"Silent Legacy" as written by and Melissa Etheridge....
Why did you steal the matches
From the one room motel
Once they gave you answers
Now they give you hell
They will never understand
They wonder where did they go wrong
How could you be so selfish
Why can't you get along
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
You've seen it in the movies
And you've heard it on the street
Craving the affection
Your blood is full of heat
They don't listen to your reasons
As original as sin
Deny all that you feel
And they will bring you home again
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
Your body is alive
But no one told you what you'd feel
The empty aching hours
Trying to conceal
The natural progression
Is the coming of your age
But they cover it with shame
And turn it into rage
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
You are digging for the answers
Until your fingers bleed
To satisfy the hunger
To satiate the need
They feed you on the guilt
To keep you humble keep you low
Some man and myth they made up
A thousand years ago
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
Mothers tell your children
Be quick you must be strong
Life is full of wonder
Love is never wrong
Remember how they taught you
How much of it was fear
Refuse to hand it down
The legacy stops here
Oh my child
From the one room motel
Once they gave you answers
Now they give you hell
They will never understand
They wonder where did they go wrong
How could you be so selfish
Why can't you get along
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
You've seen it in the movies
And you've heard it on the street
Craving the affection
Your blood is full of heat
They don't listen to your reasons
As original as sin
Deny all that you feel
And they will bring you home again
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
Your body is alive
But no one told you what you'd feel
The empty aching hours
Trying to conceal
The natural progression
Is the coming of your age
But they cover it with shame
And turn it into rage
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
You are digging for the answers
Until your fingers bleed
To satisfy the hunger
To satiate the need
They feed you on the guilt
To keep you humble keep you low
Some man and myth they made up
A thousand years ago
And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy
Mothers tell your children
Be quick you must be strong
Life is full of wonder
Love is never wrong
Remember how they taught you
How much of it was fear
Refuse to hand it down
The legacy stops here
Oh my child
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Refuse to hand the fear to the next generation. We can do better. It's possible to be a moral sexual animal without being afraid - afraid of commiting some 'sin' that no one can even explain to you why is bad, afraid of offending some bizarre god that feels that killing his own son would result in the rest of us being forgiven.
Many of the morals of christianity are good - but the implimentation is rotten.
Refuse to hand the fear down. Your children don't need to be saddled with your parents' neuroses.
Peace, Love, Unity, Respect,
Sheer
The implimentation of Christians is rotten? I'd say the parade of partner swapping is whats rotten. You know, if your gay ur gay, and thats all cool. But if your going to sit there and say crap like that then here we go. The only problem I see with the gay community is that love doesn't exsist. That God that sent his son to die for your sins did that to show you how much he loves you. LOVES YOU. If you wanna be gay cool, just learn how to actually love each other and find the one you LOVE and stop all this jumping around from one to an other. If you only understand how much God loves you. Even with all your stupid stuff you wrote and probably do, he STILL loves you and will be there for you. Why, I dont understand but, its not for me to understand. Thats yours and his business. But lay off the christians. They don't hate you. The hate what you do. Is it right? No. But they are human, JUST LIKE YOU!
The implimentation of Christians is rotten? I'd say the parade of partner swapping is whats rotten. You know, if your gay ur gay, and thats all cool. But if your going to sit there and say crap like that then here we go. The only problem I see with the gay community is that love doesn't exsist. That God that sent his son to die for your sins did that to show you how much he loves you. LOVES YOU. If you wanna be gay cool, just learn how to actually love each other and find the one you LOVE and stop all this jumping around from one to an other. If you only understand how much God loves you. Even with all your stupid stuff you wrote and probably do, he STILL loves you and will be there for you. Why, I dont understand but, its not for me to understand. Thats yours and his business. But lay off the christians. They don't hate you. The hate what you do. Is it right? No. But they are human, JUST LIKE YOU!
"REFUSE to hand it down the lef=gacy stops here"
I did.
SLY
I raised a Son, a most precious gift. I knew I was the artist of this perfectly clean canvas. I was the one to choose what went on this canvas.
I choose NOT to raise my Son in fear of this most pathetic, selfish, evil, jealous god. I taught him every and all religions so he could make his own knowledgeable desision.
This song came out when my Son came of age. In fact we were at the last concert of the 'Yes, I am" tour in Houston, TX.
Melissa is a very wise women and a excellent song writer.
Sly
Today, in the positive gay friendly 2010's, this song is rendered irrelevant and moot, and a historical artifact. But to those of us who listened to this in the 1990's, it packed a very powerful punch and was a beacon of light in the darkness of the time.