It ain’t my job to make the world safe
I signed up to protect the USA
Don’t matter what they’re doing over there
They can worship dogs for all I care
You tell me that you really love the troops
If you want to prove to me it’s true
Here’s a list a laws that you can pass
(And shove that yellow magnet up your ass)
Support me with a wage that feeds my kids
Ain’t asking much after all I did
Support me with a GI Bill that works
Not a bunch of bureaucratic jerks
Support me with an adequate VA
Not a place where vets are packed away
Support the troops by always asking why
Before you send our finest off to die
A man should support
And defend his girl
Treat her like she’s
Precious as a pearl
He should wake up
In the morning
And think of her
And love her and protect her
From this cold, cold world
But time’s gonna come
She’ll havta pursue
Her place in the world
Like we all want to
It hurts like hell
But it’s still true
Gotta let people do
What they gonna do
A woman is a treasure
But she ain’t no prize
She can’t be cloistered
From wayward eyes
A good loving man
Must realize
Gotta let love breathe
Or it’s gonna die
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
Laughter hope sock in the eye's Blog 