Angie Heimann - What’s to become of the Mockingbird Fort Bragg, California Inspired by Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird
Listen to the Track:
Quote from the songwriter: I love the way this book describes the difference between coming gently into adulthood and losing one's innocence in a way that does irreparable damage. In the song I attempted to articulate this difference through the various "mockingbirds" (the "innocent" characters in danger of a violent loss.)
Lyrics to the song:
In a courtroom in a southern town Watchers white and black and brown Come to see the falling down Of a mockingbird They won’t uproot a lie so old With so much history to uphold No matter how the truth is told Against a white man’s word And so the mockingbird is caged A sacrifice for day and age To bring the turning of a page Not just yet, but more near it
What’s to become of a mockingbird Singing so sweet in the tree When’s this world gonna be a place Where the innocent go freeHigh up in the balcony Nesting as if in a tree Two eggs among the ebony In danger of the fall But they won’t break despite the spill A father’s firm unbending will Cushions where the fall would kill Innocence and all He who would protect his young He who would have justice done Draws the truth which must be sung But cannot make them hear it
What’s to become of a mockingbird Singing so sweet in the tree When’s this world gonna be a place Where the innocent go free
The path is never clean or sterile Seeking justice invites peril Unleashing beasts rabid and feral Loose upon our streets A father, though he aims the best Preparing them for trial and test Must let the young ones leave the nest Their own wings for to beat When their little world is shaken A friend who know the feel of breaking Comes out in time to stop the taking Of their precious songs
What’s to become of a mockingbird Singing so sweet in the tree When’s this world gonna be a place Where the innocent go free
