Out of the flaming red sunset
Over the sea into the evening’s onset
Screaming from the north, the dark falcons
Dive-bomb running, brandishing their talons
Long narrow sinister black gloves
Evil grasp seeking to attack love
Beneath the arches, extended rubber gauntlets
Titanium grip, relentless dauntless
Reaching from behind, aiming for the ankles
That achieved, they close in for the strangle
Fine sharp cable strung across the sidewalk
Stumbling block, trap snare tomahawk
I must head Southbound
The only direction to escape from the nightmare
Southbound
Far far away from the raging warfare
Out of the perpetual dark depths
Over the abyss of preset precepts
Burst forth the son of a survivor
First-time freedom for the perennial outsider
Under clear gray sky, hope to high heaven
Expecting messiah, but receiving armageddon
Vast wasteland, foundering ghost town
All that’s left of what was once renowned
This is where I had to keep hidden all
The things I loved, that others made seem criminal
I’m sick of the shadows, the hiding, the guilt
I’m gonna smash through these artificial barriers they built
I’m headed Southbound
The way all the roads lead once breaking through the walls
Southbound
The only direction when the voice of freedom calls
Way down in the southern reaches
Five, seven, and ten-mile beaches
I’m safe now, nobody can get to me
I made good on my word, I am where I said I’d be
From the vantage point of my sanctuary
I can look back at what I left and see how reactionary
It all really is, though it calls itself righteous
Will it self-destruct? I wish I could say it might just
But I know better than to believe it’ll ever change
So the best thing to do is to stay far out of range
And take potshots with my pen and piano
Drawing on my arsenal of verbal ammo
(Southbound)
I’m safe here but they aren’t safe from me
(Southbound)
By their words and actions they declared themselves my enemy
Out of a night blacker than the soul
Into the zone where the last still-free bastion holds
Comes the dark master wielding his weapon
Seeking to flush out the agents of rebellion
House-to-house searches, hostages taken
Placid neighborhood’s security shaken
Through safe houses I manage my getaway
Parting explosion and then free to fight another day
I thought I was free here but those forces still find me
Those forces of evil are never too far behind me
The paradise I found melts and evaporates
The walls all crumbled, no choice but to evacuate
Southbound—I won’t stop running till the distance is like hyperspace
Southbound—I won’t stop hiding till this world is a better place
Southbound—I won’t stop hunting those who made the federal case
Southbound—I won’t stop fighting till they can look me in the face
Southbound—The stuff that dreams are made of isn’t always beauty
Southbound—The stuff of visions isn’t always seen with acuity
Southbound—Maybe freedom isn’t just a midnight drive away
But Southbound—Is the only way to go and so I’m headed there anyway
©2024 The Hesh Inc.
This song is based on several dreams I've had over the years since my teens, and my reactions to them once awake in my 20s and 30s. It is the last song of my "dark night of the soul" second album of my projected Soul In Exile trilogy, the way I had originally envisioned it. Musically, it is an epic (albeit a much smaller part of the original version), with an Am-F-D-F chord progression played four on the floor rock and roll. Not recorded but it will be part of the remainder of Soul In Exile yet to be recorded.
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