j.poet: Music

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I wrote this in my head in 1963, after seeing a large peace sign drawn on a blank black billboard in the NYC subway. Someone had written PEACE WITH SUSAN around the edge of the peace sign and it struck a deep chord. I finally wrote it down in the late 60s and wrote the music, as simple as it is, in the early 70s. The night I saw the sign in the subway I was drunk, stoned and feeling hopeless about the world and my place in it. I don’t know who wrote it or who SUSAN was, but the moment I saw that sign has stayed with me all my life.

I met a man who asked me
How I could be so happy
In a world that’s fulla war,
Sudden death and fallin’ bombs
He said it takes a crazy fool,
To walk around and smile,
Like I do.
I just said “Well, maybe,
You ain’t got no baby,
To hold you in her arms at night
And tell you all the wars you thought
You had to fight are over now,
And there’s a time for peace.

Peace with Susan
Forget about winnin’ and loosin’
Peace with Susan
Lay down your gun.

When the armies of the dead
Come marching though my screaming head
And I think my lonely bed
Is drifting into hell
She comes with a love so strong
She comes with a peaceful song
Olive branches in her hair
And though the night is like a grave
I know I’ll see the sunrise
In her eyes

If you’re lost, she’ll find you
If you’ve been wounded, she will bind you
If you’re in pain, she’ll help you cry
If you’ve been blind, she’ll be your eyes
And show you all the things
That you never have seen
She’s your daughter, She’s your mother,
She’s your sister, She’s your lover,
She’s all the women who have ever tried
To show you all of the wars inside
And show you every battle you fought
You fought against yourself,
Deep inside your own heart

Peace with Susan
Forget about winnin’ and loosin’
Peace with Susan
Lay down by her side.