I was an accident, my Mama told me so
And every once in a while I think about the winding road
The one that led me here, to this land where the crops don’t grow
Well you know I’ve got some family where the country meets the coast
Life there wasn’t easy, be you rich or black or broke
‘Cause Misery loves company, especially whiskey, God and dope
Suicide took many, but the bottle it took the most
Somehow my Granddaddy always gave the family hope
Daddy, Daddy, the beach is gone
And all the houses are falling into the sea
Daddy, Daddy, the seashells are not quite as pretty
As they used to be
Well, I’ve been thinking that everyone’s beach is sinking
A little further with each wave
But Daddy, oh Daddy, your children are not quite ready
To be digging you a grave
When he landed at Normandy, the beach was stained tar-black
It was D-Day 4, and he always swore he never since saw carnage like that
You try to tell a boy about Hitler, you try to tell him about those crazy Japs
At best he’ll see glorious history, tattered flags raised at half-mast
Over time, we learned to beautify the ugliness of that past
The widows turned to whores and the orphaned children wrapped in rags
We sent those boys to save the world and they took the whole damn map
He came home a captain and a hero, anchor cast
Daddy, Daddy, the beach is gone
And all the houses are falling into the sea
Daddy, Daddy, the seashells are not quite as pretty
As they used to be
Well, I’ve been thinking that everyone’s beach is sinking
A little further with each wave
But Daddy, oh Daddy, your children are not quite ready
To be digging you a grave
‘Cause the world is getting a little warmer
And the tide is rising a little higher
And all of time’s been leading up to this point
But this point is coming a little too soon
When Daddy lay down dying, he took my hand in his
He wasn’t much for talking then, but he sure did have a grip
He said, “I’ve been holding on so long, pretty soon I’ll have to give in
But there’s a storm a-rising, can’t you hear the howling wind?
This torch I’ve carried through the years is barely even lit
Oh, you must bear this light alone, for you are now its guardian
Leave this place and don’t come back, there’s a battle there to win”
I still feel Daddy’s hand upon my hand, I swear he lives
credits
from Wasteland Blues [EP],
track released January 29, 2011
Written by Jared Saltiel
Dave Koenig - bass
Dustin Kaufman - drums
Greg Hornby - electric guitar
Jared Saltiel - vocals, acoustic guitar, Rhodes piano
Produced and arranged by the Dirty Birds
Mixed and engineered by Tomek Miernowki
Mastered by Ken Rich
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