Si Kahn Lyrics
Courage

Courage

Clarence Kailin

  Liner notes by Kathy Mattea

     Then comes the sweet and tender tribute of the sailors on Lake Mendota to their elder and mentor, Spanish Civil War veteran Clarence Kailin. He is a hero to them, and they pay him the ultimate respect, dipping the sails as they pass by an imagined statue of Clarence on the shore, looking out towards the future.    Read the rest

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The decks are cleared, the hold is full
All right wing cargo jettisoned
Our course is set as we go proudly
Sailing forth from Madison
And who has come to see us off
As he has done so often?
To stand and gaze out from the shore
Far beyond Wisconsin

     From Lake Mendota to the sea
     Our freedom ships are sailing
     All hands to work and dip the sails
     As we pass Clarence Kailin

Though he's been constant through the years
It's not every fight he's been in
Somehow he missed both Valley Forge
And Battleship Potemkin
But he has always done his part
And tried to do his share of good
From the Spanish Civil War
To the front lines of his neighborhood

Ask Clarence how to live a life
Of purpose and direction
He says, "You simply make a left
At every intersection"
He is a conscience and a guide
When clarities unravel
Whatever roads we choose to ride
Whichever seas we travel

Ask Clarence how he likes these lines
He's briefly introspective
Then says, "All songs of praise should be
Both modest and collective"
So all together let us form
A mighty potluck choir
And simply say to Clarence
You have raised our voices higher...
You have raised our voices higher

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