In 1987, Robbie Robertson released a self titled album that went on to win Juno awards for album and producer of the year. I still have that album, and one of my favorite cuts is "Testimony."
Look over yonder, Apollo at a distance
You can hear his music if you listen to the wind (blow)
I want to be there - I want to be right there
Bear witness, I'm wailing like the wind
Come bear witness, the half-breed rides again
In these hands, I've held the broken dream
In my soul, I'm howling at the moon
Testimony, testimony
Declare yourself - I will testify
Testimony, testimony
Speak the truth, I will testify
I had a revelation like runaway horses
Took to the road with a carnival show (roll on)
Those golden days on Smokey Mountain
Playing guitar in a one man band
Bear witness, I'm howling at the moon
Come bear witness, I've danced among the ruins
In these shoes, I've walked a crooked mile
All my life I been searching for the nightbird
Testimony, testimony
Declare yourself - I will testify
Testimony, testimony
Speak the truth, I will testify
Are you ready to take the heat
Are you ready to blow the steam
Are you ready to bag the street
You got nothing to lose - but your chains
For forty days and forty nights
I come across the desert
Apollo right by mide side (rave on)
Bear witness, I'm wailing like the wind
Come bear witness, the half-breed rides again
In these hands, I've held the broken dream
In my soul, I'm howling at the moon
Testimony, testimony
Declare yourself - I will testify
Testimony, testimony
Speak the truth, I will testify
http://www.lyrics007.com/...
When the kids were over at their father's apartment, I'd get the fire burning, light the candles on the mantle, and put on Robbie's album. Loudly. I had a good stereo system in those days. State of the art, at least for me. And huge speakers. We lived on forty acres on a dead end road. On a summer night the evening breeze would ease through the rooms. And when Robbie's music was playing, the hills would echo with his songs, the trees sway beneath the stars, especially this song.
I was grieving for so many dreams that had died. Grieving and angry for so much that was lost. So I'd crank the stereo and dance and dance and sing and sing. I'd be "howling at the moon" and "testifying", swearing I'd never be silenced again. Never made invisible by those who should have known better.
Now it's 24 years later and there are still those being silenced. It's been an on going effort on this site for a long time. It's been horrifying to watch. To see the hurt so carelessly, and some times, all too gleefully given. To see the constant harm done. In days old threads or in a new diary. The game playing. The constant, push, push, push., hoping someone would snap. The perfect set up so the person who finally snaps gets all the blame. The days, weeks, months of baiting, left invisible. This isn't about a pie fight. This isn't about what happened during the last couple weeks. That was only the culmination of what has been so terribly wrong for far too long.
It's time to testify. It's time to howl at the moon. It's time to speak the truth. In words and in song. It's time to speak with action. http://www.dailykos.com/...
There's work to do.