Unfinished Eulogy

Listen to Suggested Audio

Massive Attack “Unfinished Sympathy (Instrumental)”

Died so many times
Admitted to crimes and forgotten my lines
Failed to read the stop signs as I tiptoed through the claymores
Mailed a rose to Texas and they sent me back a chainsaw
Undressed for sex without the faintest idea what I came for
Died so many times
It’s a wonder I’m alive

Crapped out thunder eating lightning
Never found apples especially exciting
Tend to get my Argonauts mixed up with my Titans
Saved some shit to iCloud and found no such silver lining
Tried some positions, found them most uncompromising
Turned the tide and learned to fly
Turned blind eyes and made doves cry
Wiped their tears and spiked their fears
Watched old folk grow sick with years
Passed on judgement of my peers
Not my place to interfere
Tasted pain, it tasted painful
Sailed to Spain in heavy rain fall
Been treated most disdainful
Said felled angel to the prophet
Just to keep his feet beneath the table

Died so many times
Led so many lives and had a host of wedded wives
Been the alpha male and walked in lustrous fishnet tights
Made some album sales and slept out rough on bitter nights
Told elaborate tales, failed to withhold packs of lies
Died so many times
No small wonder I survived

Strived to be a better man, deprived myself an action plan
Matters taken into hands, have called to arms to break up fights
Taken flights to nowhere fast
Made first contact, made it last
Entertained the ghosts of past
Seen my fate with no face mask
Not a simple task to maintain game face at the umpteenth time of asking
Anything to make my time a dash more easy passing
Fashion lasts the night, impassioned eyes are everlasting
Gained control, been laughing ever since

Died so many times
Worn my uniform back to front just to be ironic
Sharpened knives and passed the blunt
I’m dulcet on the chronic
Love is the one drug I crave to hook up on the phonics
Locked one down that’s supersonic
Set aside no time for histrionics
Together our shit is earthshaking, tectonic
The ideal tonic for those whose grand designs define ectopic
Out-thinking the box like a silver fox in season
Died so many times
And for a hundred different reasons

Know where I am headed and precisely how to get there
Should I court fatigue, then I shall just pull up a deck chair
If the devil’s in fine detail then I’m shaving all my chest hair
Shouldn’t prove too hard as it’s admittedly quite threadbare
If angels fear to tread there then maybe I can shake this damn infection
Nothing much divine about their kind of intervention
Dirty faces all around, unsound autosuggestions
Am I here or am I there
Could it be I’m everywhere at once
Could I strum the bass and know my place while banging drums
Could I provoke an arms race with a brace of opposing thumbs
Convince the democrats to take back all their dumbass smear attempts on Trump
Learn to don at ping-pong just like Gump
And if death really does become me, do I really need succumb

Died so many times
Left so many lives behind while some were snatched away from me
This time when I breathe my last, I plan to do so gracefully
Not regret a single thing, obsess on that forsaken me
Seems like such a devastating waste to me
Naturally there will be minor shrinkage
But if I live to be a hundred, then I’ll damn well make it vintage
Fatally upbeat until the eulogy is finished
Thanks presumably to all that spinach
Died so many times
Feel free to call me inconsistent
But I finally received my just reward for sheer persistence
Overcome all kinds of bitter weather
And now I get to truly live forever