My favorite country song is The Highwayman. Here’s my bid to catch some of the same magic. Lyrics are below, also, added lyrics to Deceiver.
We Gave Up The Stars For This
By John Wilder
Daddy worked the line back in ’69
Watched Armstrong step on silver dust so fine
Said “Boy, one day we’ll all live up there”
Then the TV went dark and the porch light stared
Now the same old streets, same busted dreams
Old broken bottles where the rockets used to scream
We traded lunar boots for welfare lines
And the flag on the moon just faded to white
in silence
We gave up the stars for this
Traded infinity for a government kiss
Poverty’s still here, just wearing new clothes
While the Sea of Tranquility grows cold
Neil and Buzz, forgive us, we quit too soon
We gave up the stars… for this back-room saloon
They promised us the war on want would end
Sixty-five came, and trillions got spent
But the poor still knock on the same cracked door
And the projects look taller an they just hide it more
Meanwhile the shuttles rust down in the Cape
And the launchpad’s a ghost town full of red tape
Every billion we burned on the ground on earth
Could’ve built us a highway to our rebirth
We gave up the stars for this
A handful of dust and a politician’s bliss
Same old hunger, same old pain
While the moon hangs like a reminder in the midnight rain
God forgive the coward in our bones
We gave up the stars… and came back home
I still hear the static of Eagle’s call
“One small step” echoin’ down our halls
We were giants once, reachin’ past the blue
Now we’re beggars on the corner, wonderin’ what happened to us
We gave up the stars for this
A slow defeat and a coward’s wish
Armstrong’s bootprint’s still perfect and clean
While we rot in the shadow of what might’ve been
Lord, take us back or let us die tryin’
We gave up the stars… and I can’t stop cryin’
Outro (spoken over fading steel)
One small step for man…
One giant leap
Will we take it again?
