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Neil Young - Shrapnel
Well Versed is edited by Jody Porter
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CHRIS SEARLE relishes the genius of pianist Alexander Hawkins, his many ensembles, and his new album
Shrapnel
Neil Young
My granny’s elbow defied the Luftwaffe,
caught a spear of molten shrapnel lead
that ricocheted through the front room window
and would’ve struck her cradled Betty’s head
if she had turned that instant to the right.
That night in 1940, streets turned red
with gales of flame. Lord Haw-Haw laughed
there’d been “Easter eggs” dropped on Belfast.
Next day the toll was near nine hundred dead
– and not an anti-aircraft gun in sight;
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