Sergeant Darkness
Written by Gerry Beckley, ©1977
Found on Harbor, America Live, and Highway.

Thank the morning for bringing you
Hope you never turn your head and run
And thank the sun for shining, too
Hope the darkness never comes again
What it does to me
Isn't good to see

You say that fortune brought you
Sailin' cross the sea
I don't believe you
I don't see how it's true
I think my dreamin' brought you here
And if I wake tomorrow will you still be near

Once a miser, twice a son
Three's a devil, four's a lot of fun
Fun for living one and all
Start a battle, who's the first to fall
Hope it isn't me
Have to wait and see

You say that fortune brought you
Sailin' cross the sea
I don't believe you
I don't see how it's true
I think my dreamin' brought you here
If I wake tomorrow will you still be near
Should I live with rain and then the sky will clear

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet)
On the other end of the spectrum was "Sergeant Darkness," a Beckley midnight meditation set to a melancholic piano line. "It sounds esoteric, but I think, in general, I was just having a hard time sleeping," he says. "The song was about that feeling when you wake up in the morning and that endless night of tossing and turning is over. If you listen to it that way, it's much more literal. I like that song quite a bit." (The "sergeant" is no one in particular, by the way.)


Last Revised: 28 September 2000