Story Behind The Song

There is actually a "spoken word" story that preceeds this song on my CD, telling about my encounter with the mockingbird on the day after 9/11, which is what inspired me to write this song.

Song Description

Mockingbird metaphor, then a woman who lost her husband on 9/11, ending with a statement and prayer of hope for the future.

Lyrics

Her melody?s rising into the wind
from the black and the gray and the white
Cocking her head to the heavens, she sings
as if all in her world is right.
But ev?ry frayed feather has a story to tell.
She dodged the hawk and escaped,
Chased those raiders out of her nest,
surviving one more day?.and

CHORUS: She still sings. She still sings.
Her tail is tattered. Her babies, gone.
Her nest?s a mem?ry, but she goes on and she still sings.

?So long, Sweetheart. I?ll see you tonight.?
They hugged in the dawn?s early gloom.
He boarded the train to work in the tower
that terror turned into a tomb.
Her heart split open; he never came home.
They finally recovered his ring.
She cradles his baby, bearing the name
of a daddy he?ll never hear sing.

But she still sings. She still sings.
Her home is shattered; her husband, gone
Their love?s a mem?ry but she goes on and she still sings.

BRIDGE: Sorrow cannot not choke me,
Though everything goes wrong.
They cannot take away my faith.
They?ll never steal my song.

I?m listening now for the song of the bird,
delight in the voice of a child.
And hope?s born new in every day
when someone chooses to smile.
Standing together, we?re praying again:
?O God, will you please make us strong??
Overcoming evil with good,
no one can silence our song, (cuz)

We still sing. We still sing.
We?re bruised; we?re battered, but we stand strong
Spirits rising, yes, we go on, and we still sing. (Repeat)