Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Dyin' and such

Been dealin with some issues lately that have tested my courage. At one point last week, somebody asked me if I wasn't afraid I would get shot. Since then, I've had this ole' Blood, Sweat & Tears tune runnin' through my head. Here's the lyrics:

I'm not scared of dying,
And I don't really care.
If it's peace you find in dying,
Well then let the time be near.
If it's peace you find in dying,
And if dying time is here,
Just bundle up my coffin
'Cause it's cold way down there.
I hear that its cold way down their.
Yeah, crazy cold way down their.

Chorus: And when I die, and when I'm gone,
There'll be one child born
In this world to carry on, to carry on.

Now troubles are many,
they're as deep as a well.
I can swear there ain't no heaven
but I pray there ain't no hell.
Swear there ain't no heaven
and I pray there ain't no hell,
But I'll never know by living,
only my dying will tell.
Yes only my dying will tell.
Yeah, only my dying will tell.

Chorus Give me my freedom for as long as I be.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me.
All I ask of living is to have no chains on me,
And all I ask of dying is to go naturally.
Oh I want to go naturally.

Here I go,
Hey Hey!
Here comes the devil,
Right Behind.
Look out children,
Here he comes!
Here he comes!
Hey...

Don't want to go by the devil.
Don't want to go by demon.
Don't want to go by Satan,
Don't want to die uneasy.
Just let me go naturally.
and when I die,
When I'm dead, dead and gone,
There'll be one child born in our world to carry on,
To carry on. Yeah, yeah...
(End)

Yeah, I kinda guezz I got three chitlens in this world to carry on for me. But, my ole' friend Beane, that one goes out to you. We used to listen to Blood, Sweat, and Tears Greatest Hits on the 8-track player in his parents ole' Impala back in the mid-'80s. And we sure the hell weren't scared of dyin then either.

Anyhow, carry on.

Ralph

4 comments:

Dr. Downing said...

Why on earth would someone shoot you?

What's up with that?

DDDDD

Ralph said...

It's a long and sordid story. I'll tell you about it over a cup of tea.

Dr. Downing said...

As long as we're on this topic, do you remember the dude who was shot as he as chasing someone who robbed the bar his dad owned?

His family lived on West Sixth, not too far from your old homestead (just a few blocks east).

It happened about 15 years ago, if I remember correctly. He was a young kid, a Prep grad, I believe. Someone came into the family business one day and robbed the place. This dude chased down the robber, who shot and killed him. Terribly sad.

I met the dude a couple of times years ago, and he seemed like a nice guy. I thought you might know who I'm talking about.

Any idea?

DDDD

Ralph said...

I believe his last name was Malinowski. Yeah, I was pretty young at the time, so I don't recall the details, but that sounds like a pretty sad story.