Sheltered Youth

Checking for bombs under the car
Before we drive to school in the morning
Waved on through the army checkpoint
At the edge of town in the evening
I bragged to my friend about a bulletproof glass
So I let him take a shot with my catapult
The window takes the impact but it’s cracked
Daddy has to pay for a replacement

A helicopter flies low overhead
I’m running to the garden in all of the machinery
Every time I go to my best friends house
Pass a place where the army van was blown to smithereens
Another bomb scare in our school
Run out of class, practice a fire drill
My friends Daddy got shot
That’s why our whole house is in mourning

Shopping for toys in Leisure World
A crowd has gathered to stare down at the street below
Push our way to the front of the crowd
As they zip up the body bag on the Policeman
Going to the city I don’t feel safe
This atmosphere of tension and intimidation
Nearly every night as we eat our food
On the news more senseless retaliations

Almost mid-summer and the weather is fine
At the wedding of my best friend’s sister
My friends Dad’s pager goes off
As the dancing begins he leaves his daughters wedding
Only two miles away on this June night
In Larkin Island there’s been a massacre
To the operating theatre he must go
To try and save the lives of the survivors

So sad looking back on those times
We must never go back that way again
As I walk along the river thinking of those days
Try to turn my thoughts to happier memories
To the morning we awoke from the all night rain
That burst the river banks and flooded our garden
The waters had claimed our old canoe
So my Dad and I set off on a quest
We journey down stream and searched along the banks
When I fell behind I was carried on his shoulders
About to give up hope when we finally found it
Washed up on the barrier at the astery
I felt so proud to walk with a man
Returning home in victory

In the evening when he sat at the piano
The whole house was filled with music
Singing songs to help me get to sleep
I always woke safe and sound in the morning
So much to live up to in a man
Strength, honour and conviction
Now he’s gone I’ll always be
Grateful for the days of his protection