Duke Ellington In Tears

from The Long Way Home by The Skip Heller Trio

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lyrics

Duke Ellington In Tears

It was sometime in the spring of '68, and Duke Ellington stared into an abyss
Of faces hard to make out in the dark, as his band threw down a fanfare you can't miss
It was a gas money gig at a high school in some tiny town in Central PA
He shut his eyes real tight, and launched into "Satin Doll", as if the good times weren't so far away
Though the A train had long since left the station, the sophisticated lady long since aged
Tonight he's playing some high school gymnasium, instead of someplace with a proper stage
And I wonder how he felt when it all come down to this, after putting in his forty-some-odd years
There was a quiet grace the maestro carried through hard times, no one ever saw Duke Ellington in tears

I'm in Tucson, Dallas, Baton Rouge this week, past that I'll have to check my list of dates
I take a lot of pride in what I am, even if my life ain't turned out all that great
A gas money gig at some fish fry, on my anniversary wishing I was home
How many miles travelled before it's been too far, and everything I held onto is gone?
I watched as my loving wife erased me from the life we sealed together with a vow
And I stayed on the road like it don't phase me, and I lie and say I'm just as happy now
I came to this world alone and alone I guess I'll leave, I've seen the love I lived for disappear
And I venerate the grace the maestro carried through hard times, no one ever saw Duke Ellington in tears

credits

from The Long Way Home, released November 30, 2009

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