Under the Green Desk Lamp…

Today we have another song/ poem from the intellectual property vaults of Brad OH Inc. For your enjoyment, we present the lost ‘Basic Human Indecency’ song: ‘A Song for Alec’.

Old Alec McPhee
Was a man of the sea
He’d traveled all over the globe
But now his boots sat
In a house on a road
Where old Alec shouldered his load

He moved into the house
To care for his family
Who offered him no word of thanks
He worked for the army
To pay for his children
But poor men don’t rise through the ranks

Every day he worked hard
Every night he lay cold
His dreams and his future denied
Old Alec sat
In a chair at a table
And looked out his window and cried

Old Alec walked down
To the water one night
Kept walking as it reached his chest
He carried with him
The clothes on his back
Some memories and left all the rest

Walked into the water
Up past his neck
Through the water he pushed out so fast
Away from the land
Out into the water
Alec walked away from his past

A man that is living
Must live in the present
A man that has run carries shame
But a man that’s found dead
Will live on in memory
And not scar the worth of his name

Alec turned around
With the water at his nose
And knew he had made a mistake
Remembered his duty
To care for his children
And knew there was no choice to make

The sounds of his life
Were silence or screaming
His friends from the past never called
His kids barely knew him
His wife didn’t love him
Alec’s house was no home at all

His family was cruel
As if sent by the Gods
To punish him for all his sin
But they needed a man
To survive in this world
And damned if it wouldn’t be him

Old Alec walked dripping
Into his kitchen
And up to his wife for a hug
She shrugged him away
And tossed him a towel
And told him to stay on the rug

In his chair by the table
He looked out the window
As dreams of the past filled his head
He stared at the ocean
And knew he’d been foolish
For he was already long dead

A man he will live
For the Gods that he chases
And see them wherever he’ll roam
And he’ll chase the shadows
Make gifts into shackles
And a prison out of a home

Alec can you find
Alec does it seem
Alec won’t you learn
That you’re chasing dead dreams

Alec are you lost
Alec are you blind
Alec don’t you know
You’ve lost more than you’ll find…

-Brad OH Inc.