Elegy

by Jeff Symonds

Jeff Symonds— Everything

“Written and recorded in three days in early June 2020. Released 6-18-20. Black Lives Matter.”

I sat on my daughter’s bed tonight

It took a while ‘fore I could start

It was time to have the talk with her

It was time to break her heart

I said, “There are people out there
who do good and who do bad
And when those bad people break you down
I hope you’ll have the strength to walk away from it

I hope you’ll be safe when I’m not around

When I’m not around

When I’m not around

Not around.”

And down the road tonight at your friend’s house

Her mom is on her bed to say
Bout all the good and bad that’s out there
But she has to keep going and explain

“There are people out there who do good and who do bad And when those bad people break you down
Don’t ever call the cops to try and save you
You’ll be safer by far if they’re not around

If they’re not around

Not around
Not around.”

Sons and daughters nestled in their beds

Some grow old and some, before they’ve begun

Get cut down by what infects us
Voiceless with an elegy unsung

We all move through the world,
some safe, some breathless
It’s time to start and raise our voices loud
‘Cause I’m shamed of the world I’m leaving for you, girl

But I’ve still got some time to make you proud

To make you proud

Make you proud

Make you proud

Breathe It Out Again

by Jeff Symonds

Released 8-28-20

James DePrato— Lead Guitar

Susee Witt— Vocals

Jeff Symonds— Remainder

“One of the last songs written for riverrun and my current favorite. It’s a song about a photograph from my past that I came across on social media, and it features two of my favorite people from the present.”

Lyrics:

There’s a girl in this photo with her
Dad over her shoulder who dies two weeks later
A stupid mistake learned a
second too late that turns her God into a traitor
They teach her Job in school but it
doesn’t help figure out a mom who’s lost in grieving

Growing up overnight you make your
own wrong and right and hope not all of you is leaving

For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again

One day you looked at me and
saw something I could not see in myself
And I wrote a song about you
instead of realizing how much you needed help

And I should have done more but I was
too busy looking for my own savior
You deserved much better but you
had to settle for me and my behavior

For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again

And all you tried to do was repair
The space filled with smog trapped in the air

Ghosts may fade, but they’re
always replaced with monsters of your own

Circumstance and random chance
clipped your wings before you’d flown
Time moves on and
seasons change and they don’t make amends

You go down to the docks and say
hello and goodbye to his memory again

For the water and the wind
You end up where you begin
And you take a breath and breathe it out again