Count Days

The model for this is the AAFM song, Peg and Awl, about industrial progress and the displacement of labor. Count Days is about a kid growing up in the 1950's and '60s, getting into a rock 'n roll band and living the life of a musician, only to realize things have changed, and he isn't forever young anymore.   

Count Days

1954, when I was 5 first time I saw tv 
I couldn't figure out what I was lookin' at
or even what it was doin' to me.
I listened to the radio, and in 1959 
we got a stereo record player 
and a bunch of vinyl lps.
First thing I heard, it blew my mind 
Beethoven, Bach 'n rock'nroll.
Every single sound was new from
Bessie Smith to Nat King Cole.
Feelings that meant trouble over time
were filling up my head both
good and bad, happy, sad
with music music music.

    When Dylan went electric
    the whole thing came unglued.
    They called it revolution,
    only thing to do was
Count days, 
        someday I will be
Count days, 
        immortality 
Count days, 
        for the fame,
             the money,     
                the money, 
                    the money

Maybe you try to steal a scene,
maybe you catch a lucky break,
maybe you're good enough to win,
maybe you realize how fake
the whole thing is, but by then 
you're just so cynical you 
wanna get in and out and in 
and out and out and in again.

Now it's fifty years gone,
the hits you thought you made, 
when you made it to the boardwalk
as summer entertainment,
or you gave it up and moved away
just to get a little space 
between the fantasy you craved
and the creases on your face.
    Still got the fever,
     it's killing you inside.
    Anywhere you want to go
    you can't be satisfied,
    so you
Count days, 
        one and one is two
Count days, 
        now waitaminute, one two three fo
Count days, 
        what happened to the fame,
            the money,     
                the money, 
                    the money?

Up and down, come and go,
good and bad, fast and slow,
making money, losing money
easy come, easy go.
Times are tough, times are good
then the years take a toll,
even though when you get old you learnin'
things you shoulda known
when you were young,
though a lot of things don't matter anymore 
or so you think until you see the shadows
dancing on the ceiling

Now it's do or die time
and you're up against the night,
call it false, call it true,
call it wrong, call it right.

    I hear the song, let freedom ring.
    Independence, that's a different thing,
     now it's time to 

Count Days
        what's it worth to you
Count Days
        whadda you wanna do?
Count Days
        Do I get to stay alive?
Count Days
        waitaminute, one, two, three, four
Count Days
        you're only here a little while
Count Days
        don't forget to wear a smile
Count Days

Copyright © 2009, 2014 by David Larstein, all rights reserved.

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