Henry's Songbook

Chorus:
Don't turn the key, your life's for living
Don't turn the key, put down your pride
Don't turn the key, your time's for giving
Don't turn the key, just turn aside

The sun shone down on the morning
As he drove out from the town
Another day and a job to do
Can't let it get him down
But something pierced his heart that day
The smell of earth and tree
A feel for life he couldn't hold
A longing to be free

Ahead there stood a soldier
Let him by with a rifle wave
He cleared his name, drove through the rock
Into a cold steel cave
And he travelled down like some miner
A mile below the ground
But no mine this, just empty rooms
Lights flashing all around

With coffee cups the day dragged on
The screens told him, All clear
And his mind went back to days of old
When they fought with bow and spear
Then death came one to one
You saw your enemy
And he wondered who he's killing now
With one hand on the key

He struck the screen with an angry fist
He left his post below
And he walked into the sunshine
Where he breathed the air so slow
They'll say he's mad, a crazy man
A traitor to the land
But who's left now to turn the key
Will it be your hand

[1987:] Jean Louis Cahu used to be a lieutenant in the French Air Force. He was in charge of one of two keys to the firing system of nuclear missiles. One day he walked out of his post, deep in the mountains of South East France, but was caught and charged with desertion. However, the State Prosecutor saluted his "honesty and courage". (Notes Ian Walker, 'Flying High')