The year is 1941 I was eight years old and far, far too young To know that the stories of battles and glory Was a tale a kind mother made up for a son You see, Dad was a traveling preacher Teaching the words of the teacher But mother had sworn he went off to the war And died there with honor, somewhere on a beach there But he left once to never return Which taught me that I should unlearn Whatever I thought a father should be I abandoned that thought like he abandoned me By 47, I was fourteen Id acquired a taste for liquor and nicotine I smoked until I threw up, yet I still lit em up For thirty more years, like a machine So right there you have it That one filthy habit Is what got me where I am today I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I cant believe This is the end I can hear the sad memories Still haunting me So many things Id do again But this is my deathbed I lie here alone If I close my eyes tonight I know Ill be home Got married on my twenty-first Eight months before my wife would give birth Its easier to be sure you love someone When a father inquires with the barrel of a gun The union was far from harmonious No two people couldve been more alone than us The years would go by and shed love someone else And Id realized I hadnt been loved yet myself From there its your typical spiel Yeah, if life was a highway, I was drunk at the wheel I was helpin the loose ends all fall apart Yeah, I swear I was destined to fail, and fail from the start I bowled about six times a week The bottle of Beam kept the memories from me Our marriage had taken a 7–10 split And along with my pride, the ex-wife took the kids I was so scared of Jesus but he sought me out Like the cancer in my lungs its killing me now And Ive given up hope on the days I have left But I cling to the hope of my life in the next Then Jesus showed up, said, Before we go up I thought that we might reminisce See, one night in your life, when you turned out the lights You asked for and prayed for my forgiveness You cried wolf; the tears they soaked your fur The blood dripped from your fangs You said, What have I done? You loved that lamb with every sinful bone And there you wept alone Your heart was so contrite You said, Jesus, please forgive me of my crimes Sanctify this withered heart of mine Stay with me until my life is through And on that day, please take me home with you I can smell the death on the sheets Covering me I cant believe this is the end I can hear you whisper to me Its time to leave Youll never be lonely again But this was my deathbed I died there alone When I closed my eyes tonight You carried me home I am the way Follow me and take my hand And I am the truth Embrace me and youll understand And I am the life And for me youll live again For I am love I am love I am love
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 00:15:24 +0000