I can't handle
Sullivan, because every time I hear it, I think of the song by
Caroline's Spine. It's called "
Sullivan" and I find it difficult to listen to--it's one of those songs where if I was the sort of person who cried at things, I'd be weeping. I'd have a hard time calling a kid by his full name if it was
Sullivan.
These're the lyrics, if you're curious:
It's not hard to reach back
To that day, underneath the Iowa sun
Running to the tower of Waterloo
looking for the
Sullivan's train to come
And his five boys would run to the top
And salute him as he went by
First we wave hello, then we waved goodbye
Goodbye
It's not hard to reach back
to the days after the attack on
PearlAnd overnight my buddies turned into men
Running out of time for games and girls
And the
Sullivan boys were not overlooked
Uncle
Sam calling each by name
The very next day they left on a mystery train
So say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs.
SullivanAnd don't you cry, cry, cry, cry, cry...
We regret to inform you that the Navy
is taking your sons away
All five, five, five, five
So put your blue star in the window
In the window
It's not hard to reach back to her smile
when she received a letter
and the letters they sounded generally the same
said if they couldn't be home
at least they were together
on a mighty fighting battleship
somewhere in the South Pacific
the letters never got much more specific
So say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs.
SullivanAnd don't you cry, cry, cry, cry, cry...
We regret to inform you that the Navy
is keeping your sons away
All five, five, five, five
So put your blue star in the window
In the window
It's not hard to reach back to the day
when the war finally came home
Uncle Sam'll send you a telegram
so he doesn't have to tell you over the phone
I heard she cracked up
when they found out what the war had cost
When all of her five of her boys were lost
They were, they were, they were
Say goodbye, bye, bye Mrs.
SullivanGo ahead and cry, cry, cry, cry, cry
We regret to inform you that all of your sons have passed away
All five, five, five, five
So change your blue star to gold
Blue star to gold
Blue star to gold
Blue stars change them to gold
Array
No one's getting smarter
No one's learning the score
Your never ending spree of death and violence and hate
Is gonna tie your own rope
...
I'd like to leave the world as a better place.