Dark Side of the Baby Boom
I was asked why I would write an autobiographical song in the second person. The answer is, I’d love to hear someone sing this to me! And I’d also love for this song to find its audience, my generation for sure, but not only those who grew up near New York City.
You were born in a twilight room
On the dark side of the baby boom
It was hard times feeling at the end of their rope
Nobody cast a horoscope
Brownstone building down in Forest Hills
Ladies leaning out of windowsills
Cap pistol bent all out of shape
Hidden treasures on the fire escape
Hear the traffic in the streets at night
Can’t see planets through the city lights
Dream of flying when you close your eyes
And aliens who hypnotize
These are the memories which have stayed // Bridge
Like shadow puppets you have played
Your sense of wonder has unraveled
Along the road that you have traveled
Stickball bat and a jungle gym
Moved to Long Island and learned how to swim
Tar ball feet on a lonely beach
The girl you longed who stayed out of reach
Salamander underneath a log
No place at home to keep a dog
Take your hands off of the walls
Hang up the phone if that kid calls
Living underneath a tyrant’s roof
Subject to his grim reproof
The place your protector was enslaved in
Where the walls of her resistance had all caved in
That was the hand that you were dealt // Bridge
Those were the feelings that you felt
Breathed in the air that you were used to
Got out of there when you could choose to.
Tape Recorder and a microscope
Bend the rules; push the envelope
Basement world of snails and snakes
And dangerous chemistry set mistakes
Your brother leaves for another town
Get on stage and play the clown
The emerald city cast its spell and beckoned
You lost your way much faster than you reckoned
Drama school and a scholarship
The world’s a stage on an acid trip
The laws of physics cease to be applied
When you are Jekyll turning into Hyde
This was your laughter and your cries //Bridge
As your life flashed before your eyes
A long lost letter you’ve been sending
You never thought about the ending
Lyrics by Jim Metzner, All Rights Reserved, copyright 2012
