Works

Acoustic Shadows

© September 2002, Roy Stucky

"I heard that a show could be seen here today.
Destruction in combat and then a parade.
My blanket and lunch being quickly prepared -
Laughter at ladies who look to be scared."

"This hill will provide us an excellent view -
I hope what they said will turn out to be true.
It's not every day that you witness a fight
In comfort commanding a critical height."

Living In Acoustic Shadows
Battle rages near.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Watch what I can't hear.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Silent scenes of war.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Who is keeping score?

A century plus has elapsed since that scene
Until that old carnage is faint as a dream.
A tube has replaced the horse blanket and hill
Where spectators gather around a great kill.

Living In Acoustic Shadows
Battle rages near.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Watch what I can't hear.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Silent scenes of war.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Who is keeping score?

"Now what kind of fool would appear on that show?
It's all just a setup as everyone knows.
The host is a buzzard whose wings barely flap
Awaiting the moment their head's in the trap."

"There's no need to listen to what the 'guests' say -
One look at their face is a telling display.
The wreck of their lives is a game that is played
On nationwide TV's electronic stage."

Living In Acoustic Shadows
Battle rages near.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Watch what I can't hear.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Silent scenes of war.
Living In Acoustic Shadows
Who is keeping score?

The hype of the media produces an interesting effect. For all the noise and tumult, nothing is to be heard.

The sad part is that there is a market for showing humiliation. Why do we have such a love of derision?

This lyric was written in September of 2002.

I was waiting one day where a TV was muted. Then one of those septic tank daytime talk shows came on. Since it was not my TV, and I had nothing else to do, I watched it for a little while. Then the silence of the show where family members were tearing into each other connected in my mind with the historic record of the part played by acoustic shadows in the Civil War.

"When we take people ... merely as they are, we make them worse; when we treat them as if they were what they should be, we improve them as far as they can be improved."
Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe

God (forever and ever)
The Holy Bible

Johnann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship (1795)