The Early Years
The following songs describe my youth, brewed in the juices of the first 26 years of life, 1948 to 1974.
Born in the dead of winter in Minneapolis, then transported to Cincinnati before my second birthday, I can best be described as Midwestern stock. Some benedictine flavoring was added by four high school years in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and further cooked with four years of education and contact sports in Colorado Springs. The latter years were lightly salted with sweat, working summers as a ranch hand in Wyoming. A necessary dose of discipline was added to the pot with three years in the Marines topped off with a year spent in working the winter in Alaska and summer in Alabama. The final product was returned home to Cincinnati for further refinement. These “early years” were marinated in loving support from my parents, and flavoring, by example, from an older brother, younger sister and various close friends.
-
As a child my mother sang lullabies to me every evening before I went to sleep.
—
Now it’s time to go to sleep
Where Noble Knights of Night will keep
You Safe from scary things we know
Hairy beasts and other foe
They’ll banish them from sight
Out into the dark of night
Casting them to and fro
Close your eyes and go to sleep
Beneath your covers warm and deep
And let the noble Knights of Night
Gather gentle beams of light
Falling from the moon
To glisten in your room
Then as they fade from sight
They’ll leave a league of Angels to attend thee
To will away your fears to aid thee and befriend thee
And so to sleep, to sleep and dream
Of this and that and as you dream
The Noble Knights of Night will stay
To guard you ‘till the break of day
So close your eyes
Lay thee down
Yes lay down your head, lay it down on your pillow
Let sleep seep in
Lay down your head, lay it down on your pillow
Let your dreams begin
Close you eyes and visualize a maid with curling hair
Peter Pan or Superman soaring through the air
When the night gives way to dawn
When Noble Knights of Night have gone
When you rise and greet the day
May Love and kindness guide your way
So close your eyes
Lay Thee down now you lay thee down
-
As a kid, I spent a lot of time daydreaming.
—
Catch a fire-fly by the light of the moon
Put him in a jar
Take him home and let him loose in your roomAnd you’ll have your own shooting star
Imagination
It’s a fun destination
Easy to reach, no it’s not very far
Imagination
A mental vacation
Right there inside you where ever you are
Take to the sky
try to fly as high as you can fly
Suck in every image that you see
Come back in awe
Then draw everything that you saw
you’ll have
A sketch of the earth in 3D
Imagination
It’s a path to Creation
Takes you
Out of the box
Way over the bar
Imagination
Sweet inspiration
Free for your use
whoever
you are
Imagine you could fly high …. Go out and catch a fire fly
Imagination
-
I was lonely and bored
It was late in July
So we lay in the grass, my shadow and I,
When out of the west, a cloud floating by Said,
“I’m bored and lonely like you
For there’s not much to do, when you’re one of a few of the clouds in a true summer sky.
No there’s not much to do being one of a few Of the clouds in a blue summer sky.”
We chatted and laughed as two new friends may,
But after a while he drifted away,
Yet in his departing, was kind to say
“Been a pleasure talking with you.
For there’s not much to do being one of a few of the clouds, on blue summer day.”
No there’s not much to do when your one of a few of the clouds, on a true summer day”
@Ledyard Campbell LLC 2019 All Rights Reserved
-
I received a good bit of “book learning” in my early years, but my “education” began when two Ranchers in Wyoming made all of us ranch hands face the “real world” challenging us mentally during meals and physically in the fields. This was followed by two summers and three years in the Marine Corps, then a fall spent singing the streets and wine bars of San Francisco, a winter working in Alaska and a summer working for the Alabama government in Montgomery.
He started out in Wyoming, on a ranch along the Green.
In Sublette County, where folks were few and far between.
While he was pushing cows through sage brush, fixing fence, and stacking hay,
He was paying heed to the ranchers, and all they had to say,
For he was looking to see, what kind of man he wanted to be;
Yes, he was looking for the key, the key to who he ought to be.
He soon put up all his ranching gear, his old boots and jeans,
Drove to Virginia, joined the Marines.
He did his hitch without a glitch,
Then yearning for some rest,
He took the songs he knew and joke or two and headed back out West,
Where he went, looking to the left and looking to the right while looking for a life in between.
He was looking at the black and looking at the white, but working day and night for some green.
He was living in the middle of the riddle of it all, searching for the rhythm within,
And when he looked at life, life looked back with a grin,
For It’s not just an endeavor, life is a work of art,
You’ve got to use your brains, but follow your heart,
Be kind in heart and mind, and always do your part,
And if you can’t put all you’ve got to give in it;
DON’T EVEN START!
He wintered in Alaska, working for the Daily News.
Got so cold that year, even sled dogs were wearing shoes.
He lived in Anchorage, but spent some time in Nome.
A beautiful place,
But he just couldn’t face calling Alaska home.
So he went looking to the left and looking to the right while looking for a life in between.
He was looking at the black and looking at the white, but working day and night for some green.
He was living in the middle of the riddle of it all, searching for the rhythm within,
And when he looked at life, life looked back with a grin,
For It’s not just an endeavor, Life is a work of art,
You’ve got to use your brains, but follow your heart,
Be kind in heart and mind, and always do your part,
And if you can’t put all you’ve got to give in it;
DON’T EVEN START!
He may not be that different from every other ordinary Joe,
Living life day to day, going with the flow,
Finding beauty in simple things that come his way, like a pretty smile or a sunset,
Or a perfect summer day.
But he’s still looking for the key,
The key to who he ought to be.
Yes He’s still looking; He’ll keep on looking;
Looking for the Key.
*”Looking for the Key” by Ledyard Campbell
-
They wake you in the morning, kick you out of the rack,
Then the marched you to chow, and they marched you back.
Get into formation, fall out to class.
Shine your boots and polish your brass.
March all day and run for a while.
Bust your ass and wipe off that smile.
No time either day or night that you can really call your own.
So Go on, bark those orders at me,
Tell me where I’ve got to go.
Tell me how I ought to look.
Tell me what I need to know.
But most of all don’t mess with me and I’ll do all you ask and more.
I’m a lean machine … a green Marine … here to give all to the Corps!
Get a haircut , cut it away, fall in at the end of the line.
Yes Sir No Sir , anything you please Sir all the time.
They give you a job and they tell you what to do but they never quite teach you how.
Anything you need to know they’ll show you tomorrow, but they want the job done now.
So Go on, bark orders at me,
Tell me where I’ve got to go.
Tell me how I ought to look.
Tell me what I need to know.
But all I ask don’t mess with me and I’ll give all you ask and more.
I’m a lean machine … a green Marine … here to serve the Corps!
@ Ledyard Campbell LLC 2012/2025 All rights reserved
-
Long ago December, a bleak Alaska sky
Empty streets banked in snow, pretty woman walking by.
Young man from the south 48, working on his own,
Far away from family and friends, feeling all alone,
When she caught his eye,
he drew a sigh.
Couldn’t tell you why.
It might have been the jeans she wore or her long wild windswept hair.
It might have been the way she walked, with confidence to spare.
It may have been her summer smile against the winter sky.
But it all came clear when she drew near, looked him in the eye
And just said “hi”,
a warm welcoming “hi”,
all she said was “hi”.
It caught him by complete surprise, and as she walked awayA smile lit up his face like a kid on Christmas day.
There he was on the streets alone, outside in the cold
But she’d fired the furnace of his aching heart, lifted up his sole,
By saying “hi”;
a warm and welcoming “hi”,
all she said was “hi”
“All She Said Was ‘Hi’ “ by Russell Walden & Ledyard Campbell
-
After All is said and done, I’m glad that I could come
Back home
Back here,
where I belong,
Back home, where I’ve come from.
Folks go out of their way, to stop by;
Drop what they’re doing just to say “hi”,
and
To tell me that I’ve been away far too long
Or to tell a tale about what’s been going on
Since I left home, and went off to find a fortune on my own;
I’ve been away much too long, but now I’m home. After all!
Folks have changed, some grown taller, some turned gray.
Some new folks have moved to town,
old friends moved away.
A lot of new houses built since I left town, and one or two of the old ones have been torn down.
But still it’s home.
A few changes can’t change that all on their own.
I’ve been away much to long, but now I’m home. After all!
No one here to tell me where or what I ought to be!
No deadline weighing heavy on my mind!
No call I’ve got to take!
No deal I’ve got to make!
No goal to meet!
No foe to beat!
No budget to be refined.
So I wake up each morning with nothing to spend but time.
So I sit in the sunset sipping a tonic and lime,
Hearing tales of some of the things folks have done,
Or talking sports with the next door neighbor’s son.
For now I’m home, where I can do as I please as my time is all my own.
I’ve been away much too long, but now I’m home. After all
After all is said and done, I certainly deserve to be,
back home.