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The Civil War

from Words Of Wisdom by Brian Dewan

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lyrics

Eastend was once a happy town where harmony and love
Was busting out at all the seams and in the trees above
The doves of peace were laying eggs, there were no signs of strife
For each man loved his neighbor and sometimes his neighbor’s wife
But a sudden change soon come about, storm clouds were in the sky
Nobody stopped to kiss a body coming through the rye
For each man eyed his neighbor with malice and with hate
Housewives no longer spilled the beans across the garden gate
We had a war, a civil war
Folks often asked us what we’re fighting for
Well most of us wanted water mains, and sewers and bathtubs too
But the rest of them decided they’d make the slop pails do

It was sewer pipes versus slop pails, the town was split in two
With profane propaganda the air was often blue
The sewer and water faction ran a sanitary plank
They said shallow wells and slop pails and toilets always stank
But those slop-pailers were stubborn, they fought with tooth and nail
They said our nitwit council should be languishing in jail
They told how high taxation and plumbers’ union fees
Would land us in the poorhouse and they’d throw away the keys
We had a war, a civil war
Folks often asked us what we’re fighting for
Well most of us wanted water mains, and sewers and bathtubs too
But the rest of them decided they’d make the slop pails do

But when the vote was counted the slop-pailers met defeat
And then they started tearing up our quiet village street
Now peace and harmony once more replaced the grapes of wrath
So when next you visit Eastend, just stop in and have a bath

credits

from Words Of Wisdom, released November 13, 2007
Words and music by William Bock
Recorded by Carl Plaster at Fort Apache Studio
Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 1992
Mastered by Dave McNair

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Brian Dewan Catskill, New York

Brian Dewan presents The Humanitarium—a series of folk compilations featuring songs he’s unearthed in old schoolbooks, at garage sales, in attics and basements, arranged for his instruments of choice: autoharp, electric zither, organ and accordion. Fans of Brian's original albums, his art, and his work with They Might Be Giants and the Blue Man Group will treasure the Humanitarium series. ... more

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