Everything Is Broken

New Town, North Dakota, March 2006

Broken bottles, broken plates,
Broken switches, broken gates,
Broken dishes, broken parts,
Streets are filled with broken hearts.
Broken words never meant to be spoken,
Everything is broken.

NPRA, Bismarck, ND, February 2005

Bridge: Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Atlantic City, New Jersey, January 2006

Broken cutters, broken saws,
Broken buckles, broken laws,
Broken bodies, broken bones,
Broken voices on broken phones.
Take a deep breath, feel like you're chokin',
Everything is broken.

"Everything is Broken," Bob Dylan from Oh Mercy (1989)

Naked as the Eyes of the Clown

Bismarck Folk Festival Parade, September 2006

I was sitting in the bathtub counting my toes,

when the radiator broke, water all froze.

I got stuck in the ice without my clothes,

naked as the eyes of a clown.

I was crying ice cubes hoping I'd croak,

when the sun come through the window, the ice all broke.

I stood up and laughed thought it was a joke

That's the way that the world goes 'round.

That's the way that the world goes 'round.
You're up one day and the next you're down.
It's half an inch of water and you think you're gonna drown.
That's the way that the world goes 'round.

John Prine, Thats the Way the World Goes Round

Mandan Rodeo, July 2005


Strasborg Rodeo, Strasborg, North Dakota, July 2005

Always Trust Your Cape

Eight years old with a flour sack cape
Tied all around his neck
He climbed up on the garage
Figurin' what the heck
He screwed his courage up so tight
The whole thing came unwound
He got a runnin' start and bless his heart
He headed for the ground

Atlanta Hawks v. Toronto Raptors, Philips Arena
Atlanta, November 2006

Well he's one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
And always trust your cape

All grown up with a flour sack cape
Tied all around his dreams
He's full of piss and vinegar
He's bustin at the seams
He licked his finger and checked the wind
It's gonna be do or die
He wasn't scared of nothin', Boys
He was pretty sure he could fly

Well he's one of those who knows that life
Is just a leap of faith
Spread your arms and hold your breath
And always trust your cape

Old and grey with a flour sack cape
Tied all around his head
He's still jumpin' off the garage
And will be 'till he's dead
All these years the people said
He's actin like a kid
He did not know he could not fly
So he did

Guy Clark
“The Cape,” from Dublin Blues, 1995