Song for John Rankin
(April/98-Nov/20)

I’m the second son of John Rankin. He left Manchester for Calgary, In the custody of a secret and his shame.
1933, he found a wife, A brown-eyed flower of Italy, Angel of Gethsemane, consoling in vain, She couldn’t take away that pain.

Chorus

I love when you pick me up, holding me high and strong,
And through your touch I know when something’s wrong.
I knew something was wrong.

Chorus

Did you love when he picked you up, holding you high and strong.
And through his touch, did you know something was wrong?
I knew something was wrong, now I know something was right.
Something was wrong, and something was right.

Followed his pay to the Gateway of the North,
Had 4 children, he loved the theatre,
Acted his career, an Imperial Oil man.
25 before I knew
What happened to him, where he’d been,
Never seen, past the suicide,
Past the day his father died.

[Last Chorus]

Bridge
You memorize your lines,
Becoming for a while someone new.
See how the spotlight shines,
See how your grief bleeds through.

I tried to talk to you,
But it was too late, and if that angel
Couldn’t break the spell, I didn’t stand a chance,
I didn’t stand a chance in hell.
There was another spell, this one’s breaking,
Disappointment in you, that blinded me,
Wouldn’t let me see, your courage to be,
Your devotion to artistry.

Anthony Rankin Wilson