Ceaseless

It's Memorial Day weekend. The weather is beautiful, the stores are having big sales, lots of people are barbecuing (even though newscasters warned that beef prices have risen), and the town next to mine is hosting its annual Jambalaya Festival, featuring plenty of food, beer, live music, and beefed-up security to make sure nobody's good time gets out of hand.

Oh, yeah . . . we're supposed to remember our fallen soldiers this weekend, too.

This week I'm posting two Saturday Song Selections. Both of them speak to what I'm feeling about Memorial Day. The first one, with its dire predictions, moved me every time I heard it back in the mid-'60s. It still does. So much of it is still true, which is distressing, yet I recognize that some things have changed since those lyrics were written. Some things are better. That makes me hopeful. The second song is one we all know, one we've heard too many times, one that's played over and over and over, and still it moves me every single time. Who knows how many times it'll be played in the future while politicians value commerce and industry more than they value human life?

Memorial Day has been set aside to honor the men and women who have died in service of our country. Wouldn't it be good to honor them by not adding needlessly to their number?

The first song is for those of us who are alive and well and in a position to make the world a more peaceful place, beginning with the way we treat our neighbors.

The second song (with unofficial lyrics below it) is for those whose fight has ended. May they rest in the peace they've earned.

"Day is done,

gone the sun,

from the lakes,

from the hills,

from the sky,

all is well,

safely rest,

God is nigh."

___________________________

The first song above is "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.

Thanks to Rexall1234 for posting the video and lyrics on YouTube.

The second song is "Taps," performed and posted to YouTube by the United States Navy Band. Thank you, Navy, for this and for so much more.