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We Are All Connected

from Everyone's Okay by Kevin Dickerson

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lyrics

I woke up and lay in bed for a minute trying to figure out how to get some new guitar tones
I need to have a conversation with Dan and Beau
But I gotta get paid before I have people building extended range guitars for me
As my bank account is pretty low

It’s November 26, last night we ordered Indian food and stayed in
And watched some show on Netflix with a bunch of swords and a lot of skin
You don’t need a holiday when you’re thankful all the time
And I just read that Fidel Castro died last night

In 1961 my uncle was at the bay of pigs, I visited him
in Cridersville in the mid-2000s, I drove from Pittsburgh with my blonde ex girlfriend
my aunt superglued her tooth, there were Mack trucks and a dog named Tom in the yard
Grandfather was late-stage and rocked a doll like a real child in his arms

I was struck by how similar everything looked to the way things were back home
The two were brothers, they were connected, and it showed
My dad was teased by my uncle until he knocked him out cold one day with a 2x4
And thought grandma’d be mad but she laughed; it was the last time they ever quarreled

Glen was buried with a military funeral, it helped out
My mom emailed me, the subject read, “Your uncle Glen - SAD”

She wrote to me,

Dear Kevin,
Uncle Bill just called Dad and I to let us know that your uncle Glen has passed away.
He died today from a stroke and could not be revived.

Uncle Bill is contacting family members right now.

Dad says Glen just would not listen to anyone about eating all those donuts.
He was about 350 pounds.
Preventable death. Makes me so sad and angry at the same time.

I'll let you know more when we find out.
Bill was going to call Grandma after he talked to us.

Take care,
Love, MOM xo

(November 6th, 2011)

Well Fidel, you did it. You outlasted Glen and some family I never got to know.
And what’s this, Gloria Estefan just put out a touching photo
Of her family on a raft to America on the internet
My girlfriend’s up now and she just brought me coffee and I’m going to take a break and drink it

“May freedom continue to ring in the United States, my beautiful adopted country”
Now I’m drinking my coffee looking out my apartment window
at a palm tree waving in the Mission breeze
thankful for everything I have and everything I’m allowed to be

Gloria Estefan’s sentiment rings true to me
We are all connected. Freedom will continue to ring, Gloria Estafan.
Regardless of whether you’re in the Great White North, Florida, or Northern California
Remember, if someone tries to push you around, you gotta push back

My girlfriend and I took a walk over to the Castro to get some good coffee beans cuz we were out
We stopped by the bookstore where my dad bought a Cher biography
But I was lost in thought as we walked around
Past the tree below which Ronald Merritt Junior’s body was lying on the ground

Covered by a medical examiner’s body bag, a blood stain near his head where he bled
The same colors as a holiday ribbon tied silver and red around that tree
His sister sent me a photo of the two of them as kids, she kissed her brother on the cheek.

She said,

I am the sister of the deceased, Ronald T Merritt, Jr. I would love to talk to you as of the image you remembered.

It appears that my brother had a meeting at the Safeway across the street for the “Feed the Need” food drives that are taking place throughout the Bay Area.

Eradicating homelessness is what got Ronnie up every morning.

Although he called us every Thanksgiving, he never came during Thanksgiving because of his volunteer work to serve the homeless on that day. So we always set a placemat at the table as to his honorable deeds. It was well known about Ron's life-long passion for helping the needy, and the disenfranchised.

“We are all connected” is not just a song by Voivod
“We are all connected” is not just a Neil Degrasse Tyson quote
“We are all connected” is not just a vapid yoga affirmation
We are all connected, and this planet, there’s only one of them

Even though there are terrifying things in it
sometimes rich men in fatigues or red ballcaps may frighten you
and make you promise you’re moving to New Brunswick
while they make false promises all day long to lure the downtrodden and the disenfranchised

Just think of people like Ronald Merritt, Jr.
Who cared so deeply about people who have no voice
Who cared for the homeless, and the disenfranchised
Who died tragically in an accident in front of a Whole Foods, and his sister needs to understand it but can’t

What happened to my mom’s long lost brother Christopher?
Did he die in Washington in Vancouver?
Was he by himself, alone and marginalized?
Or was there someone there for him by his side?

Now I’m finishing up some words about a someone I once knew
Her name was Lindsay, and she killed herself in the mid-2000s
We weren’t the closest of friends, we never kissed or held hands
But I wonder if anyone this year set an empty placemat

credits

from Everyone's Okay, released July 7, 2017
Kevin Dickerson - Words, vocals, electric guitar, electric bass guitar
Beaunoise - Lexicon PCM 41, Korg KR-55
Jessica Bean - Saxophone

Recorded and mixed to 2" tape by Beau Sorenson at Tiny Telephone
Produced by Beau Sorenson and Kevin Dickerson
Mastered by Bob Weston at Chicago Mastering Service

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Kevin Dickerson San Francisco, California

Kevin Dickerson is a songwriter who lives in San Francisco.

Follow @kevindickerson on Instagram

Photo: Katie Thyken

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