Tribute to Coltrane

John Coltrane I heard they called you insane
Like Chuck say in that PE joint back in the day
And nowadays some venerate your name
They say there's even a church built in your name
But tell me: why did the jazz greats go away?
Was it the power in the notes you played?
Why is it Billy Bolden went away?
Why Bird and Coltrane before their day?
Like strange fruit swinging say Billy Holiday
Why did Joplin have to go that way?
Like a Tuskegee experiment explained away
Could it be what Reed say in that Mumbo Jumbo thing?
In the solos taking off like 747 planes
Quench a certain thirst as the horn reigns
Soothing pain, hold sway, shake like a lion's mane
Something in those rhythms made them afraid
How to survive broke backs in the plantation cutting cane
Gave the secret of life away, for no financial gain
In the notes you played, defied their game
Calling all survivors of the crossing, the children of the passage
B y their unknown names, in a sonic way
Musical pictures that a thousand words couldn't paint, Coltrane
Hendrix, Marley, and Tupac carried the flame
Shared the pain, the shallow fame, pressure pon the brain
Your children by spiritual name
What is it in the drums we play?
The way we sway, the colors of our masquerade
Oh my, the music you gave, Coltrane
Why the best of our griots gone away
Taken away
Coltrane



copyright A. Bansfield, 2002