Wellstone Memorial

A memorial has opened at the site of the crash that killed Paul and Sheila Wellstone, along with seven others, back in October 2002. I made my own memorial the same day the plane went down, scratching out the words before I had a tune, sitting alone at Grumpy's bar.

I had known Wellstone as his student in American Government class, as a war protestor and a distance runner. Later, I wrote my first check for a political campaign when he announced for the Senate race. There were times Paul's passion could grate even upon his friends and colleagues, but there was no mistaking his caring and purity of spirit, and yet, in one of the most nauseating developments in Minnesota politics, we sent Norm Coleman to fill his shoes.

"Eveleth" could've used revising and polishing after the fact. The recording should've been recut (the line is supposed to be: "And you know you don't look back"). But the song is about the collision of imperfection and obscurity and fame and fire in that swamp, and how there's nothing we can do about it except carry on the flame.


MP3 File