The Man On The Ledge was released in 1994 by Shanachie Records of Newton, NJ. It is currently out of print. Please contact Shanachie Records, or perhaps try eBay. These songs are among those that appear on "The Man On The Ledge", released by Shanachie Records, 1994:
American Jerusalem
For The People
Hey Mr. President
Women Of The World
Auschwitz
American Jerusalem
©1978 Rod MacDonald
New York City rain
I don't know if it's making me dirtier or clean
went for the subway but there was no train
and the tunnel was crumbling for repairs again
and the sign said welcome to American Jerusalem
I been around
you could spend forever looking for a friend in this town
and all you get to do is lay your dollar down
till you're stumbling drunk up the stairs again
and the sign says welcome to American Jerusalem
In the temples of American Jerusalem
they buy an ounce of South African gold
they don't care who was bought or sold
or who died to mine it
in the temples of American Jerusalem
they buy an ounce of Marseilles white
somewhere on a street with no light
somebody dies trying it
and somewhere in a crowd
looking the kind of way that makes you turn around
will be somebody who knows what it's about
and she's going to take the ribbons from her hair again
and welcome you to American Jerusalem
In the alleys of American Jerusalem
the homeless lie down at the dawn
the pretty people wonder what they're on
and how they afford it
in the ashes of American Jerusalem
the prophets live their deaths out on the corner
the pretty people say there should've been a warning
but nobody heard it
then shadows lick the sun
the streets are paved with footsteps on the run
somebody must've got double 'cause I got none
I forgot to collect my share again
so go west to breath the cleansing air again
go Niagara for your honeymoon again
go on the road if you're going to sing your tune again
go to sea to learn to be a man again
till you come on home to
American Jerusalem
For The People (also performed by Tracy Sands on "Enchanted")
© 1991 Rod MacDonald
Last night I dreamed of my old home
my sister and I, when we were young
the yellow sun shone through flow'ring trees
we rode the old familiar streets
the faces of old friends were near
the smiles of childen bright and clear
my mother sang our favorite songs
my father worked his patch of ground
When I awoke I was far away
in a land where only yesterday
after forty years of tyranny
the foreign armies had to leave
and as I walked the streets of town
with my new friends who call it home
in the air so newly free
this is what they said to me:
"I would not love my country more
for victories in foreign wars
I did not love my country less
when it was occupied and oppressed
not for some politicians' speech
but for the people strong and free
the land so green, the sky above
these are the country that I love"
Now who can say what takes a man
far away from his own land
and yet his dreams will take him home
back to the land where he was born
to walk the old familiar roads
and see the faces young and old
the land so green the sky above
these are the country that I love
Hey, Mr. President
©1992 Rod MacDonald
I've been all over this great big land of ours
from the seaside of Seattle to the hills of Arkansaw
where the Little Rockers gather at the Solar Cafe
and they tell a tale of Wild Bill back in his younger days
and they say
Hey, Mr. President, pass that doobie over here
if you're not going to smoke it, don't hold it in the air
are you just going to sit there, grinning like a jerk?
if you don't inhale it, it's never going to work
I guess I should've known it, I guess it had to come
'I've seen it in the New York Times, right up on page one
Bob Dylan wrote a song about, least I'm pretty sure
I believe I know what Elvis would've done if he was there
he'd say
Now whoever would've thunk it, whoever would admit
the President of the USA might've took a hit
next thing you're gonna tell me, he's got a working wife
I think I voted for a winner for the first time in my life
Women Of the World (also performed by Tracy Sands on "Enchanted")
© Rod MacDonald
I think I'd like to say a word or two today
for all the women of the world
In my experience it makes a lot of sense
to know the women from the girls
Oh I don't know if it's me or if it's you
but girls will be girls and women have a different point of view
and I admit it's true I have known one or two
of the women of the world
Last night a woman said
I'm trying to clear my head of everything I've learned in life
I've been my parents' child, did drugs and running wild,
I've been a girlfriend and a wife
now I want to think for myself and be for myself
and keep my own flag unfurled
why should I want a man? I want to play my hand
and be a woman of the world.
And I guess I've had my share of hop the world's unfair
and women get a lousy break
of money men get more, and keep the world at war
and always make the same mistakes
and men are always hungry for love, and afraid of love,
and runnin' around after the pretty girls
I wish that you could see how hard it is to be
a simple woman of the world
Sometimes when I'm alone I hear the telephone
conversation in my dream
a voice is on the line: "How are you doing? Fine"
Oh really, I'm just in between.
Don't I wish I had a home, a love of my own
a couple of baby boys and girls?
But then there's my career, could you come over here
and love this woman of the world.
Auschwitz (from Italian, original song by Francesco Guccini)
I died who was a child
I died like so many others
who passed thru a chimney
and now are in the wind
at Auschwitz there was the snow
and the smoke rose slowly of so many people
but now there's only a great silence
of so many people in the wind
it's strange but still i haven't learned
to smile here in this wind
and i wonder, can man learn to live without killing?
and will this wind ever end?
and still the cannons are sounding
and still, he's not contented
this blood thirst of the human beast
with so many people in the wind
yes, and still the cannons are sounding
yes and still he's not contented
we will be here always, the smoke and the powder
of millions here in this wind
translation ©1996 rod macdonald (blue flute music, ASCAP usa)