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Thoreau's Man

from Calm Before The Storm by Dave Semple

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"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” Walden. I don’t want to be that guy. I want to let my songs be sung (though that’s not part of the actual quotation).

lyrics

Thoreau’s Man

When time was a stream I would cast in my line
And I’d see what life gave back to me.
Sometimes I would feast and sometimes I would starve,
But no matter the cost or the gain
There’d be stories to tell.
And I told them well.

I wandered through life with my head in the clouds
But my feet were firmly on the ground.
What lay ahead and what lay behind
Didn’t matter at all compared
To what lived within.
And the stories were born.
Now I’m so torn.

I can’t say I’ve led the life that I dreamed
But there still lives a song in my soul;
A song I refuse to take to the grave,
I can’t be Thoreau’s man anymore.

I went to the woods, lived deliberately
And I tasted the marrow from the bone.
Sometimes it was sweet and sometimes it was dry,
But no matter the taste in my mouth
There’d be tales to unfold
When I was bold.
When did I grow…. old?

I can’t say I’ve led the life that I dreamed
But there still lives a song in my soul;
A song I refuse to take to the grave,
‘Cause I don’t want to be Thoreau’s man.

Thoreau’s man lives a life of silent despair, never looking forward.
So lost in the past, he no longer has dreams of today.
And the stories of old that I’ve spun are starting to fade.

I can’t say I’ve led the life that I dreamed
But there still lives a song in my soul;
A song I refuse to take to the grave,
‘Cause I don’t want to be Thoreau’s man.
No, I don’t want to be Thoreau’s man.

© Dave Semple – 19 September 2013

credits

from Calm Before The Storm, released November 29, 2017
Instrumentation and vocals by Dave Semple

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Dave Semple London, Ontario

Born in Montreal and raised in Noranda, Quebec, Dave is a graduate of the University of Windsor and has lived the last 30 years in London, Ontario as an educator, musician, actor, director, songwriter, and novelist. Playing live with just a guitar is THE BEST, but Dave loves spending time in his studio filling out the sound layers. Story is everything. ... more

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