I’m happy to present to you a song from Ben Shive’s upcoming The Ill-Tempered Klavier. The album is nearing completion, and “S” is next in line for the song of the day, so Ben agreed to let us post this one. It’s called ’97, a song about the year his older brother went away to college. Beautiful, sad, and melodic, oh my.
97
Words and Music by Ben Shive
The year my brother went away
The song got sad
And I woke up one day
Feeling so funny I forgot to laugh
Like I was all up in my head
With no way out
And sad for nothing, just sad
Every day was down
It happened overnight
The flier on the wall said:
Do you feel nothing at all?
And do you wonder if you’re even real?
Well my feelings exactly
‘Cause where was the old me
Who used to be happy
Who used to think he was okay?
It happened overnight
And a little girl was taken
We tied a ribbon around the tree
And the search went on for ages
While the search went on for me
And I thought about her mother
There was nothing she could do
Cause she couldn’t go back and she couldn’t go on
And God only knew where her baby had gone
The year my brother went away
And the song got sad
Everything changed
And we could never go back
Yeah, everything changes, everything dies
The year my brother went away
It happened overnight
Andrew Peterson is a singer-songwriter and author. Andrew has released more than ten records over the past twenty years, earning him a reputation for songs that connect with his listeners in ways equally powerful, poetic, and intimate. As an author, Andrew’s books include the four volumes of the award-winning Wingfeather Saga, released in collectible hardcover editions through Random House in 2020, and his creative memoir, Adorning the Dark, released in 2019 through B&H Publishing.
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Curt McLey
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