I don’t usually post songs. The fact is, I haven’t written that many and it’s been a long time since I wrote the last one. This one has been laying around without a tune and not quite right for a few years, at least. It seems the time was right to finish it. After all, it is a protest song calling for peace, in its way. So, I’ve decided to post it this week. If I find time, I will try to record it and put it on SoundCloud. I’ll share it here if I do. I put the chords in, thinking rhythmic, moderate pace, a bit of Reggae influence…

The Rains of Babylon

Michael Dickel

 C
The rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                         F
The rivers, they flow with tears.
                                                                  C
The people, they wonder if they
                         G                                C
can go on, amid their rising fears.


C
So we sing the words to our song
                                                               F
as though they will make us hear
                                                  C
how we could learn to get along
                         G                                  C
after fightings's gone on for years.


C
And the rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                           F
The rivers, they flow with tears.
                                                                 C
The people, they wonder if they
                         G                                C
can go on, amid their rising fears.


C
The words to the songs've gone wrong,
                                                                       F
they rally people to their sharp spears.
                                                        C
And the rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                    G                 C
The rivers, they flow with tears.


C
And the rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                          F
The rivers, they flow with tears.
                                                                   C
The people, they wonder if they
                        G                                C
can go on, amid their rising fears.


C                                              Am
The killing, it has gone on too long,
C                                          Am                        Dm
we don't remember when it wasn't here.
                                                                   C
The people, they wonder if they
F                      Em                            C
can go on, amid their rising fears.


C
And the rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                          F
The rivers, they flow with tears.
                                                                   C
The people, they wonder if they
                        G                                 C
can go on, amid their rising fears.


C
The rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                          F
The rivers, they flow with tears.


                                               C
The rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                    G                  C
The rivers, they flow with tears.


C
The rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                                          F
The rivers, they flow with tears.


                                               C
The rains, they fall in Babylon.
                                    G                  C
The rivers, they flow with tears.


                                              Repeat, fade

The Rivers They Flow with Tears
Michael Dickel
Digital landscape from photos
©2017

Shifting Baseline
an experimental video poem
doesn’t do well in full-screen mode