We Still Care
The Pearl Harbor Commemorative Song
By Keith Haugen

Zeroes broke the silence of a quiet Sunday morning
God's day of rest was shattered by the sound of guns and bombing.
The harbor boiled, the sky turned black,
Our home was under fierce attack
Our brave men were fighting back, the attack was without warning.

Grown men cried, as comrades died
And Pearl became a gateway to heaven

Heroes born on this morn lived to tell of the hell and to mourn
With great pride those who died, remember well.

Since that day of infamy, fifty years have come and gone
Tear-stained pages tell how we wrote our victory song
The war is over, all is past, peace has come, but memories last
Our flag is halfway down the mast, oh yes, we remember

How grown men cried, as comrades died
And Pearl became a gateway to heaven

So lay a wreath, say a prayer for the men who have died under there
Lives they gave, a country saved, and we still care. . . we still care!

      It was this painting by Jack Matthews that gave Keith the idea to write "We Still Care," The Pearl Harbor Commemorative Song, in 1991. Jack is a Canadian-born artist who was living in Honolulu at the time, heading up his own art studio, Matthews Design.  Jack had done a number of commissioned works for Keith & Carmen and  when Keith was admiring this painting in its early stages, Jack asked the composer if he had written a song about the Arizona or Pearl Harbor. Keith picked up on the suggestion and wrote "We Still Care." The original of this painting even hung in the Haugen home for a period of time and was   prominently featured by local television news crews who came to interview Keith about the song. Jack has since moved back to Canada.  "What caught my fancy was how cleverly Jack showed both the new, modern Arizona Memorial and the disaster of December 7, 1941, when the Arizona was sunk by Japanese Zeros, taking thousands of men down to their   watery grave, in one painting."
      Keith said. "He brought it all together in this one picture.  "That gave me the incentive to try to do the same thing in a song."  "We Still Care" was written, arranged, and produced by Keith; and features the guitar work of Guy Tseu, who recorded on all of Keith & Carmen's recordings from 1978 until his death in 1997, at 41.  The vocal backup was provided by 11 members of the Sounds of Aloha Barbershop Chorus: TENORS: Steve DeCrow, David Leeder; LEAD: Bill Curtis, Mark Conching, Tom Hutton, Sam Vigil; BARITONES: Wayne Neidhardt, Ralph Brandt; BASSES: Ed Allen, Tim Ozmun, Rob Hartley. The recording was engineered by Dunbar Wakayama, Stanton K. Haugen, and Carl Carlson. Keith & Carmen performed the number as part of the official ceremonies at Pearl Harbor when the entire nation commemorated the 50th anniversary of the 1941 attack. They also performed it as the theme song of the half-time show of the Aloha Bowl Game at Aloha Stadium on Christmas Day 1991. As Keith sings the song, Carmen translates it into American Sign Language (ASL).
      "We Still Care" has become an important part of every Keith & Carmen Haugen performance. "If we don't include it in a show, someone always requests it," Keith said. "It is our most requested of our own songs, ahead of "Protea," "Brown Skin Woman," even "It's Christmas (All Over The World)."