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They Took Only the Coins

from The Mechanism by Mitch Goldwater

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about

I just don’t remember. Or won’t allow myself to remember. This song is about that uncomfortable phenomenon.

My thanks go out to the audience at VOLO for playing the dual roles of my psyche at war with itself. The lyrics were tough, but you nailed 'em.

lyrics

They Took Only the Coins

Who let it slip that the Carson City silver
was in the steel box under your parents’ double bed,
and the Buffalo nickels and Kennedy halves,
untouched by any hands, were in tubes and shelved with the linen?

It was your grandparents’ vacation—the first of their lives—
and Grandpa’s collection was stashed for safekeeping.
They saw the swaying palms, the manatees,
the orange groves of Florida—
and we came home from school
to wrecked beds and ransacked rooms

They took only the coins Na, na na, na na.
They took only the coins and everything we had.

The early flight home and detectives asking questions:
What was it? Where was it? Why was it here?
But they knew it was the Harveys.
And we knew it was the Harveys.
They damn well knew it was the Harveys,
but not how the Harveys knew.

Had you bragged? Sure you did.
Or your brother did. Are you sure you did?
And which of the two of you said, “Yes, I did”?
No one asked at dinner. No one asked, ever.

They took only the coins (Who let it slip?)
They took only the coins and everything we had.

(They took only the coins) Who let it slip?
They took only the coins and everything we'd had.

La la. Na, na na, na na.

credits

from The Mechanism, track released February 28, 2022
Music and Words, Voices and Instruments: Mitch Goldwater
-Additional Vocals: Matthias and Violet Doerksen-Goldwater
-Heartfelt thanks to the crowd at VOLO, whose singing brought the song (and the internal struggle) to life.
-Additional thanks to Andy Knapp, who recorded the crowd and got me a copy.
-And a tip of the hat and deep bow to Will Russel at Electric Wilburland Studios, for all his expertise, especially mixing, calming the talent, and knowing exactly which microphone is the right microphone.

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Mitch Goldwater

Mitch Goldwater started stirring syllables and song together as a tot, after he sat agog listening to John Lennon's words "flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup." Mitch went on to study and teach poetry writing (unlike Lennon, who, thankfully, did not). Nowadays he mostly crouches between song & poetry trying to fit the one into the other, right where he thinks they belong. ... more

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