There is a song that used to give him chills, even as a young man.
A story about a man mixed up in a war he doesn't understand, wanting so badly to get back to his anticipated life, to the girl he left when she was 21, the summer at the beach that was interrupted. The sea, the birds, chasing after her while she would turn and smile in his direction. The delicate light that would make the sea grass glow in the evenings, like her hair. The song made everything so specific. And then there was a line-a line so simple, so naked.
"I am so afraid of dying"
It always stood out to him. All the boys across the world, afraid. Of death and whatever else was worse. And he'd forget the rest of the lyrics, afraid to die before he could return to the girl, to the beach, to the life he had left.
It was as if the song had been waiting for him his whole life. How had things interrupted his life, his childhood, his days at the beach, where was summer? Why did he feel like he could return and everything would be the same? (What was it that took him away from those summers at the beach? A war? Running from the war?)
Cannons flashing, I clean my gun, and think of Galveston.
I am so afraid of dying.
Before I get to touch sand one more time, before I feel the sun on my skin, Sea winds on my face.
An old man wishing himself back into an impossible place. It wasn't even that beautiful, even when it was beautiful and real. No, it WAS> But it was him who didn't see it, the beauty.
I am so afraid of dying
Before I am able to go back and fix things, to touch her cheek. To--
I am so afraid of dying- 5/27/17
Galveston by Glen Campbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTbTHlTmDX8
A story about a man mixed up in a war he doesn't understand, wanting so badly to get back to his anticipated life, to the girl he left when she was 21, the summer at the beach that was interrupted. The sea, the birds, chasing after her while she would turn and smile in his direction. The delicate light that would make the sea grass glow in the evenings, like her hair. The song made everything so specific. And then there was a line-a line so simple, so naked.
"I am so afraid of dying"
It always stood out to him. All the boys across the world, afraid. Of death and whatever else was worse. And he'd forget the rest of the lyrics, afraid to die before he could return to the girl, to the beach, to the life he had left.
It was as if the song had been waiting for him his whole life. How had things interrupted his life, his childhood, his days at the beach, where was summer? Why did he feel like he could return and everything would be the same? (What was it that took him away from those summers at the beach? A war? Running from the war?)
Cannons flashing, I clean my gun, and think of Galveston.
I am so afraid of dying.
Before I get to touch sand one more time, before I feel the sun on my skin, Sea winds on my face.
An old man wishing himself back into an impossible place. It wasn't even that beautiful, even when it was beautiful and real. No, it WAS> But it was him who didn't see it, the beauty.
I am so afraid of dying
Before I am able to go back and fix things, to touch her cheek. To--
I am so afraid of dying- 5/27/17
Galveston by Glen Campbell
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTbTHlTmDX8
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