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Subject: Johnny Cash and a Couple of Catholics

Author:
andy spaschak

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Date Posted: 05:03:05 10/04/07 Thu

"Well I hear the train a comin'
it's rollin 'round the bend
and I ain't seen the sunshine
since I don't know when"
Johnny Cash--------------------

There's something to be said
for dead men that left something;
something more than the toiling
and a few kids to carry on,
it takes a real man to bleed
it well.

I was thinking about Johnny Cash
and how my grandmother replaced
Bing Crosby's "White Christmas"
with a "A Boy Named Sue"

Hell, everybody's got fifty favorite songs
but Chick (that's what we all called her)
she wouldn't budge none. For her it
was the Man Dressed in Black.
Any day, any time.

I was just a kid who loved to listen
to my mother sing. She sung every
song like it was her last chance to
be heard. Her heart came up from
deep inside and filled the air with
such a sweet sound. I can still hear
her now when I close my eyes and
shut my thoughts down. Damn, I'd
put her right there with Patsy Cline
or Janis Joplin in another genre.
The few who became the songs
they sang.

I miss my Mom but, this isn't
really about her. This is
about the Man Dressed in Black
and a man thinking about his
grandmother.

She died back in 1982. She was the
only grand parent in my life after the
age of five or six. Italian blood, raised
in Liverpool England until the age of
sixteen.

She picked on me a lot. She's still
picking on me today. Always
trying to check me and make sure
that I'm walking the straight
line.

She'd wake with the break of dawn
and never stop until after the dinner
dishes were done. Then she'd sit
down and drink a beer or two. Watch
a game show and find a way to share
some time with a family that was
forever growing and forever letting
her down in one way or another.

She was a devout Catholic. Went
to church many times during the
week in the early mornings. Lots
of Roman Catholics did that back
then. That's not what separated
Chick from the rest. What separated
her was that she was as real and
honest as anyone could ever be.

She was who she told you she was
and she fought to get it done every
day in the face of great adversity.
I didn't know why she had that thing
for Johnny Cash back then.

I didn't really care.
I was too busy running
and playing and trying to get laid.
Funny how the years slide by and
you find out how much someone
influenced you without you knowing
it years later and way down the
trying road.

I recently took "Folsom Prison Blues"
and turned it upside down and
made it my own song.

Now, every time I play it I see the faces
on the people and realize what my
grandma gave to me.

She gave me heart. Cash had heart!
My Mom had heart!

If you ain't got heart you'll suffer worse
than you're gonna suffer anyway, or
you'll just be another shmuck taking
up space and bringing the world down
a little more each day.

So, to Chick, and my Mom, and
the Man Dressed in Black---------
I give it up tonight--
and leave you with some of the finest
lyrics ever written-------

"Flesh And Blood"

Beside a Singin' Mountain Stream
Where the Willow grew
Where the Silver Leaf of Maple
Sparkled in the Mornin' Dew
I braided Twigs of Willows
Made a String of Buckeye Beads;
But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

I leaned against a Bark of Birch
And I breathed the Honey Dew
I saw a North-bound Flock of Geese
Against a Sky of Baby Blue
Beside the Lily Pads
I carved a Whistle from a Reed;
Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

A Cardinal sang just for me
And I thanked him for the Song
Then the Sun went slowly down the West
And I had to move along
These were some of the things
On which my Mind and Spirit feed;
But Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I needFlesh And Blood
Flesh And Blood And you're the one I need.

So when this Day was ended
I was still not satisfied
For I knew ev'rything I touched
Would wither and would die
And Love is all that will remain
And grow from all these Seed;

Mother Nature's quite a Lady
But you're the one I need
Flesh And Blood need Flesh And Blood
And you're the one I need.

Johnny Cash-----------------

............take that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ajs

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