“BOX OF GLASS” - A Song By Me.
This is the song I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the one I wrote for my friend Darrah. At some point during one of my first NYC visits many years ago, she told me about a boy she had been friends with when she was a little girl. He and his family had to move away, but before they left, the boy gave her a small wooden box filled with pieces of broken glass. He said he was giving her his diamonds to hold onto until they saw each other again.
Every time one of my visits with Darrah has ended, that story has resonated loudly in my mind. So I wrote this song for her and recorded it in my bedroom back in the fall of 1996. You can download the mp3 by clicking here. [NOTE: I think that download link will be good for a limited time only, but I'm not sure how limited, so just go ahead and download it now.]
BOX OF GLASS
she walked away as a cab drove out of her life and down broadway
there she stood waving smiling cold beneath the rising sun
then the teardrop raindrop took its course and the memory became real
and she lonely climbed that empty stoop where they once sat and smoked
her friendship seemed to surely pass the time and time again
the treasure won for three small days was hers upon the shelf
give it back to the owner as he drives into the dirty city dawn
to sleep beside the home that he once knew so well
she didn’t have to give him anything
just a box of glass
still the diamonds cut the memory and it shines
for centuries to pass
he loved the game but he didn’t know all the rules and he couldn’t play
but he knew that the fated ship would sink as soon as it left the dock that day
so he placed it in a bottle and he sailed it to his star above the sea
peaceful dreams inside would wake her up forevermore
she didn’t have to give him anything
just a box of glass
still the diamonds cut the memory and it shines
for centuries to pass
she gave him everything
inside a box of glass
her diamonds bring the sunlight down to earth
and the pain will pass
yes the pain will pass into the autumn air
and the night will come again someday
i know her confident integrity
i know her simple sacred sanity
i know her vision keeps him safe
until the sun drowns into the deep blue sea
and all the birds fly east to the wind’s defeat
and she will see him come alive when he is free
she didn’t have to give him anything
just a box of glass
still the diamonds cut the memory and it shines
for centuries to pass
she gave him everything
inside a box of glass
her diamonds bring the sunlight down to earth
and the pain will pass
yes the pain will pass
