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elegance of fools

from refusing to view by david edward walker

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lyrics

the elegance of fools
Angelo waits in quietness behind an overstuffed chair,
is it safe for him to come outside?
window glass lies everywhere
like years of broken pride
how long should he be staying inside?
photographs of ignorance
dressed in noble liberal dreams
are shown to him by his teacher at the school
but Angelo knows that power lies
in the barrel of a gun
when it’s pointed by the ones who make the rules
and knowledge isn’t anything but words
to those struck dumb
by the power and the elegance of fools

Gun merchants, would-be presidents
raise up welts upon the ass
of the citizens too poor to keep it clean
in the churches of the NRA
they tithe to the gun machine with
the blood of children and bystanders they’ve not seen
and desktops carved with gang vendettas
teach more than two plus two
when bullets have become the only tools
and when you’re taught by poverty
the lesson is like a stone that ripples through you
like an ever-widening pool
ah, but rich men find the camel’s eye
in the tenements of doom
and walk through it
with the elegance of fools

Tell me how to wave the flag
when your motorcade goes by
dripping dirty oil on my only bed
alcoholic veterans with Vietnam in their eyes
lie in the alleyways among the walking dead
while your words seduce the socialites
they take care to look ahead
they don’t let their slippers fall
where we have tread

But Angelo waits in quietness
in the death of anywhere
while the fear is raining down outside
and the broken glass gets in his hair
and there it will abide
making little cuts that soon will open wide
And the grief and the empty promises
are just the paint upon the walls
in the empty rooms of his mother-junkie’s eyes
will this baby move on to the grave
before he ever crawls?
perhaps there is a mercy
much more wise
ah, but summer heat sends ghetto love
to feel for what keeps cool
beneath the scorching elegance of tools

credits

from refusing to view, released December 1, 1996
david edward walker: guitars, vocal
pete peltier: fretless bass
murray stewart jones: drums

produced by michael king & david edward walker, recorded at the boneyard, warren, michigan, ben ridley, sound engineer

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david edward walker Indianola, Washington

"With a style that encompasses urban and rural images, rich metaphors, spiritual themes, moving ballads, and ambitious fingerstyle guitar work, David Edward Walker (aka 'David Folks') is a singer-songwriter with special ability to reach listeners on an emotional level."
~ Music Hound,
The Essential Folk Album Guide

"Spilled poetic love." ~ Dirty Linen

"Folk Hero."
~Detroit Monthly ... more

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