I COULD LAUGH

One of my favorite singer/songwriters is Michael Roe. Ive
listened to his music for 30 years. Ive long admired his confessional tone and
word play. About his writing, he said,"These songs are
a forum where I dialogue with myself and with God. A lot of these are prayers,
some of them are promises I'm making to myself, some of them are just wishful
thinking. Oftentimes my songs tell on me, they indict me, they provoke me, they
convict me." Roe adds, "We're only here for a short time, in this
veil of tears...I hope my songs help people in general to realize what we have
been given and how much is available to us." [i]As a young man in my twenties, I was especially drawn to a
blues song entitled I Could Laugh.
Its a lament in the vein of Davids remember
not the sins of my youth. (You can listen online athttp://the77s.bandcamp.com/track/i-could-laugh)I Could LaughMama Don't UnderstandShe Wants To Hold My HandNight
And Day
She Don't Like My Clothes, They're Wearing ThinOn Her Nerves
She Don't Like My Hair, My Glorious CrownBrings Her Down
She Won't Take Me Serious, Think I'll Join The Circus
Be A Clown
And They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh
But It's Not Funny, No
I'm Restless
Wanna Bust Out Of My Skin
Got A RocketIn My Pocket
Got No Fuel,No Charted Course
Got No Direction
No, They Did Not Give Me Those In School
Yes, I've Been A Fool For Cool
But No Kind Of Hair, No Shoes, No Jackets
Gonna Help Me Hack It, Hack It
Hack It To Pieces, Man
I've Had ItAnd You Can Have It
And They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh
But It's Not Funny,No
Well, I Wonder What WillGet Me Off
So I Pick And Choose And Take
And In A Couple Years,You're Right
I'm LeftWith A Great Big Heartache
So Deep And WideThat No Matter WhatI Stuff Inside
It's EmptyJust The Way It Came
It's A Crying ShameBut All The Same
And They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh
But It's Not Funny,No
Should I RecallAll The People I Have HurtAlong The Way
And Should I TryTo JustifyEvery Wrong I Did Not Right
But Two Wrongs Don't Make It Right
And So It Keeps Me Up At NightAnd I Lie Awake
And While Away The Meanwhile
And Meanwhile......Meanwhile I Dwell
On The Baby That I KilledOr The Drink I Should Have Not Refilled
And Every Heart I Broke In TwoAnd Left To Die
Bleeding On The Roadside
Or I Could SitAnd Let My EyesFill With Mist
For Every Girl ThatI Should Not Have Kissed
And All The Broken Family Ties
The Loved OnesI Have Missed
Yes, I Have Mist In My Eyes
And So I Cry,But Why Should I, Should I
And They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh,They'll All Laugh
But It's Not Funny,No
And Everything I've GotI'm Gonna Lose
Both Good And BadWill PassAnd What Next?What LiesBeyond The Broken DreamsAnd Shattered
Mirrors
I Keep Looking InTo Check My LuckOr Skill
But Only Pride Keeps Staring BackAnd Still I Laugh
StillI Laugh
And None Of This, Of Course,Will Stand
When I Stand Before The ManOn That Great DayOf The Great Divide
When All The Kings And QueensWill Have Their Closets Emptied
And The Bones Will All Fall Out
'Dem Bones, 'Dem Bones, 'Dem Dry BonesWill Not Fail
Dead Men Will Tell Tales
And You Can Laugh
And I Can Laugh
And We Can Laugh
But It's Not Funny[ii]
0
0
1
507
2893
New Song Church
24
6
3394
14.0
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
JA
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
[i] http://www.michaelroe.com/about.html
[ii] Michael Roe - © 1987 Fools Of The World, LTD. (ASCAP)