Dust to Dust
(EABEBE / capo 2)

This is the second of the two birthday gifts written on that aforementioned lake in Georgia.

I practiced a run-through of "Love is Real" on the evening of Oct. 6, 2001, and then, stumbling on a new chord progression during one of my many short-attention-span-moments, immediately churned this one out almost as if it were already written and I was merely quoting from memory. It started out as a thought - a mistaken chord perhaps - at 9 pm and was a complete song an hour-and-a-half later. I suppose the ghost of Flannery O’Connor was brooding in my presence as I penned this one since, as she so well wrote about, Death is the great equalizer that transfixes us and puts us in our place.

there's not much left for dying
that's all that it would give
my life was once my enemy
and now the enemy is my friend
I never saw it coming
most folks never do
but when it reached inside me
it nearly tore me in two

are you friend? are you my brother?
are you thief? or are you my lover?
are you myth? are you fable?
can I come to feast at your table?
if ashes are too much,
return me dust to dust

I got my daddy's sickness
it keeps me up most nights
I took back all my memories
since it's stolen half my life

are you friend? are you my brother?
are you thief? or are you my lover?
are you myth? are you legend?
have you come here straight from heaven?

do you rest when the battle rages?
or do you fight when I'm not able?

are you friend? are you my brother?
are you thief? or are you my lover?
are you myth? are you legend?
have you come here straight from heaven?
if ashes are too much, if ashes are too much
return me dust to dust