©1990 Marie-Lynn Hammond
he was in the front row wearing jeans and an old leather jacket
and I have to say that right away he caught my eye
and after the show he said I loved all your songs
but the one about your mother almost made me cry
and I thought, hey, this is one sensitive man, and besides he had these incredible eyes,
not blue, not green, but some mysterious colour in between
so I joined him for a brandy and the talk flowed like honey
we talked about music, and travelling, and kids
then he offered to walk me to the place I was staying
and as we walked I finally asked him what he did
[spoken] And he said, Well, uh, I’m a major, then he paused; so I said, A a major what? And he kind of laughed and said, No, what I mean is—I’m an army major. And I thought huh? This is a man who told me he plays classical piano; he listens to Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell for heaven’s sake; he adores children; he got all choked up over my rather feminist song about my mother! How can he be in the army?
we want it black or white, we want it night or day
we want it wrong or right, not these—shades of grey
so we walked and I fell silent and he said what’s the matter
and the moon was high and golden and I wished I didn’t know
his eyes were like the ocean, I could smell the sweet salt smell of him
and I had to laugh at fortune for this neat little blow
and I said, Hey Major, don’t you know who I am
I’m one of the ones who stopped Vietnam
I’m a peacenik, Major, now don’t you see
we’ve both just met the enemy
And he said, Not so fast now, I see my job as a peacekeeping job too. And I said, yeah, I’ve heard that one before; and he said, Hang on, do you really know what you’re judging here? And I said, Unfortunately, all too well. You see—
my father was a soldier and I’m a soldier’s kid
he was in the war then he stayed in the army and I saw what it did
to him, to my mother, to my brother and me
and that’s why I’m not so keen on the military
and the major said:
we want it black or white, we want it night or day
we want it wrong or right, but it doesn’t work that way
I mean if we’re really enemies then why our strong connection
surely life’s too short to run from such a sweet mystery
and I’m sorry that you’ve had it rough but look, I’m not your father
so: I’ve got some leave coming up—why don’t you think about going to Greece with me?
And I almost said, Forget it, Major! I can’t do that. Because we both know this is about more than just my father. I mean, the bottom line is your job could mean killing people. But then I looked at those eyes and I thought, are those the eyes of a murderer? Beside’s he’s not asking you to marry him! So I said O.K., I’ll think about it, and I’m still thinking about it. In fact I’m thinking about a lot of things, like…
my father was a soldier, he was hawk to my dove
he was might, and I was righteous, he made war while I made love
and because I was doing it all for peace
it troubles me now to see
it was me who first drew those battle lines, and named him the enemy
we want it black or white, we want it night or day
we want it wrong or right, not these—shades of grey
So you’re probably wondering: did I go to Greece with the major? But not so fast—what is it makes you want to believe this song is about me anyway? Maybe it’s only part me and part someone else’s story … maybe I changed things, or made other things up; maybe none of it’s true, or maybe it’s only true the way the moon is true, or the ocean … but we’re all the same, aren’t we?
we want it black or white, we want it night or day
we want it wrong or right, not these—shades of grey
But I will tell you one small thing that is true: there was a man once, and his eyes weren’t blue, and his eyes weren’t green … they were some mysterious colour in between …
