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A look at the onset of Alzheimer's Disease

Below: Abandoned shops and buildings in Philadelphia, just a few blocks from Independence Hall.

Title:     I Am Erica  
Appears on:   "An American Sampler"
Status:   - Released  2008
A new version will also be included on "Rural Mural"

Notes: 
Recorded July 4, 2008

Click here for Lyrics
Audio Clip - coming
You can get the song  on  the compilation CD of Americana, Nostalgia, and Patriotic songs
 "An American Sampler"

I     It was a hot July 4, 2008.  The news was full of  stories about people losing their jobs and losing their homes.  Gas and oil prices were higher than they'd ever been.  Food costs were skyrocketing.  The stock market and economy were as bad as they've ever been since the Depression.  We were at war in the Middle East.  And in the few years since 9/11,  our moral standing in the world had declined precipitously.  Yet, amid all that news, I read that they were going to be re-opening the crown of the Statue of Liberty for the first time since 9/11.  We are ultimately a nation of hope.

I started thinking of our country as a young girl, with the idealism and fire of youth giving way to less noble things in later years, but in seeing that about herself,   a renewed hope was born.

I had just finished writing a chapter in my songwriting book about "white space", which is how the spacing between words affects their meaning.  I saw that the only thing  needed to lyrically personify our country as a girl/woman is a slight shift in white space from
"I, America" to "I Am Erica".   The spacing of the words changes as the song progresses.

The images in the verses came from many sources in current events, closed business I've seen in many cities,  and a tip of the hat to the title of  great song by James McMurtry, "You Can't Make It Here Anymore".

The song was included in a collection of patriotic songs issued by the Connecticut Songwriters Association called "An American Sampler".   One of the most patriotic things any citizen can do is to raise up for discussion those things which are not right with our country, so that we can make them better.  That's what they did in 1776.  That's what we can do today.

You can get the song  on  the compilation CD of Americana, Nostalgia, and Patriotic songs    "An American Sampler"     Click here for Lyrics