1968

That year May lasted twelve months
You and I had just been born
And a very serious man died of grief
On the front page of the ABC
The carnations bit the judges
Paris was a neighborhood with an accordion
Marx forbade his kids from being late
To the sweet bonfire of the uprising
Poetry hit the streets
We recognized our faces
We knew that anything is possible
In 1968

Jean Paul Sartre and Dylan sang in duet
Lenin and Rimbaud played in a circle
The clocks marked 40 degrees of fever
They talked about sex at the Renault factory
Two and two never added up to four again
He suffered heartbreak even Degault
In the middle of Prague, poppies grew
Like a red challenge to the gray concrete
Poetry hit the streets
We recognized our faces
We knew that anything is possible
In 1968

But we couldn't reinvent history
Death chewed gum in Vietnam
Tanks crushed the flowers of Prague
In beautiful Mexico, they were shooting to kill
While Che was digging his grave in Bolivia
Masiel sang at Eurovision
And my dad arrived on time to work
In a white collar and a brown suit
If I find that friend now
I read in the depths of his eyes
That the flowers have dried up
From 1968

The paintings went on strike in the museums
Paris was red, San Francisco blue
A homeless man was elected mayor
And the Sorbonne was in Kathmandu
Survive, you idiot! It's rock or death
Drink Coca-Cola, sing this song
That spring will last very little
That tomorrow is Monday and it rained last night
If I find that friend now
I read in the depths of his eyes
That the flowers have dried up
From 1968