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Diary
Duet with Mary Byrd Brown.
Imagine the historians 200 years from now trying to sort us out, even with all of the copious self-description we leave behind; will their task of interpreting our times really be any easier than unlocking the mysteries of our 3rd President and his slave mistress, living in a far crueler time and circumstance?
AM - vocals, guitar (DADGAD)
Mary Byrd Brown - vocals
Ralph Gordon – cello
Words & music A. McKnight, ©1998 Catalooch Music, BMI
Verse 1
Jefferson writes, "Dear diary, what have I done?
I have crossed the line, beyond shadow of a doubt, for the shadow that’s her skin, that I can’t live without
Across this great divide, between black and white, our hearts they have touched, we are the same inside
Between wrong and right, between flesh and blood, we cannot make a stand, but in here it’s safe to hide"
Chorus
(He said) "you are both a prisoner and a princess"
(she said) "you're a man of principle and means,
(duo) but this is not our time, this is not our place, and so we cannot be"
Verse 2
We can only guess, how history will judge, what it cannot understand,
Archaeology, can provide them only hints, to these artifacts of love, and how I stood up to my neck, in this ocean of sin
Chorus
Instrumental Break
Verse 3
Quietly she said,
"I believe in God, I believe in providence, and I do believe in love, in whatever shape it's sent
you could not invent, you could not engineer, love such as this, no architect worked here"
Last Chorus
(He said) "you are both a prisoner and a princess"
(she said) "you're a man of principle and means,
(duo?) you cannot change this time, you cannot change this place, (duo) so we cannot be"
Tag
A slave woman dreams, "Dear diary, you would not believe"
