In honor of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, I’d like to share the song about that day from my old band Screen Door. The words are by Ed Scheiblin, and the music is by Ben Wakeman and me. The performance is by Screen Door, which is Ben on vocals and guitar, Chris Kearney on drums, and I’m on keyboards and vocals.
Battery Park
Words by Ed Scheiblin, Music by Ben Wakeman and Tom Willner
They knocked down the walls of Jericho
Killed the children in Jerusalem
Stamped out sin in Rome and Berlin
Turned it dark in Battery Park
I’ve known the thrill of the grand ideas
Wet dreams of the new perfect regime
I’ve run from all the pain and the fear
If heaven is filled with men like these
I’ll stay in the dark of Battery Park
If you’re in the dark take my hand
I’ll lead you through the ruins of Rector Street
So we can marvel at the work of man and know
Love will make its last stand
In the dark of Battery Park
Snapshots and memories are all that remain
Weddings and parties when hope was alive
Diggers and the dogs search the sun and the rain
Dead or alive you don’t leave your brothers behind
In the dark of Battery Park
If you’re in the dark take my hand
I’ll lead you through the ruins of Rector Street
So we can marvel at the work of man and know
Love will make its last stand
In the dark of Battery Park
I gave my blood at Mount Sinai but no one came so I
Walked down Broadway toward the fire in the night
Filled with hate for the big lie, the glint inside the martyr’s eye
There were guns on the rooftops, body bags on the pier
Somewhere beyond all this terror and fear
Beyond the cries of the children, the stench of the grave
I know I’d only have my revenge
When I found someone to save
And if you’re in the dark take my hand
I’ll lead you through the ruins of Rector Street
So we can marvel at the work of man
and if you’re in the dark take my hand and know
Love will make its last stand
In the dark of Battery Park
Battery Park