I’ve known a lot of bums who claimed to have been somebody, once. And, for sure, some of them were just high. But after some living, I began to see that sometimes you need a little altitude before your fall to really get going. Gravity being the way it is, you just fall faster and faster the farther you fall. (Wind resistance notwithstanding — and, hey, can’t you see we’re trying to be metaphorical, here?)
The guy in the song below used to be somebody once. That’s who he is now. A guy who used to be somebody once. Or he thinks he was. And, really, that’s what counts.
looking for my place in the sun
ah but everything is almost gone
a bottle in a bag and a bun
now all I need is the sun
caviar and champagne are fun
limos and callgirls, the run
but those cocaine days are done
now all I need is the sun
kingdoms and palaces galore
yachts and planes for sure
diamonds and oilfields and mines
yet I traded them all for this wine
caviar and champagne are fun…
I’ve spent a thousand times what you’ll ever own
I had twenty people answerin’ my phone
You– you’d never get through… yet now
here I am drinkin’ with you
caviar and champagne are fun
limos and callgirls the run
but those cocaine days are done
now all I need is the sun
I’m at that point in my life when I’m mostly beyond being afraid for myself, but like anyone, I have my moments of darkness and doubt.
When things are darkest… I count my blessings.
It’s a tactic that not only dovetails nicely with my innate perversity, but which has served me well over the years. As I mentioned in a previous post, 25 years ago (last month) I was hit by an inattentive driver while riding my motorcycle and ended up in the hospital for 2 months (most of that in traction) with an “exploded” hip, a smashed femur, and a shattered ankle.
They pieced me back together (my ex-rays look like I was attacked by the contents of a hardware store), but there were some tough times along the way, I was on crutches for 6 months and a cane for 5 years. (Turned out I was walking on a leg that was still broken. Long story that reinforces the importance of second opinions, which I discovered late.)
Anyhow, the thing is, when things got tough, as they occasionally did, I counted my blessings. (I used to feel bitter that I didn’t have any shoes until I saw a man who didn’t have any feet. You know?)
I also drank… I’d say ‘but that’s another story’ — but it’s actually this story, or more properly the story of this song.
At any rate, here’s a guy who, I’m thinking, is living in that tiny postage-stamp sized bit of grace afforded those with little left to lose…
These lyrics were originally written as a sort of rap to go with music from Brit techno whizkid Deakin Scott but, while Deakin and I collaborated more or less successfully on an earlier track (the lyrics for which are my “Mountains Come, Mountains Go”) the track these were written for never came together and I finally sat down with my acoustic guitar a few months later and came up, more or less, with these chords.
I say ‘more or less’ because I actually had all but forgotten this song and before yesterday and had quite likely not played it twice since 1999. A shame, since I really like it. It’s not the first song I’ve written or track I’ve recorded in a ‘creative phase’ that’s gone forgotten for a long period after the arc of sometimes fevered productivity has passed.
All I Need Is the Sun
looking for my place in the sun
ah but everything is already gone
a bottle in a bag and a bun
now all I need is the sun
caviar and champagne are fun
limos and callgirls the run
but those cocaine days are done
now all I need is the sun
kingdoms and palaces galore
yachts and planes for sure
diamonds and oilfields and mines
yet I traded them all for this wine
caviar and champagne are fun…
I’ve spent a thousand times what you’ll ever own
I had twenty people answerin’ my phone
You– you’d never get through… yet now
here I am drinkin’ with you
caviar and champagne are fun
limos and callgirls the run
but those cocaine days are done
now all I need is the sun
