Bobryanmusic.com: The Tracks

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Another song begun during our stay in Djakovo, Croatia, during the Yugoslav Conflict.

This song is a reaction to the strange contrasts that hit me on that trip: The contrasts of the beautiful Croatian countryside, so incredibly peaceful, and yet in the midst of war; a countryside that reminded me of my boyhood in Illinois, yet I was in a foreign "communist" country. There were contrasts everywhere... the stories of people being betrayed by old friends, the "bright smiles on the weary faces" in the refugee camp... an incredible experienced that in many ways changed my life.

Keep On Walking

Dark souls in the daylight, hard words in the gentle evening air.
Bright smiles on the weary faces, lines worn by laughter and despair.
Out on the rolling hills where the yellow flowers drink in sun and sky,
Hard metal rolling beasts are searching
after something weak and innocent,
just to watch it die.

Rising up through the treeline, Dakovo Cathedral hits my eye.
Looks a lot like the fields of freedom, out here in this foreign by and by.
Each person, every name, every story is a picture under glass;
Strange and familliar as a memory that holds and then eludes you
as the long days pass.

All things have their reasons, all things have their rhymes,
Season after season, in the worst and in the best of times.
All things have their purpose, all things have their place,
Down here on the surface; way out in the cold, clear heart of space.
All the signs and signals, pointing out the way…
All we have to do is keep on walking toward the clear light
of the morning star.

Warm love in the cold world; cold hearts beating in the best of friends.
Warm hands of a stranger bringing back familliar thoughts again.
No telling where the next bright happy child might meet the next grenade.
No telling when that one pure spark of love
might reach down deep inside
and change the way we’re made.

All things have their reasons, all things have their rhymes,
Season after season, in the worst and in the best of times.
All things have their purpose, all things have their place,
Down here on the surface; way out in the cold, clear heart of space.
All the signs and signals, pointing out the way…
All we have to do is keep on walking toward the clear light
of the morning star.

© 1995, 2004 by Bob Ryan
Published by Leaping Armadillo Music (ASCAP)
Written June — November 1995;
Dakovo, Croatia / Phoenix, AZ