Samstag, 23. September 2017

In admiring remembrance of Charles Edward Bradley (1948 – 2017)

Why is it so hard
To make it in America
I try so hard
To make it in America


A land of milk and honey
A land supposed to be built with love
It take love and understanding
To live and let live


I was born in Gainesville Florida
I traveled far and wide
Then I moved to Brooklyn, New York
Had hard times, for sometime I hold on


Why is it so hard
To make it in America
I try so hard
To make it in America

Seemed like nothing was goin' right
So I said to myself
You got to move away from here
I went to upstate New York
A little town they call Poughkeepsie
Got me a job
To get away from all this stress
But I couldn't get away
No matter how far I went
Seems like nothing gonna change
Everything still remained the same

Why is it so hard
To make it in America
I try so hard
To make it in America
Why, tell me, tell me
We gotta make a change, in America
Help me somebody


Charles Bradley

To Mr. Bradley who I can't admire in a concert anymore -
thanks for "echo[ing] the evocative delivery of Otis Redding" (Paste Magazine, 2011)
and being the "screaming eagle of Soul" -
rest in peace and be part of the already huge amount of gorgeous soul singers in heaven!