From the recording Miracle Of Forgetting (2003)

Written 12/7/00 (2pm – 12:30am) after reading The Greatest Generation (Tom Brokaw). It was a conversation with a friend that set the wheels in motion and sparked the idea of personifying the virtues of faith, hope and love as a war-ravaged soldier.

Lyrics

These Three Remain

Faith: it is a soldier in the 82nd Corp
The first wave into Europe, then we barely made it home
With hands like my father’s, now shaking like a leaf
Clinging to my rifle with no sign of peace

Hope: these are the trenches of this God-forsaken war
I caught an hour or two of sleep the night before
With eyes like my mother’s, once bright, blue and wide
I’ve seen boys shot to pieces and held their hand as they died

I remember me, do you remember you?
I’d just as soon forget all those things I had to do
Over there I was scared
In my pain, I’ll take all the blame
And now these three remain

Love: it is the trembling and the scattering of dust
It’s looking out into a field I know that I must cross
Here I am at twenty, I’m prepared to lose my life
I do it for my country, I would have done it for my wife

I remember me, do you remember you?
I’d just as soon forget all those horrible things I had to do
Over there I was scared
Despite my pain, I’ll take all the blame
And now these three remain