Tag Archives: iran war

Social Musings, War, Writing

Lap of Luxury

Audio


Circus or Freak Show?

I wrote the first version of this in 2017 watching the circus in D.C. I did not know then that the circus was only the warm-up. The freak show was still on its way.

The smiling man with blood on his shirt and a chainsaw in his hand was something I could never have imagined, then I saw it for real. That wasn’t simply the image the song handed me, it was watching Elon on stage as cold chills ran down my back – this prompted some lyric changes this year.

This one came from dread, plain and simple — the feeling that cruelty had stopped pretending to be decent. It came first for some, then for others, and eventually for all of us.
The view outside my window has not improved.

Lap of Luxury
You’ve been living in the lap of luxury
In the home of the brave
The land of the free but now
Things have changed
He said your country needs just a little surgery
A snip here and there and we’ll do it for free
Then through the door walks a smiling man
With blood on his shirt chainsaw in his hand
So now
Things have changed

Yeah they came for the Mexicans late one night
They ignored the blacks until the time was right
Then they came for the Muslims and they came for the Jews
Next thing they’ll be coming for the Christians too
Things have changed

You’ve been living in the lap of luxury
In the home of the brave and the land of the free but now
Things have changed
You know it just ain’t right
It’ll never be fair
You gave your country to a billionaire
They’ll mark you next
They’ll take your home
They listen to you as you talk on the phone because now
Things have changed

He took your heart and he’ll take your soul
He’ll take the cereal out of your children’s bowl
They warned us this would be hard to keep
But now they’re taking it away while you’re in your sleep because now
Things have changed

You’ve been living in the lap of luxury
The home of the brave
The land of the free but now
Things have changed
You’ve been living in the lap of luxury
The home of the brave
The land of the free but now
Things have changed
Yeah I said now
Things have changed
You know that now
Things have changed

Songs, Writing

Nothing But Hope

Breaking Dawn
This is one of those songs that came to talk to me, not the other way around.
It was 2017 and the world outside was in turmoil and my heart was churning with the circus (even more so as of this writing on April 19th, 2026). But underneath all that noise was another rhythm — quieter, steadier, truer. Not the rhythm of panic. Not the drumbeat of outrage. Rather the faithful beat of my heart that says every new day offers another chance to begin again, if we choose it.

That is what I heard in this song. Yes, the song came to talk to me. So you can let it talk to you too, if you want.

The storm is still there. The fear is still there. The world doesn’t suddenly become simple because the sun comes up. But dawn has always felt like a new birth to me — a daily chance to be reborn without having to explain yesterday first.
I lean on love.

That is what this song is doing. It is choosing hope without denying the storm. Choosing the heart’s rhythm over the world’s panic. Choosing to dance anyway.

Nothing But Hope
The sun starts to risin’
As the moon’s setting low
And a new day’s dawning
As the nighttime lets go
I feel like dancing
Across this pretty sunrise
As the rain starts to fall
And a storm fills our skies

As the new day begins
And the storm rages on
There’s nothing but hope
In this breaking dawn

So if you could gamble
On hope one more time
We might find some answers
In this poet’s rhyme
‘Cause love is the reason
For this pretty sunrise
And life is the answer
To the storm in our skies

As the new day begins
The storm rages on
But there’s nothing but hope
In this breaking dawn

So tell me once again
That our love is strong
We’ll keep on dancing
Until this storm is gone

‘Cause as the new day begins
Our love is so strong
There’s nothing but hope
In this breaking dawn

So tell me once again
That our love is strong
We’ll keep on dancing
Until this storm is gone
‘Cause there’s nothing but hope
In this breaking dawn