Around 1960, 1970
Vietnam war
People are fighting, trying to stop it
But yet people keep dying and dying
Around 1980, 1990
The AIDS epidemic breaks out
People are fighting, trying to stop it
But yet people keep dying and dying
The number
Of the dead and the dead
Compared
Don’t matter
There’s something you can’tIgnore or ignore
There’s a wall
Long and tapered
With names, name by name, all over
People flock to it
And are inspired
There’s a quilt
Square and blocked out
With names, name by name, all over
People flock to it
And are inspired
The Vietnam war ends
The number of the dead
Is seen and put aside.
The AIDS epidemic spreads
The number of the dead
Is seen and put aside.
There’s something same about both:
A-R-T.
It endures
and it inspires.