Original poem by Cleveland Wall, music by Antonio Lauro, performed by Michael Wall.
lyrics
Long Good-bye
Don’t be a stranger.
Don’t be any stranger.
Stranger than usual,
the usual strangeness
a new normal
any stranger could tell you
is not normal not
normal not normal
not normal not
normal
normal
normal. Don’t be
that stranger. Don’t
be any stranger,
stranger; be normal;
be new, the new
normal, the not normal
normal, but don’t be
any stranger than that,
stranger. Don’t be.
Because being is stranger
than not being;
that’s normal, strangely,
while being is odd:
the odds are against it—
yet here we be
in the new normal not
normal, not for long
and I long for a long,
long party, so long
it wraps round the world
seven times and nobody
sinks in the oceans
because we have rafts—
rafts of rafts—
and they block the shipping lanes
but it doesn’t matter
because all the sailors
are at the party; all
the goods are at the party.
All the apples and mangos,
all the nag champa and frankincense
all the paper, all the toys,
even the widgets—all of those,
whatever they are. The goods
are all at the party
and it’s all good.
No one is a stranger
and none of this is stranger
than being is
and being isn’t
any stranger than need be.
We’d be all alone together
all along the long
party line I long for so, so,
So long, my odd, my
finical friend!
Don’t be any stranger.
Not just any stranger.
Be lovely! Belong!
So long!
credits
from The Garden of Terrors and Delights,
released January 11, 2020
Voice: Cleveland Wall; guitar: Michael Wall. Recorded at Studio 11 in Bethlehem, PA. Sound engineer: Justin Merritt. Cover art: William Christine.
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