It's been 23 years since Tiananmen Square (1989). I wrote this song Witness, and recorded in 1998 on my "Retracing" CD also available on itunes and CD Baby.

Today you can download it free: Witness.mp3

WITNESS WORDS & MUSIC: C. GRIER (singerfish publishing SESAC)

EVERY NIGHT ON THE T.V. SCREEN

IN FULL COLOR I SEE THE NEWS

WITHOUT FAIL I WANT TO SCREAM

SO MUCH MIND ABUSE

THE LOWERING OF IQ'S I WANT TO FIGHT BUT WHAT'S THE USE

Chorus:

WHAT'S IN THE CARDS WE WILL POSSESS

IS IT PAIN OR IS IT HAPPINESS

AND THESE THINGS I CAN'T EXPRESS

I'M JUST A WITNESS TO ALL THE CRIMES

AND THE THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE

I'M JUST A WITNESS OF THE MODERN TIMES

HOW I WISH OUR WORLD WAS MORE FREE

I'M JUST A WITNESS

I CAN GO TO TIANANMAN SQUARE

AND FIGHT TO THE BITTER END

BECOME A HOSTAGE IN IRAN

BECAUSE MY SKIN IS DAMNED

NO ONE CAN RUSH EQUALITY

BUT THE T.V. SCREEN KEEPS HAUNTING ME

CHORUS

IF SOMETHING UP THERE IS LOOKING DOWN

IT'S WITNESSING A FOOLISH EARTH

IF IT COULD HAVE THE POWER

TO TURN TO AN HOUR

OF TOTAL PEACE AND HARMONY

I'M JUST A WITNESS

Today is World AIDS Day. According to UNAIDS, there are an estimated 33 million people living with HIV

Remember

Inform and

Be Safe

Eve Ensler wrote an OP Ed piece in todays UK The Guardian

here's an excerpt:

You cannot prevent women from getting Aids without ending violence towards them, without shifting the dynamics of power. You cannot stop a disease that is being transmitted through sex unless you admit that sex exists, unless women have a right to sex and desire – the same way men have a right .......

read the entire article

learn more 2010 Global Report UN AIDS website

April 4, 1989 my family lost our cousin Peter VanderPutten to AIDS. His life and death gave me many lessons I continue to draw from daily. My song Fallen Friends I wrote in direct reaction to how losing so many friends around me to this terrible disease affected the world around me. Twenty One years later and we still have so much to learn.

I recorded 'Fallen Friends' in 1990 on my recording 'New York Sessions' (out of print), it later was included in a compilation CD entitled 'Sounds For The Soul'. A solo version is also on my Comin' Back To Me CD

MP3 Fallen Friends acoustic version

MP3 Fallen Friends studio recording

Fallen Friends Words/Music-C. Grier Sesac Singerfish Publishing

Where Have My Friends Gone

They Have All Fallen

Where Are My Many Fallen Friends

I keep Thinking

I Hope They Are Somewhere

Where No Anger Resides And There's No Hate

Where No One Decides What's Wrong Or Right

Before Its Too Late

Where Have My Friends Gone

Last I Looked They Were Healthy And Funny, But

Where Are My Many Fallen Friends

I Keep Looking Again

And They're Falling

My Falling, Falling Friends

Some Saw Denial

And Their Lifestyles On Trial

Some Tried To Say

Why Has The Government Looked Far Away

Numbered Days Are All Gone

And They're Falling

Falling Falling Lovers, Falling Men

Falling Women, My Falling Friends

And What We Are Missing

By Not Taking A Stand

Are The Many Numbers Too Afraid To Lend A Hand

And There's Such A Demand

Lives That Are Cut Short

And It Doesn't Make Sense

Why Can't We, Why Can't We Rise Up

And Help Find A Cure, Others Aren't Sure

And They're Falling, Falling Lovers, Falling Men

Falling Women, My Falling Friends

And They're Falling Children

Falling Lovers, Falling Men, Falling Women, My Falling Friends

Will The Falling Ever End