LYRICS, POETRY AND PROSE XIII

FEATURED POSTS

May 16, 2017

A place to share some words of beauty, inspiration, and fun. As Mickey and Sylvia used to say, “love is strange.” Today we’re talking about love gone wrong and how quickly love between men and women can turn deadly. Today we feature Marty Robbins singing about a victim of love waiting to be hanged. Then we have Willie Nelson singing about the red-headed stranger taking his revenge on the little darling that left him and the man with whom she ran off. And lastly we have the Dixie Chicks singing Goodbye Earl to the man who beat his wife. Click on the name of the piece to get a video or more information. You have some favorite lyrics? Please share…

I took my pistol from my hip and with a trembling hand
I took the life of pretty Flo and that good for nothin’ man
That good for nothin’ man
I think about the thing I’ve done, I know it wasn’t right
They’ll bury Flo tomorrow, but they’re hanging me tonight
They’re hanging me tonight

– They’re Hanging Me Tonight Singer: Marty Robbins; Writers: Jimmy Low and Art Woltert

But he found them that evening
In a tavern in town
In a quiet little out of the way place
And they smiled at each other
When he walked through the door
And they died with their smiles on their faces
They died with a smile on their face

– Medley: Blue Rock Montana / Red Headed Stranger Singer: Willie Nelson

Right away Mary Ann flew in from Atlanta
On a red eye midnight flight
She held Wanda’s hand and they worked out a plan
And it didn’t take them long to decide
That Earl had to die
Goodbye, Earl
Those black-eyed peas, They tasted alright to me, Earl
You feelin’ weak? Why don’t you lay down and sleep
Earl, ain’t it dark
Wrapped up in that tarp, Earl

– Goodbye Earl Singers: Dixie Chicks; Writer: Dennis Linde

News

April 17, 2024

Minor Character

Sometimes I feel like a minor character in one of those really long James Michener historic novels. I’m one of the guys they check in on a couple of times during the course of the book and one more time when he finally kicks the bucket. In truth, that suits me just fine. I don’t want to be one of the major players – those guys who lie, cheat, sleep around, make a lot of money, kill a lot of people, and then then suffer a tragic death on Christmas Eve. I just want to be me – plugging along, having some fun, loving the same woman for years, and then quietly passing away.

March 25, 2024

Cereal Killer

I have almost given up on cereal. As a younger man, I loved a sugary treat. As an old man, who has to watch his diet, I find myself checking labels on everything. Sugar is the enemy. For instance, Cap’n Crunch – a former favorite of my wife – contains: Corn Flour, Sugar, Oat Flour, Brown Sugar, Palm and/or Coconut Oil, Salt, Reduced Iron, Yellow 5, Niacinamide, Yellow 6, BHT, Thiamin, Mononitrate, Pridoxined Hydrochloride, Rioflavin, and Folic Acid. My choice: plain old Shredded Wheat. Ingredients: wheat and BHT (a harmless preservative). Not a taste treat, but at least I’ll live to tell about it

Highway Memorials

Driving across country nowadays, we notice a growing number of roadside displays – flowers, crosses, and ribbons – marking the sites where people apparently died in traffic accidents. I do understand mourning the passing of somebody you love, but I’m not sure I see the point of putting a display at the place along the road where they died. Even sadder is the fact that flowers wilt and highway trash piles up around the displays, making them just another sad reminder of life cut short.

December 5, 2023

Love Motives

I often tell my wife I love and adore her, mainly because I do and also because women like to hear the man in their life actually say the words. But during one conversation I had to confess that some times when I say it – especially when she is irked and giving me the deadly silent treatment – I am also reminding myself of that fact so I don’t start yelling and slamming doors. Is that so wrong?

Being Mortal

I am officially an old man. Sometimes I forget, then I look in the mirror and there it is. The truth is that life has its limits, and that is how it should be. There are new generations coming up, ready to step up and take our place. They are welcome to it. If you have reached old age, you have made some blunders in you life. If you think otherwise, then you are indeed a fool. You can warn the new generations about the mistakes you made, but they are oblivious. This too is as it should be. It’s their world, and it’s on them to screw it up for the generations to follow, just as we did for them.

Good Deeds

There is a saying that no good deed goes unpunished. It’s mostly – but not always – true. The problem with good deeds is that most people who do them expect to be appreciated. In actuality, good-deed recipients are more often resentful about it, rather than grateful. Nobody likes being the person who has to rely on the good will of others. So do good deeds for your own sake – because it makes you feel better, not because you want to be feel appreciated.

Recreational Bitching

Did you ever notice that some people – maybe more people than not – like to complain about everything? In the summertime, it’s too hot. In the wintertime it’s too cold. Health care is too expensive. Young people are too rude. Old people move too slowly. There ought to be a law against anything and everything that might make one unhappy. It’s recreational bitching, and we all do it to greater or lesser extent. Maybe once in a while, it might make sense to listen to how we talk and how we think. Most of us are just doing the best that we can.