(2008)

The idea for this song came about after reading Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax to my son and wishing the story offered a more hopeful lesson than the “if only” written on the rock at the end. Around the same time, I was watching Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s seven-part PBS documentary, “The War.” The film’s personal narratives moved me deeply and left me astonished at the senseless destruction of so many lives. I imagined how wonderful it would be if I could respond to my son’s questions about war by explaining that it was a terrible thing of the past rather than something my own country was waging in a growing number of places. With all this fresh in my consciousness, I somehow arrived at three chords that were hopeful and uplifting, and I found myself singing “the end of war” as I played them.

In writing the song, I couldn’t help but be influenced by John Lennon, to whom I pay tribute... (continua)