From songwriter and new friend Mary Ann Daugherty, a few songs of suffering, healing and peace. Thank you Mary Ann. If anyone would like to contact Mary Ann about performing or recording these songs, please let me know.

Back in South Bend
Lyric by: Mary Ann Daugherty

Verse
In the land where lightning strikes up from the ground
A private named Joey is the latest man down
An unlucky step, a mine he didn’t see
Cost him both legs below the knee

His brothers in arms rally after the blast
They call in for help and they tie the wounds fast
They’re shouting his name but he needs more time
To return from the hiding place deep in his mind

Chorus
Where the sandbox is safe
The soldiers are toys
And tanks made of plastic
Are all that’s destroyed
Where the battles and bullets are all just pretend
And he’s just a kid again
Back in South Bend
Back in South Bend

Verse
In a hospital room the assessments are made
There’s talk that prosthetics have come a long way
But the family knows not all the scars can be seen
Because he still hasn’t spoken and he’s only nineteen

They’re taking their shifts so he’s never alone
Holding his hand and speaking of home
They’re trying to reach him but he still needs more time
To return from the hiding place deep in his mind

Chorus
Where the sandbox is safe
The soldiers are toys
And tanks made of plastic
Are all that’s destroyed
Where the battles and bullets are all just pretend
And he’s just a kid again
Back in South Bend
Back in South Bend

Bridge
Feeling the sun on the back of his neck
Smelling supper cooking from the grill on the deck
Hearing mom calling again and again
But for now, he still needs to stay with his men

Chorus
Where the sandbox is safe
The soldiers are toys
And tanks made of plastic
Are all that’s destroyed
Where the battles and bullets are all just pretend
And he’s just a kid again
Back in South Bend
(slower)
He’s just a kid again
Back in South Bend

The Sun is Shaded

There’s a cracked speckled egg on a city sidewalk
Mother bird is wailing at the branch that gave way
And all the straight-forward people go about their business
But the sun is shaded from me today

There’s a pregnant young woman with tracks on her arms
Sifting through the trash near the corner cafe
And all the straight-forward people go about their business
But the sun is shaded from me today

When I see sorrow right in front of me I can’t look away
Maybe tomorrow will be better but I’m dark blue today

There’s a man in pyjamas with a skinny dog
Sleeping side by side on a subway grate
And all the straight-forward people go about their business
But the sun is shaded from me today
The sun is shaded from me
Today

Fighting

Every time there is an angry sea
Or a heavy cloud is trailing me
When my world is not how it should be
You are the safe and warm
That I keep fighting for

When it’s hard to keep the wolves at bay
And I’m feeling like there’s hell to pay
You are my promise of a better day
You are the safe and warm
That I keep fighting for

You are the center of my hurricane
The only peace I’ve ever known
You catch the lightning and you stop the rain
So I can find my way back home

Some day I hope to hear tomorrow’s call
Then I’ll no longer feel the past at all
I know you’ll catch me if I start to fall
You are the safe and warm
That I keep fighting for
You are the safe and warm
That I keep fighting for