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THE POOR ARE WITH YOU FOREVER

from LIKE A WORLD by Patrick Regan Band

/

about

Inspired in part by a news story I heard on WBAI radio (and nowhere else) sometime in the 1990s.
About quoting Jesus: In those days I believed such a person existed and might have said some of the things attributed to him. Now I'm not so sure, so I almost chose not to re-release this . . . but I think it's a solid song and tries to say something important, so here it is.

lyrics

THE POOR ARE WITH YOU FOREVER

Halfway across a bridge in Paris, high above the Seine
Hold him in your mind, for he will never rise again
Someone said he had no papers, no identity
Someone said there was no refuge for the refugee

Frozen in the lights of Paris, leaping in the Seine
Was it fear he'd be sent home or despair of ever seeing home again
I recalled the words of Jesus when I heard the news
Never have I heard it questioned why it must be true

He said the poor are with you forever, but not I
Did no one ask why? Did no one ask why?
Must there always be these children too hungry to cry?
Must the refugees find haven only when they die?

Give a pack of wolves dominion forty thousand years
Would there now be countless millions of poor wolves here?
Now suppose that refugee was the creator's son
Ask yourself, whoever he was, whose will's being done

He said the poor are with you forever, but not I
Did no one ask why? Did no one ask why?
Must there always be these children too hungry to cry?
Must the refugees find haven only when they die?

credits

from LIKE A WORLD, released January 14, 2023
Copyright Patrick S. Regan (BMI)

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tags

about

Patrick Regan Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

A songwriter and singer, I'm handy enough to be a one-man band, but lucky enough to rope in great collaborators. Never played for a living: living to play.

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