If it please the court I've had a lot to say

And it's not always been true

Standing here before you, judge

I make my pledge of truth to you



The waves came over the bowsprit

The decks awash with running green and foam

Back there at the wheel I was terrified

Next day we first saw home



My relatives came over on the Mayflower

Landed on the shore almost alone

No that damn traffic today is terrible

And everywhere I look I see people alone



Alone with their heads looking in their hands

Lost in the conversation stare

Walking with their eyes looking at the screen

Talking like they were really there



I'm lost in this new generation

Left me behind it seems

Listening to the shadow of Jimi Hendrix

"Purple Haze", sounding like TV



I stepped on someone's hand laying on the street

Both asleep and dead it may seem

He didn't even move there on the sidewalk

I stood there staring in a dream



She came along in her uniform

Stood moving me away with a gentle hand

Dressed in white like a nightingale

Her name was Florence, Florence of the Land

(I knew I'd seen her somewhere)



I knew I'd seen her somewhere

But she was busy with him gone

She came with three different brothers

Abraham, Martin and John



I heard a song about that once

And I never knew what it meant

Three stars died in a plane one night

Rock and Roll, the message that was sent



I couldn't wrap my head around it

Didn't know what it meant

Standing there on that sandy beach

Watching it turn to cement



Now I don't see all the colors

And I might miss some of their beauty

But I do see what I see

And I want to do my duty



Enlisted in the Navy at the corner store

They had a recruiting booth

I covered my heart and raised my hand

And swore it was the truth



That's my pledge

That's my pledge

That's my pledge, judge

That's my pledge