It began with that taxi
on a rainy Frisco night.
You and Sue together
but the time just wasn't right.
I first heard your music
when I was in my teens.
Time has faded those visions,
those memories and dreams.
You played your music softly
and told us of your fears.
singing of an aging jester
as you traveled through the years.
Remembering all those summer nights
you sang to us at SPAC.
Leaving all your fans a smiling,
saying you'd be back.
Minstrel man, minstrel man, sing us a song.
Sing a tale of happy times and days long gone.
Please tell me a story from deep within your heart.
I've felt your joys and sorrows, even from the start.
We live in life's cruel circle,
through sunrise and sundown.
The madman lives a ragged life
where peace is never found.
You've sung most every story
that any man could live.
Hiding truths and feelings,
is what you never did.
My life was so enlightened
when you sang again of Sue.
Some friends of mine were hoping
that you'd both start anew.
That no longer mattered
when the broadcasts hit the air.
The cruelest end to any life
and grossly so unfair.
Minstrel man, minstrel man, sing me a song.
Sing a tale of happy times and days lon gone.
Please tell me a story from deep within your heart.
I've felt your joys and sorrows, even from the start.
I wrote this in 1981 while in the Navy, several months after Harry's untimely death. I entered it into the 1982 American Song Festival Lyric's Competition where it received Honorable Mention.
Sincerely, Ed Farron
