Parable

from IN A SMA ROOM by Debra Salem, Kevin MacKenzie, Paul Harrison

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Songbook with Soutar biography, info on the project, the poems from the songs, and the sheet music of each song.

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lyrics

PARABLE by William Soutar

Two neighbours, who were rather dense,
Considered that their mutual fence
Were more symbolic of their peace
(Which they maintained should never cease)
If each about his home and garden
Set up a more substantial warden.
Quickly they cleared away the fence
To build a wall at great expense;
And soon their little plots of ground
Were barricaded all around:
Yet still they added stone to stone,
As if they would never be done,
For when one neighbour seemed to tire
The other shouted: Higher! Higher!
Thus day by day, in their unease,
They built the battlements of peace
Whose shadows, like a gathering blot,
Darkened on each neglected plot,
Until the ground, so overcast,
Became a rank and weedy waste.

Now in their obsession, they uprear;
Jealous, and proud, and full of fear:
And, lest they halt for lack of stone,
They pull their dwelling-houses down.
At last, by their insane excess,
Their ramparts guard a wilderness;
And hate, arousing out of shame,
Flares up into a wondrous flame:
They curse; they strike; they break the wall,
Which buries them beneath its fall.

credits

from IN A SMA ROOM, released February 1, 2021
Music: Debra Salem

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about

Debra Salem Perth, UK

Singer/songwriter with a distinct vocal tone that has grown out of both jazz and folk traditions.
Originally from Belfast, she now lives and works in Scotland.