Reflections on the Wall
Alexandria, Virginia
- Artist
- Cleve Francis
- Title
- Reflections on the Wall
- Language
- English
- Country
- Alexandria, Virginia, USA
- Songwriter
- Cleve Francis
- Genre
- Soul, Gospel & Funk · Soul
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation — Soul, Gospel, & Funk Songs
Smooth soul song "Reflections on the Wall", recorded in 1987 in Nashville, Tennessee, possibly on an album called Reflection, although have not tracked this down yet.1 It was composed with Arthur Lisi in 1986. His website said that "JanScruggs, the organizer of the memorial, was so moved by the composition that he asked Cleve to perform the song on Memorial Day, 1987, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."23 The song appeared on the various artist cassette-only compilation Songs of the Wall (1992). Jet magazine referenced the song on 18 January 1988, saying that the album: "was applauded because of his ode to the Vietnam veterans, Reflections on the Wall".4 The album also contained a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., released as a single: Martin. Cleve Francis was born in Jennings,Louisiana, USA, and graduated from Southern University in 1967. He moved to Virginia, to College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, and the Medical College of Virginia where he performed at "many on campus coffeehouses and roadside bars and cafes".5 He then worked at George Washington University Hospital in Washington,D.C. The song focused on the diversity of those who "fought and died for America", including "from cities both big and small, the rich, and the poor, all colors". The song ended with the narrator hoping for a world of peace so that people more people would not die.Sources1countrydiscoghraphy2.blogspot.co.uk: Cleve francis↩2Cleve Francis: Biography↩3The Washington Post: A heartbeat away from stardom↩4Jet, 18 January 1988↩5Cleve Francis: Biography↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Annotation — Veterans Memorial Wall Songs
Smooth soul song "Reflections on the Wall", recorded in 1987 in Nashville, Tennessee, possibly on an album called Reflection, although have not tracked this down yet.1 It was composed with Arthur Lisi in 1986. His website said that "JanScruggs, the organizer of the memorial, was so moved by the composition that he asked Cleve to perform the song on Memorial Day, 1987, at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial."23 The song appeared on the various artist cassette-only compilation Songs of the Wall (1992). Jet magazine referenced the song on 18 January 1988, saying that the album: "was applauded because of his ode to the Vietnam veterans, Reflections on the Wall".4 The album also contained a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr., released as a single: Martin. Cleve Francis was born in Jennings,Louisiana, USA, and graduated from Southern University in 1967. He moved to Virginia, to College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, and the Medical College of Virginia where he performed at "many on campus coffeehouses and roadside bars and cafes".5 He then worked at George Washington University Hospital in Washington,D.C. The song focused on the diversity of those who "fought and died for America", including "from cities both big and small, the rich, and the poor, all colors". The song ended with the narrator hoping for a world of peace so that more people would not die.Sources1countrydiscoghraphy2.blogspot.co.uk: Cleve francis↩2Cleve Francis: Biography↩3The Washington Post: A heartbeat away from stardom↩4Jet, 18 January 1988↩5Cleve Francis: Biography↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: The right or wrong of war, they never asked / Instead they headed the country's call, they fought and died for America / There names are there on the wall / From the North and the South, from the East and the West / From cities both big and small, from the rich and the poor, all colors they bore their names on the wall / They were bright young poets who would never write / Father who would never see their children grow tall / As old and as young as they's ever be, patriots all, on the wall / Unless we can learn from our past all their dying would have been in vain and brave young men will return to the war / To add names to the wall again / The wall is here to remind us all that good and brave men die when their country calls / We pray for a world where peace stand tall / Where men don't die in a war at all / There names are there on the wall... / Somebody's brother...crying mother there at the wall...
Notes
YouTube upload (channel Nancy Lisi Musicalhossgal): song written by Cleve Francis in 1987 and performed 25 May at the Vietnam Wall; audio produced by Arthur Lisi; Cleve Francis lead vocal, David Yarborough flute, Arthur Lisi keyboards, Greg Jennings guitars. No Discogs release found; nearby Discogs items: 'Martin' (Southern Tracks ST 1050, produced by Moses Dillard) and self-released LP 'Timeless' (Cleve Francis Productions EGE-822, 1985).
About the artist
Cleve Francis (born Cleveland Francis Jr., 22 April 1945, Jennings, Louisiana) is a cardiologist and singer-songwriter who recorded folk and blues from the late 1960s and three country albums for Liberty (1992–94); he lives in Alexandria, Virginia. [Source: Wikipedia; Country Music Hall of Fame]