From the recordings Walking on the Wire and Walking on the Wire
This was inspired by the actual gravesite of John Ford who is a veteran of the Revolutionary War. His grave is the oldest in Lamoine, Maine, and is located in an overgrown and mostly forgotten pine grove on private property. I was struck by the contrast between this and the graves in Arlington National Cemetery.
Lyrics
"The Bones of Old John Ford"
© 2024, Gordon Thomas Ward
In a lonely pine grove of Lamoine
Where the brambles block the sun
And the ocean tempests moan along the shore
A weathered, grey slate marks the grave,
Worn and overrun,
Of the patriotic bones of old John Ford.
The War of Independence called
To young John in his teens.
He did not hesitate to raise his sword
From Frenchman Bay to Bagaduce
Then worked his family farm.
There buried lie the bones of old John Ford.
Now he waits beside his family
For the Rapture trump to sound
Where the tides of time have all but washed his name away.
Now the ghosts of former lovers,
That may drift among the stones
Are the only shadowed souls who call today.
There’s a guard posted in Arlington
For a soldier in his tomb
Whose name is known only to the Lord,
But the only guard for John
Is a raven and a crow
That call out to the bones of old John Ford.
Now he waits beside his family
For the Rapture trump to sound
Where the tides of time have all but washed his name away.
Now the ghosts of former lovers,
That may drift among the stones
Are the only shadowed souls who call today.
In a lonely pine grove of Lamoine
Where the brambles block the sun
And the ocean tempests moan along the shore (add higher ahhhs)
A weathered, grey slate marks the grave,
Worn and overrun,
Of the patriotic bones of old John Ford.
The patriotic bones of old John Ford.
The patriotic bones…