20150827

Listen To Your Heart - Live Acoustic Cover

Quabbin Valley Folk brought this story to me after reading about the long-suffering courthouse and that trembling viaduct on ninety-one. Western Mass has been raising its voice about these issues for years, so we turned it into a song the way folks around here always have, by putting the truth into melody and letting harmony carry the weight. We’ll record it at rehearsal today, keeping it raw and close to the bone, just the way the valley tells its stories. This one is for everyone who has walked those worn halls, driven that cracking road, and wondered when fairness will finally reach the west.

A new one for Quabbin Valley Folk, written from today’s local headlines. Standing up for the west the way our music always has. #adamrsweet #QuabbinValleyFolk #BeaconHillNeglect

Verse 1
I walked down old State Street, early morning light,
Called for jury duty, thought it'd be a simple rite.
But the courthouse looked so weary, its windows stained with rain,
A house of justice left to rust, a home for grief and pain.

Chorus
Beacon Hill neglect, hear the valley call,
From the Quabbin to the river, from the city to the small.
We're not asking for a treasure, just the fairness we expect-
Hear the voices of the west beneath your Beacon Hill neglect.

Verse 2
Inside were empty hallways, doors locked and ceilings stained,
Folks once coughed through moldy air, their voices thin, restrained.
They fled to distant offices, their lungs began to clear-
But the building kept on crumbling, while Boston failed to hear.

Chorus
Beacon Hill neglect, hear the valley call,
From the Quabbin to the river, from the city to the small.
We're not asking for a treasure, just the fairness we expect-
Hear the voices of the west beneath your Beacon Hill neglect.

Verse 3
They say there's plans a-plenty, proposals on the line,
Eleven dreams for starting fresh, but still no shovels find
Their way into the morning dirt, no promise set in ground-
Just years of shifting timelines and hope that circles 'round.

Chorus
Beacon Hill neglect, hear the valley call,
From the Quabbin to the river, from the city to the small.
We're not asking for a treasure, just the fairness we expect-
Hear the voices of the west beneath your Beacon Hill neglect.

Verse 4
And driving to that courthouse, you meet another sign,
The viaduct that trembles as you roll down ninety-one.
The ramps and bends grow brittle, the river hums below,
A road that keeps us tethered, yet makes it hard to go.

Chorus
Beacon Hill neglect, hear the valley call,
From the Quabbin to the river, from the city to the small.
We're not asking for a treasure, just the fairness we expect-
Hear the voices of the west beneath your Beacon Hill neglect.

Verse 5
We're not asking for a favor, no special golden key,
Just roads that hold together and courts where justice breathes.
So hear us in the valleys, the hills where echoes swell-
We're singing for the future that Beacon Hill forgot as well.

Chorus (final)
Beacon Hill neglect, hear the valley call,
From the Quabbin to the river, from the city to the small.
We're not asking for a treasure, just the fairness we expect-
Hear the voices of the west beneath your Beacon Hill neglect.

Magpie

The Mountain Goats

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