House Of Silence

Concrete River Wendy Waldman - "There are so many myths about Los Angeles. People often accept these myths without questioning them, especially if all they know of LA is what they've seen in magazines or on TV and film." "Did you know, for example, that LA is a city bisected by a rugged mountain range that runs straight from the coast for miles and miles through the heart of town and then out to the desert? And that except for the approach from the south, you can't really get into Los Angeles without going through a mountain pass? Did you know that you can sit in a building in downtown LA and see snow on those mountains that surround the city?" "Lots and lots of people have lived in this basin for thousands of years. They had a better life than most of the other tribes who were living in the north or back east. I don't know how many buffalo were this far west, but there was plenty of other stuff, and there was food. The people made some of the most exquisite baskets in all of North America, right here in the land of oak trees, chaparral and earthquakes. I think it was quite beautiful here before the Spaniards showed up, and even after they did, when the land was divided into enormous ranches, each possessing miles and miles of land. The Spaniards were here long before the folks landed at Jamestown, but our history books never taught us that. One historian noted that in the mid 1600s a New Mexican said, If we'd known the pilgrims were coming to North America, we would have sent a party to greet them. The Spaniards had been here for several generations already." "And then there was this river. We all live with this river here in LA but most of us don't think much about it. It has a great impact on our lives but to us it's just a giant cement ditch. Karla found a great article in the LA Times once about the river and what its original course must have been. I loved that article. I felt like it was written just for me." "I guess wherever you come from defines the way you see beauty."

Concrete River
Wendy Waldman, Kenny Edwards, Karla Bonoff, Andrew Gold
Big Kitty Music (ASCAP), Valgovind Music (BMI), , Seagrape Music (BMI), Quarkbrain Music/Zomba (BMI)

Well they say it starts somewhere up north in the mountains above the fields They moved it around til it flows through the town just a channel of asphalt and steel The city's green but the rainbirds are running and the river is parched And under the street beats the heart of a desert from another time gone by How I wish I had seen you then With your long green grass and your silver bend Oh concrete river All I've ever known Rolling through all my dreams I can see you cool and clean Spirit so strong and deep Won't you carry me Won't you carry me home Now the bridges cross every mile or two And the kids jump the barb wire fence Just looking for something to do At night the powerlines crackle and buzz You can hear the sirens moan The water's so slow it moves like blood Through the heart and the soul and the bone How I wish I had seen you then When you ran so free to the valley's end Oh concrete river All I've ever known Rolling through all my dreams I can see you cool and clean Spirit so strong and deep Won't you carry me Won't you carry me home It's just a dry bed most of the time Floods every decade or so Carries a kid off and a couple of cars Raging out of control Oh baby let's go down to the river tonight Bring your radio and we'll dance beneath the mercury lights Cause life is short and hard as a stone And oh the time shoots by I wanna live it as far as my soul can go and wake up before I die Oh concrete river Oh concrete river Well it starts in the mountains above the fields And it Rolls thorough town just a channel of steel Bring your radio we're gonna dance tonight Fall in love beneath the mercury light Sometime I think that life is as hard as that river that runs thorough my backyard (Oh concrete river) Sometime I think that life is as hard as that river that runs through my backyard

Wendy Waldman - electric guitar, vocal Kenny Edwards - acoustic guitar, electric guitar, slide guitar, bass, vocal Karla Bonoff - vocal Scott Babcock - drums, percussion Andrew Gold - vocal

lyrics reprinted with permission