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Don​’​t Shoot

from Control Songs by David Garland

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lyrics

Don’t Shoot

I carry my possessions, and a walking stick

to help me step firmly through the field.
I left my home quickly, I had heard through friends,

this path should take me safely through the field.

—But up above, the planes buzz by.

Looking down below they see a speck—that’s me—

and they draw their conclusions from the scene
they see unfolding like a bold newspaper headline,

like late breaking news that they watch on evening TV.

The headline’s information is that I’m an easy target,

a very easy target for a high flying fighter,

a fighter flying higher than my cry will ever carry,

my cry that simply says, “don’t shoot!”

The planes fly fast,
the planes have their orders.

I look in the direction of my home back there,

and see it changed forever by the planes.

I turn to look ahead, but the path’s not there;

instead I see a mountain that’s in flames.

Single-minded soldiers fight atop the mountain.

One has a sword, the other’s dressed in armor.

If they fight to the death, there won’t be a winner.

Stop that fight, or we will be the losers.

credits

from Control Songs, released September 1, 1986

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David Garland New York, New York

Composer/singer/multi-instrumentalist David Garland has been steadily shaping songs in new ways since 1980.

"Like many great songwriters before him, Garland pushes the limits of acceptable harmony and dissonance, yet never at the expense of beauty. If it's not possible for popular music to reach the heights of the great classical masters, it seems no one has told David Garland."
--Sean Lennon
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