Bassist, singer, songwriter, and engineer Michael Been, lead singer of The Call, died Thursday from an apparent heart attack. He was sixty years old.
Mr Been was working as an engineer for his son Robert's band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, at a festival gig in Belgium. Despite immediate treatment at the scene, Mr Been was pronounced dead in a Belgian hospital a short time later.
I can't begin to tell you how sad I am.
The Call recorded two of my all-time favorite songs, 'When The Walls Came Down' and 'Let The Day Begin.' Four or five years ago some friends and I tried to organize a cover band, tentatively named ¡Viva las Contras! - our logo was to be a picture of Ronald Reagan in a Che beret and beard. The plan was to cover political songs from the Eighties, and at my insistence 'When The Walls Came Down' was the song that would open the set. Unfortunately plans for the band fell through, as they so often do, but I still practice 'Walls' from time to time.
Well they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They'd all been warned
And the walls came down
They just stood there laughing
They're not laughing anymore
The walls came down
Sanctuary fades
congregation splits
Nightly military raids
The congregation splits
It's a song of assassins
Ringin' in your ears
We got terrorist thinking
Playing on fears
Well they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They'd all been warned
But the walls came down
I do't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
playin' with tanks
'Let The Day Begin' also holds a special place in my heart; I greet my children with the chorus most mornings, as I have since each of them were born.
Here's to the babies in a brand new world
Here's to the beauty of the stars
Here's to the travellers on the open road
Here's to the dreamers in the bars
Here's to the teachers in the crowded rooms
Here's to the workers in the fields
Here's to the preachers of the sacred words
Here's to the drivers at the wheel
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin, let the day begin
Here's to the winners of the human race
Here's to the losers in the game
Here's to the soldiers of the bitter war
Here's to the wall that bears their names
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin, let the day begin, let the day start
Here's to the doctors and their healing work
Here's to the loved ones in their care
Here's to the strangers on the streets tonight
Here's to the lonely everywhere
Here's to the wisdom from the mouths of babes
Here's to the lions in the cage
Here's to the struggles of the silent war
Here's to the closing of the age.
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Let the day begin
Here's to you my little loves with blessings from above
Now let the day begin, let the day begin, let the day start
Godspeed, Michael Been, and thank you, from the bottom of my heart.