Dar Williams
"All My Heroes Are Dead"


You gotta admit Life magazine made 1968 look great
My father said it sucked, everybody died
All the troops you couldn't save, no one knew how to be brave
He said sometimes you were afraid to turn your radio on
It was enough to make you quit that peacenik scene

Well I heard about leaders, yeah I hear they're no longer around
'cause peace was abandoned, and bravery hanged in his town
And they passed down a sentence
For building on the beauty of some dream

All my heroes are dead, I got them in my head
Saying never again, never a war, no more fighting
So I'll stay true to them, and they'll come home again
I'll carry the light, follow the dream, I'll remember

The '68 convention was a-singing that the times they are a-changing
But I guess they a-changed back
Oh I miss those peaceful folk, love and humor when they spoke
Hey Phil Ochs you still sound great, should've stuck around to hear it
LyricsThey say the compact disc makes songs come true

But Phil, I never expected that I'd miss you like a friend
'cause I never expected that we would be marching again
And the soldiers of peace would tumble from this life as in a war

All my heroes are dead, and all the books I read
Said "This is greed, this is wrong, fight your war at home"
So I'll stay true to them, and they'll come home again
I'll carry the light, follow the dream, I'll remember

So back to the present passion, romance, love, or simply put a lack thereof
Shall we just go on?
I don't take it personally, it's our post-modern history
You know since Nixon was impeached it's just been hard to commit
So we cast our allegiance left and right

But I always believed that our souls would come through
So I never expected that you'd take her home with you
And I never detected, how hardened and not sorry you could be
Don't you know?

All our heroes are dead, we got ourselves instead
And oh my friend, all your lies, they won't do you
You gotta stay true to them, and they'll come home again
I miss them too, I miss them too, you know I miss them
More than I love you