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Leiby Kletzky

from Songs to the Dust by Ian David Green

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lyrics

Leiby Kletsky went walking
On a blue Brooklyn warm afternoon
Down 44th where the cars are all parked
His first walk home from school
Over the junction at Wallenberg
No-one would ever know why
Missing the turn that he had rehearsed
Kept on for four blocks or five

Yaakov German went walking
To trawl through the sepia scenes
From cameras that watched on the used-car lot
Feeding a black and white screen
And there in a flickering frame
A man and a boy sharing words
A tired old Honda, gold faded pale,
Pulling away from the kerb

Chief Joseph Cox went walking
To the corner of 18th and Dahill
Sent a patrol into Kensington
With flashlights, a face and a name
Into the house like a whirlwind
The officers crashed through the door
Where a man holding keys to a tired old Honda
Silently stared at the floor

These things we don’t want to believe
Become our unspeakable dreams
But is that so the lost can find shelter
Or so that the living stay free?
Oh come to me, son, I will give you
A gift of the moments he stole
The lights of the bright Purim table
The push on the door to your home

The cries of the children out on the street
The door to the Yeshiva crusted with sleet
The clatter of toys as they bounce down the stairway
The drone of the tyres as they roll on the freeway
The blood on your knees that you scraped on the pavement
The view from the train of the faraway tenement
Branches and bark of the trees that you fell from
Apples in sugar, fresh from the fairground
Comics and card games and hand-me-down bicycles
Gold chocolate coins and Hanukkah candles
The face of the girl who shackled your eyes
The poems you wrote for her all through the night
The turn of the leaves as the evenings grew colder
The fine autumn rain lying soft on your shoulder
The dawn song in spring as the mornings came calmer
The weight in your heart as you buried your father
The ivory wind from the fog on the river
The hand of your child, clasping your finger

Leiby Kletsky went walking
Into the valley of harm
Oh I hope that someday he’ll find his way
Into his own mother’s arms

credits

from Songs to the Dust, released October 6, 2023

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Ian David Green image

Ian David Green London, UK

A singer, songwriter and composer from Liverpool, Ian's influences range from folk greats like Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison to more contemporary folk / indie / Americana artists such as Damien Jurado, Phosphorescent and Iron & Wine.

With a gift for rich, compelling storytelling and layered lyricism, Ian builds his songs with carefully crafted, evocative and striking language. ... more

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