The Day After is een ontroerend lied van de Amerikaanse singer/songwriter Darrell Scott, dat gaat over de dood van zijn collega David Olney (1948-2020). Die stierf tijdens een optreden in Santa Rosa (Florida) op 18 Januari 2020. Hij stopte midden in een lied, verontschuldigde zich en overleed, waarschijnlijk aan een hartaanval.
Scott zegt er zelf het volgende over: “I was on the same songwriter festival (30A), where David Olney passed in mid-song on stage less than one month ago. Many of us were there at the festival with that news of our brilliant friend gone. This song called “The Day After” is what I have done in processing the loss with love, respect and remembrance of a great lifetime artist.”
Darrell Scott wordt in dit nummer begeleid door Andrea Zonn & Kristin Wilkinson op viool en Austin Hoke op cello.
The Day After
I found out the next morning
from my ex wife.
The world and David Olney had lost his life.
The message sure was sad,
but I was not surprised.
The day after David Olney died
Panhandle Florida
sure can make you cold.
January northern winds
can cut right through your soul.
We all walked in with sorrows
looking for a place to hide.
The day after David Olney died.
Professor, contender, breathless,
beauty, fearless, theater.
Words to cut right through me.
A gentleman a wild man,
underneath fadora hat.
I’ll always picture him like that.
I offered up a song
that I hardly knew.
With his poetry and passion,
his rocking wisdom passing through.
Half of us were silent,
and the other half just cried.
The day after David Olney died.
I went to the place
where he last bowed his head.
To feel the ghost of Shakespeare,
where they pronounced him dead.
Then I smoked and toasted brilliance
to the sunset tide.
The day after David Olney died.
Passion, overwhelming,
through his stories and his songs.
Weeping in the back row,
till the last one was gone.
I wish I had more time with him,
is all I can say.
Wish he were here with us today.
So if you’re traveling that ole west
bound out of 30A.
And need a song or dignity
to light your way.
Lend an ear to a singer
who never learned to lie.
His last words were I am sorry.
Why?
