Kid Pan Alley: Music

• MP3 play whole song, hi-fi (broadband)
• MP3 play whole song, lo-fi (modem)

This was part of an intergenerational Kid Pan Alley workshop in which Senior citizens came to the school and told the kids what it was like when they grew up in the same area. One of the seniors, a black woman, had previously been the principal of the very school we were working in.
She told the kids about the one room school she had gone to during segregation and how she went back to look at it and it was all falling down. She got some of her friends together and they raised money to rebuild the school. The kids wrote their song about that.

I went back to where my old school used to be
Last time I saw it was 1933
I was in Miss Booker’s class
From my 1st grade to my last year in school
Just one room and a wood burning stove
There were no lights, just a big tall window (window)
I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
Nothin’s forever, forever

I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
As it must. ‘Cause nothin’s forever, forever

I went back to that place, all that was left
Were bushes and brambles and three tiny steps
There was only one book left around
I remember she read it out loud to us all
I still see the smile on her kind, lovely face
I can still hear her voice slowly fade away as it echoes (echoes)
I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
Nothin’s forever, forever
I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
As it must ‘Cause nothin’s forever, forever

I called all my friends
All that were left
And we decided to rebuild our school
Now there are 200 kids
My son teaches math
And we follow that timeless rule
Memories are forever
Memories are forever
I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
Nothin’s forever, forever
I’m watching my past as it all turns to dust
As it must ‘Cause nothin’s forever, forever
Nothin’s forever, forever