I wanted to write a follow-up to my 12-minute epic Arabic trance mandolin piece from a few years ago.
This feels a bit like ordering whiskey and getting lemonade. I like lemonade, once I roll it around in my mouth a wee bit. Still ain’t whiskey.
mandolin Em
in the jungle deep and dark and fusty
where one’s boots and helmet often become musty
in the desert where the winds are gusty
and the everlasting dust is oh so dusty
it’s important for trav’lers far and near
to be able to get from there to here
my successful return year after year
can be ascribed to knowing which course to steer
where deserts winds have skirled
or oceans oysters pearled
into whatever setting one is hurled
I like to keep it furled
so the edges don’t get curled
my laminated map of the world
in the daytime it will always put you right
in valley green or on the mountains white
its value’s undiminished by the night
because, of course, you’ve brought along a light
chorus
on a journey, when brigands are about
don’t blanch in fear or give way to doubt
a map can turn retreat into a rout
when it’s wrapped around a cudgel good and stout
chorus
my laminated map of the world
my laminated map of the world