I stopped by Dennis Nanton's dorm room at Rutgers and there was a documentary about Rastafarians on the TV. I watched a few minutes of it and the phrase, keep watch, popped into my head. I don't remember how I wrote the rest.
This song was accepted by WNEW-FM's Prisoners of Rock and Roll contest. I think the DJ's liked it because it was 7 minutes long and they could get a break. We got to play in NYC as part of their performance series related to the contest on 3/24/81 at a club called Privates.
Keepwatch
By Matt Telliho
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
All alone, I need someone
I step with care, through Babylon
As hell break loose, from shore to shore
This emptiness, I can stand no more
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
The days are lost,outside our dreams
Our paths revealed, Through moonlit beams
The search draws near, We must move on
When they arrive, we must be gone
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I’m not talking about the future, the future will never appear
And you know how the past is forgotten, but the present is always here
keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
(solo)
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I’m not talking about the future, the future will never appear
And you know how the past is forgotten, but the present is always here
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
One never knows, what lurks ahead
The Kingston life, the Shanty death
The truth you know, is hard to find
Impossible, if you are blind
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now
I say keepwatch, keepwatch with me now