(EABEBE)
This is the second of the two birthday “gifts” written on that aforementioned lake in Georgia. I ran through “Love is Real” for practice on the evening of Oct. 6, 2001, and then, stumbling on a new chord progression during one of my usual short-attention-span-moments, immediately churned this one out almost as if it were already written and I was merely quoting something 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 about in my presence as I penned this since, as she so well wrote about, death is an equalizer that transfixes us and puts us in our place.

told me there’s not much left for dying
that’s all that it would give
my life was once my enemy
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,
please return me dust to dust