Play it softly, take your time,
Let the rhythm find the rhyme.
Leave one note hanging in the air,
Don’t resolve it -- leave it there.
Your hand moves lightly, then retreats,
A little pause between the beats.
You know exactly what you do
When every chord keeps wanting you.
A little faster, little more,
We’ve heard this melody before --
But every time you hold that chord,
I want the coda more and more.
Crescendo, crescendo,
Higher, faster, don’t let go,
Hold me right before the fall,
Don’t resolve that chord at all.
Accelerando, let it rise,
Build the music, build the fire,
Bring me almost to the end --
Then slow it down and start again.
Back to whispers, back to slow,
Just enough to let me know.
A quiet measure, tender hands,
A melody that understands.
You find a phrase I almost know,
Then change the key and let it go.
You make me wait another bar—
How can “almost” feel this sharp?
Beat by beat and breath by breath,
Closer now, but not there yet.
Every pause becomes a tease,
Every silence makes me plead—
Crescendo, crescendo,
Higher, faster, don’t let go,
Hold me right before the fall,
Don’t resolve that chord at all.
Accelerando, let it rise,
Build the music, build the fire,
Bring me almost to the end—
Leave me hanging, then start again.
|
Rise—
then fall.
Rise—
then wait.
One more unresolved suspension,
One more beautiful delay.
You touch the note that wants to finish,
Then you take your hand away.
Oh, cruel composer,
Sweet conductor,
You know exactly what I need:
Not the ending—
Not quite yet—
Just keep increasing tension.
Now every whisper sounds too loud,
Every breath could break the cloud.
The slightest touch, the smallest sound
Sends another tremor round.
No room left between the beats,
No more distance, no retreat—
The harmony is trembling,
And finally—
Crescendo! Crescendo!
Faster now and don’t let go,
No more holding back the fall,
Now resolve that aching chord!
Accelerando, let it fly,
Every note is climbing high,
All the tension, all the fire—
Higher, higher, higher, higher—
CRESCENDO!
And then…
pianissimo.
Your heartbeat next to mine,
The last chord finally settled,
And all the world in time.
|
U.S. hypocrisy about the war in Ukraine is absolutely stunning, given that it invaded and bombed countries all over the world (e.g., Iraq) for flimsy reasons, often allying with Muslim extremists (e.g., Afghanistan in 80s, Serbia, Libya, and Syria). The U.S. occupies 1/3 of Syria (the parts with oil), with help from its proxy army, the Syrian Defense Forces. Russia's invasion was along its borders, in response to CIA and NATO meddling in a country with deep historical, linguistic, and cultural ties to Russia. U.S. meddling included "engineering" the 2014 coup, according to Chas. W. Freeman, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Lifetime Director of the Atlantic Council. The U.S. also armed far-right militias that were attacking Russian speakers in the east. Before the 2022 invasion, the militias increased their bombings. Crimea had voted multiple times for closer ties to Russia. The U.S. exploited divisions in Ukraine between pro-Western and pro-Russian provinces and groups to provoke the war. RAND Corporation recommended arming Ukraine as the best way to "weaken and overextend" Russia and predicted it would result in a war. The New Yorker reported that the CIA and NSA engaged in a broad "effort, around the time of the invasion, to close off many 'sources related to Russia/Ukraine matters.'"
Jack Matlock (former U.S. Ambassador to the USSR under Ronald Reagan) said in a 2024 interview: "Why don’t we understand that trying to remove Ukraine from Russian influence and put military bases there would be, in their case, absolutely unacceptable and worthy of defense?" Matlock said the U.S. backed the 2014 coup, and "Obviously, to any Russian leader, not just Vladimir Putin, that would have been an absolutely impossible, hostile act, which they had to react to. And in particular, they were not going to lose their naval base in Crimea." Finally, Matlock said the Ukrainians are "dominated in their thinking by neo-Nazis — we tend to ignore that, or when Putin points it out, we say he’s lying. He’s not lying."
Other music:
Making a Killing (about the military contractors)
Hot, Humid, and Horny
America the Battleful (Oh Beautiful for Endless Wars!)
We are Spending Two Trillion Dollars on Weapons That Must Never Be Used
We Can't Compete with China, So Let's Provoke a War
Thomas Merton's Prayer for Peace
Rock Opera about U.S. Militarism, Part One
The Unholy Land has Genocide
Requiem for Victims of U.S. Wars
Bending Over for Dearest Uncle Sam
Endless War Blues
The Endless War Blues (different version)
Windy City Protests -- from Vietnam in '68 to Gaza in '24
No More Blood For Their Endless War: an antiwar folk song made with AI
Machinery of Death (death metal song)
No More Stupid Wars!
Lesser of Two Evils Blues
The Lesser of Two Evils Blues (longer, different version)
Eisenhower warns about the Military-Industrial Complex
Eisenhower Warns about U.S. Militarism
War is a Racket (Smedley Butler Song)
and Love Song by the U.S. Military Gospel Choir.
Comment on this song