A Song Of Simpler Times- Of Kitty Cats And Nursery Rhymes

I wonder how many people on Earth woke up this morning and realized that the World had changed overnight? It has become a little smaller, and a lot more dangerous than it was before! I celebrated my 39th birthday, this year, for the 25th time, and wonder if I’ll be around next year to tell that stupid joke again? I remember the fall of the Nazis and the victory over Japan, as a little boy, the rise of the Cold War as a young man, and the threat of a nuclear holocaust for most of my adult life. I woke up in the middle of the night and started writing, hoping that hundreds of thousands of bloggers would write what’s in their hearts about the world situation. “If we had Millions Of Hearts with a single thought, Millions Of Hearts with a single dream, Millions Of Hearts with a single prayer, there’s no tellin’what we can do!”

I wrote that song 40 years ago with my late songwriting partner, Ben Raleigh, [“Wonderful, Wonderful”,”Tell Laura I Love Her”] and still believe that today. A few days ago [july 14, 2006] , I wrote out a new lyric on my blog, “You Can’t Push A Bullet Back Into A Gun”. From the overwhelming response, I knew I wasn’t alone in my thinking.

I wanted to turn on the TV and find out how close the California wildfires are, which nearly caused me and my cats, Whoppy and Streaker, to evacuate a few nights ago. After I found out what I needed to know, I quickly turned the TV off. I’m tired of seeing a barrage of disturbing images and breaking news stories, that I can’t do anything about! I went to my friend, Sebastian Prooth’s, blog and read his piece on Mr.Rogers, and watched a six minute video on his childhood TV hero. I wasn’t part of the Mister Rogers generation when I grew up, so I didn’t know much about the man or what he stood for. I didn’t expect to be as touched as I was, when I saw him gently and eloquently ask for government funding of children’s television. Like the stone faced congressman he was addressing, I melted when I heard Mr. Rogers passionate plea.

Then I scrolled down to watch the video, Sebastian, turned me onto a few days ago, by singer and songwriter, Dennis Madalone, “America, We Stand as One”. I’ve never been political, but I’ve always been patriotic! I’m not embarrassed to say that once again, I was brought to tears! Initially I was against Bush sending troops to Iraq, but now I’m glad we have a strong presence there! Thank you, Sebastian Prooth, SebRT.com, Dennis Madelone, and people like you, for giving the rest of us hope!

* “Millions Of Hearts” by Ben Raleigh and Artie Wayne

Copyright 1963/ 2006- Ben Raleigh music and Wayne Art music