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SS St Louis, 1939

from A Tale of Two Cities by Daniel J Townsend

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The feature song from episode 8 of Daniel's album-podcast, A Tale of Two Cities. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

lyrics

I came out of hiding and onto the boat
The flags all around gave me dark second thoughts
And that man in the uniform just made me sure
We were all sailing to hell

But the captain he spoke like my grandfather did
He promised a new life to us and our kids
So we emptied our pockets, our wallets, and bid
A heart-heavy, homeless farewell
A heart-heavy, homeless farewell

He told us we’d dock or he’d run us aground
Before he would turn that old vessel around
The whole world was against us, but he wouldn’t back down
And we launched as the mates rang the bell

Oh, that setting sun sank, but it shone like a beacon
We stared at the stars and the waters beneath them
We prayed that those breezes would blow us to freedom,
To a place where we’d peacefully dwell
A place where we’d peacefully dwell

After fortnights of ocean and decades of sky,
We spoke not the language and we didn’t know why
All our miles of meaning could not change a mind
Or the mob, with those voices that yell:

“Our men wait for soup and for food stamps in queues!
“We’ve already taken five thousand like you!
“Our stores are all empty! Our jobs are all gone!
“Please know that we care, we just can’t care for our own!
“Now go back to where you came from!”

The young men they mutinied, captured the bridge,
An old men he threw himself over the edge
And that man in the uniform hung in the door,
His neck in a knot, two feet off the floor
The children and women, they wept at the sight
Of the windows in houses and those hushed coastal lights
The captain changed course but would not change his mind
And they pushed us back in to the swell
Pushed us back into the swell

credits

from A Tale of Two Cities, released December 30, 2018
Produced by Broadwing

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Daniel J Townsend TAS, Australia

"A head full of stories, a soul old enough to have lived them, and a heart young enough to believe in their power to move us."

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