A Pain In My Heart . . .

In February, 1997, I had the occasion to spend two weeks in Haiti around Carnaval time, as mentioned in a couple of earlier postings quite a bit earlier in this billowing blog. Haiti is a beautiful but desperately poor place ; I remember writing in my diary at the time that it was a nightmare in paradise. Although I haven't mentioned it much in these pages, I continue to try to make time most every day for a little guitar playing, and have been known from time to time to dabble in song-writing. While in Haiti I wrote the following piece based on impressions garnered there. The part about grave-robbers digging up coffins to steal the metal hardware on them is factual, it was happening in the Port-au-Prince cemetery and people were talking about it while we were there . . . when people are digging up the dead out of desperation to survive... things are getting pretty sad.
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There’s A Pain In My Heart
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Am.............................. A
I’ve got my various lotions, I’ve got my various creams
Am.............................. A
I’ve got my various oceans, I’ve got my various dreams
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C.................................. Gm
But there’s something missing, right there from the start
Dm................................. E
Yes there’s something missing, and it’s tearing me apart…
Am
There’s a pain in my heart
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Am............................ A
You’ve seen all the films, and the doc-u-ment-aries
You’ve seen it in the papers, and you’ve seen it on TV
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So you know there’s something missing, but you don’t know where to start
So many things need fixing, and there’s a pain in your heart
There’s a pain in your heart
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There’s trash on all the beaches, and trash is in the streets
Dogs are drinking in the sewers, and children with bare feet
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It’s clear that something’s missing, beyond the grasp of any art
It’s beyond all rhyme or reason, and there’s a pain in my heart
There’s a pain in my heart
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Put your hand on your heart, can you feel it beat
Put your hand on your heart, can you feel it beat
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Pledge allegiance to the flag, of some unhealthy state
Pledge allegiance to the flag, of a nation that was great
There’s a pain in my heart
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You’ve been eating french fries, for far too many years
And now one hundred doctors, can’t alleviate your fears
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And you can feel the pressure rising, deep down in your heart
You know that all the valves are clogged, and its going to blow apart
There’s a pain in your heart
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In the graveyard someone’s standing, over one who’s in the ground
One of them is crying, and one makes no sound
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One of them is dreaming, about the way things were
And one of them is dreaming, about the way things are
There’s a pain in my heart
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Robbers dig the graves up, and strip the coffins bare
They take the handles and the hinges, and they even steal the nails
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When the bones of your brothers, are lying on the ground
And your ancestors ashes, are scattered all around
Is there a pain in your heart, oh a pain in your heart
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