You tell yourselves you’re heroes
For numbing down your souls
Really you’re just cowards
Crawling into holes
Pity you can’t see yourselves
Pity you can’t smell
The putrid cloud of stench
That surrounds your private hell
Nights that start out hopeful
Always end the same Drunks are boring
Drunks are losers
Drunks are lame
You only drink the good stuff
Cuz you got so much class
But it don’t make much difference
When you’re falling on your ass
Suckin down on stupid
Till you don’t know your name Drunks are boring
Drunks are losers
Drunks are lame
Slurring back and forth
In a mindless fog of shit
Crawling through a sewer
With fools who won’t admit
What the bottle led to
What they all became Drunks are boring
Drunks are losers
Drunks are lame
Fire, famine, mudslides,
Hurricanes and homicide,
Overburdened single moms,
Runaways and cluster bombs,
Veterans without a home,
Gramma livin all alone,
Busted dreams, massive debt,
Little kid who lost a pet,
Poverty and cheatin spouses,
Banks foreclosing on our houses,
Daddy bet the farm away,
Mommy shootin smack all day…
This world’s got
A lot to bring me down
There’s plenty
Of hurt to go around
And the only relief
That I know of
Is kindness
And fellowship
And love
Fixating on other people’s problems doesn’t foster learning and growth, but it’s a lot more fun than thinking about my own.
That’s the simple observation behind my song Other People’s Problems. I’m not sure if I should refer to it as a song, exactly. At this point, it’s simply some tuneless lyrics, like the other fifty-six entrants in my If it Sounds Country category. And by the way, all my songs ain’t necessarily betrothed to that particular category. The heading is actually a tip of the hat to one of my favorite songwriters. But many of my lyrics do have a certain twang. (And for some reason, the subject of alcoholism seems to come up quite a bit.)
But the main reason I’m posting something tonight is that I use my blogroll as a portal to my Essential Daily Blogs, and I just can’t stand to keep looking at the dismal picture which accompanies the dreary sestina I wrote to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Iraq War.
Other People’s Problems
Sarah is a diva,
Lester is a drunk
Harold is a pervert,
And a weasel and a punk
They tell me “mind your business”
But I know it’s bunk
They pretend that they’re all rosy
When they really smell like skunk
Ever’body got a gift
And I was born to see
Other people’s problems
It’s my spesh-ee-al-i-tee
I’m just here to help them
Be the best they’ll ever be
Got so much time to do it
Cuz there’s nothing wrong with me
My daddy is a sweetheart
But he likes to take a swig
He lives to serve his country
When he ain’t in the brig
And you know I love my mama
Despite everywhere she been
And all my friends and neighbors
Are such paragons of sin
Ever’body got a gift
And I was born to see
Other people’s problems
It’s my spesh-ee-al-i-tee
An Egyptian river is
Where I ought to be
Thinking about you
Replaces thinking about me
Cuz he makes me moan and coo
Sometimes he wreaks of perfume
But what’s a girl to do?
I should feel flattered
Other women want him too
Pondering reality
Is never very wise
I can only take the truth
In disguise
Time for me to find myself
A brand new bunch of lies
I’m just a social drinker
I never drink alone
There’s fifty-seven bars
Where I am widely known
I ain’t an alcoholic
I don’t even drink at home
Pondering reality
Is never very wise
I can only take the truth
In disguise
Time for me to find myself
A brand new bunch of lies
They say my boy’s a bully
Cuz he had a couple fights
He ain’t no troublemaker
He just stands up for his rights
Bail bonds and sirens
Fill my sleepless nights
Pondering reality
Is never very wise
I can only take the truth
In disguise
Time for me to find myself
A brand new bunch of lies
You could see your doctor for some tests
He’ll say “drink some juice and get some rest”
Beg your pardon if I’m actin lewd
But I’m the one to fill you up with fluid
It’s time to take your Vitamin Me
To inoculate against insanity
I’m a remedy for everything that bores
I’m rejuvenating and and I’ll clear your pores
You could call a nurse who gives advice
She’ll say rest and relaxation should suffice
But Honey, I got processes planned
To leave you felling like a hundred grand
It’s time to take your Vitamin Me
To inoculate against inanity
I’m a remedy for everything that bores
I’m rejuvenating and and I’ll clear your pores
We might havta break a couple laws
But it’s better than a weekend at the spa
My treatments obliterate the blahs
But it ain’t the kinda thing you tell your ma
It’s time to take your Vitamin Me
To inoculate against insanity
I’m a remedy for everything that bores
I’m rejuvenating and I’ll clear your pores
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