Ode To Omaha -Version One

The tune is in my head, but not yet preserved. That will come later - I hope.

The following is an ode to Omaha. There also is a later, more specifically autobiographical version that is still in progress - just as this is. However, since this was first written on Saturday, August 16, and I want a post for that day, here is the draft.


Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may roam
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be my home.

Omaha in the nineteen fifties
Where the treats and temptations did abound
Was a suburban garden of eden
Filled with delicious sights and smells and sounds.

On the warm summer nights with fireflies flashing around
The pungent smells of the stockyards thickened the air
While we swayed on the swings and listened to music in the parks
Or took a car trip to Irvington where we ate ice cream without a care.

Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may go
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be in my heart and soul.

Walking along the banks of the muddy Missouri
Sitting in the high backed wooden seats at Union Station
Watching the college and minor league players at Rosenblatt
Living our lives in the midwest cornbelt nation

Checking books out of Wila Cather
Starring at wild and crazy animals at Henry Doorly Zoo
Catching the serial and a movie at the ornate State, Omaha or Astro
There were always things for a young person to do.

Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may roam
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be my home.

In the sixties our horizons were expanded
Blessed by our fast cars gotten without paying our dues
With Dodge Street a concrete river with tributaries to explore
So many places to roam and people to see on our perpetual evening cruise.

In our middle class parent cars we did romp
Eating curly Q's at Tiners and late night sub at Little Kings
Prowling around the loops at Elmwood and Memorial parks
Experiencing all the wild and crazy teenage flings.

Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may go
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be in my heart and soul.

The fruit warehouses became The Old Market
With counterculture stores and sights to explore
There was rock and roll music whispering from every exotic shop
And The Music Box for counterculture live music galore.

Lifelong friendships were made
We fell in and out of love
Spending summer evenings in bagel land
Sharing stories and heady thoughts from above.

Thinking that we understood the world
When we didn't even understand our town
Torn jeans, old clothes and long hair
We put our folks, but not their gifts, down.

There were days of fun
There were nights of play
There were experiences
We still can feel today.

Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may go
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be in my heart and soul.

Omaha Omaha
Wherever I may roam
Omaha Omaha
You'll always be my home.