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Franje

from Big In Slovenija by Venetic ®

/

lyrics

Franje

It’s a steep climb from the village,
as you leave the last of the ancient houses behind
Passing through fields, up into a valley high in the mountains
There’s no-one there: no cars, no passing motorcyclists, no tractors,
no walkers
The road keeps climbing, and the valley narrows
Hemmed in on either side by fir trees, the road gets more claustrophobic
There’s a sense that you’re being watched from the darkness underneath the trees
Impenetrable darkness: you can’t see more than twenty metres into it
Yet all the while, overhead, through the gap made by the road, sun comes streaming down
There’s an odd sense of imbalance between the heat you’re feeling on your face
And the cold just over there, under those fir trees

The turn-off comes fairly soon, after a few kilometres
And then there’s a climb, into a narrow gorge, scrambling up rocks
Past the babbling falls, rushing water falling down the stones, cascading into pools
Past a monument to a fallen soldier:
You stop and look, and then carry on
More winding steps - it’s narrow, very narrow
But not until you’ve passed it do you realise you’ve walked into the fire zone of what used to be a machine gun post
Two men could hold off an army down this ravine, and they did

Further up is a little bridge: You cross it, and then you’re in the base
A cluster of little huts built by the partisans sheltering from the Germans, that were never taken
Overhead the rocks narrow above, preventing anyone from bombing
The Luftwaffe tried; the Stukas failed

Past the huts is a narrow path that goes even higher,
climbing to a punchbowl
Down in the punchbowl is some scrub; meagre vegetation at this altitude
And then you’re climbing again, to the upper lip of the punchbowl
Ringed by machine gun posts looking out over a rocky wasteland
Again, a few men could hold off an army here, and they did

The base that was never taken
A place of refuge, a place of healing
And of hope for a new tomorrow

credits

from Big In Slovenija, released August 22, 2017
(C) (P) W.S. McCallum 22 August 2017

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Venetic ® New Zealand

Since 2002, Venetic has independently released 10 albums with more on the way. Healed by the flames of purgatory, he is now back from the undead.

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