China Lake

We've done this every Labor Day since 1969 We all go up to China Lake to spend a little time In a Minnesota summer beneath the Minnesota sky We celebrate the newborns and remember those who've died At China Lake We're all worried about Richard; he sits staring through the day That straw hat on his head and nothing much to say At night I hear him wandering through the trees and down the lanes Of China Lake He was always known for brooding but this year there's been a change I'm not the only one who's noticed something ain't the same At China Lake But there's this shine, a shine A shine on China Lake The vistas here stretch out forever A shine, a shine, a shine on China Lake Here it's only quiet; no hurricanes or riots But hovering there behind it, the pain and the shame of surrender Last night I had this dream it was a strange dream indeed I cut my arm a thousand times but nowhere did I bleed The crippled all were dancing and the blind they all could see And a vendor selling streamers walked the quiet empty streets Of China Lake There was a pale horse; it was a pale horse that I rode And I sat there by the shoreline and I watched the sky explode At China Lake In the shine A shine on China Lake The vistas here stretch out forever A shine, a shine, a shine on China Lake Here it's only quiet; no hurricanes or riots But hovering there behind it, the pain and the shame of surrender These are strange uncertain days...