A Song For The Silent Six: The Sounds Of
Silence
(sung to the tune of Simon and Garfunkel's "Sounds
of Silence")
Hello Common Council, my old friends
I've come to talk with you again
Because a Mayor softly creeping
Abused his power while the people were sleeping
And the outrage that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within your sound of silence
In restless dreams I walked alone
Widened Oshkosh streets of torn-up cobblestone
Beneath the halo of a sundial lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a web site light
That split the night
And touched your sound of silence
And in the naked light I saw
Three Council Meetings maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing letters you Silent Six never shared
Not one of you dared
Disturb your sound of silence
"Fools," said I, "You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Watch Commentary that I might reach you"
But my words like Jackson St. trees fell
And echoed in the wells of silence
And the Council bowed and prayed
To the un-popularly elected Mayor god they'd made
And the Palmeri op-ed flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the op-ed said
"The words of the state statutes are
Written on the state capital walls
And city halls
And yet you whispered in your sounds of silence"
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