won’t embrace

My father never embraced me

He wasn’t the type

To embrace his children

Only his mistresses

And the men he took company with as well

Only room in your heart

For one or two passions

And everything else

Gets a look from you

As the, uh, march marches on

And nobody asks

What it costs

Nobody ever asks

Who’s paying for this?