Bobby

"Hello silence my old friend.

I've come to talk with you again."

- Simon and Garfunkel

Bobby, I cried tonight.
Bobby, I cried.
You know, I was Bobby at that time too,
but then you died.
My teacher said:
"Teddy, he's the one.
Destined to be.
More handsome too."
He lied, Bobby, he lied.

Bobby, my tears tonight,
Bobby, my tears.
Remember,
I was just a lad named Bobby,
but then you died
and I was forced to become a man.
My priest's response was silence,
afraid to offend
some Wallace bigot, I suppose.
Bobby, I thought:
"He doesn't give a damn."

Bobby, my faith tonight,
Bobby, my faith.
When the church doesn't speak,
it's easier to become an atheist,
God knows.
In a small town for a small boy
named Bobby,
it was the only church I'd known.
So then the years and years
of body bags and their toll
and the mess that was Cambodia
and the hell called Vietnam.

Bobby, I cried tonight.
Bobby, I cried.
Where are you, Bobby?