Slam Drunk

I know of no one who loves a sad song as much as I do. I'm not talking about the kinds of songs that make you feel a little wistful and melancholy. I'm talking about songs that make you double over with the sudden shock that life is nothing but horrible, inescapable suffering and the only recourse is to collapse, snot-faced and trembling in a wet, squirming mockery of the fetal position writhing on the floor. This is probably why two of my favorite kinds of music are classic country and Irish ballads. I must admit that there is also an over-the-top bathetic quality to many of these songs that I find appealing. Although I see how people could see that this approach could be ironic, it isn't. I love music that has shed all the cloaks of public decency and goes straight for the jugular vein, in terms of trying to pry emotion from its listener.

With that being said, here's a link and the lyrics to the Ferlin Husky classic "Drunken Driver." It is nowhere near as creepy or gloriously ridiculous as Dolly Parton's "Me and Andy," but it just as worthy of hearing.



"Drunk Driver"
Friends there's somethin' been hauntin' me and I just got to tell you bout it
I saw an accident one day that would chill the heart of any man
And teach them not to drink a drop while the steering wheel's in their hand
This awfull accident occurred on the 20th day of May
And caused two dear little children to be sleeping beneath the clay
These two little kids walked side by side along the state highway
Their poor old mother she had died and their daddy had run away
As these two little kids walked arm in arm how sad their hearts did feel
When around the curb came a speeding car with a drunk man at the wheel
The drunk man saw the two little kids and he hollered a drunken sound
Get out of the road you little fools and the car it brought them down
The bumper struck the little girl taking her life away
While the little boy in a puddle of blood in the ditch lying there did lay
The drunk man staggered from his car to see the damage that he had done
And he let out a yell you could hear for miles when he recognized his dying son
Such mourning from a drunken man I've never heard before
While kneeling at the running board he prayed to heavens door
Saying oh God please forgive me for this awful crime I've done
And his attention then was called away by the words of his dying son
And he said daddy why did you do this to us how come you run us to the ground
It was you and mommy we was talking about when the car it brought us down
And I was just telling little sister that I knew we'd see you again someday
But daddy why did it have to be like this why did it have to be this way
Why daddy why

Goodbye, Syd.

I had to put my 15 year-old cat to sleep today. He had cancer. He was diagnosed about two years ago, but was doing ok. Over the last few months his tumor had gotten really large. I had already decided not to do chemo, so I was prepared for the worst. He had stopped eating the last few days, and he moved very little. I decided to take him in to the vet today. I got to say, "Goodbye," to him.

He was a great cat. He was very affectionate and even natured. He loved people. He was a gentle soul. He was also polydactyl; he had extra toes. His front paws looked like he was wearing little gray boxing gloves. Syd was a smart cat. He would come when his name was called. He understood other commands, too. He was very clever. He would pull my hand out from under my pillow with his paw as I slept. He would then drag my hand over to his head to be rubbed.

He loved to get in the shower right after I used it. He would wait until I left the room and then jump in the tub. He loved to drink water from the tub. He didn't drink water in the normal way that cats do. He would dip his paw in the water and make a little paw-cup with his thumb.
I miss him very much.