I’m going to rent myself a house

In the shade of the freeway

I’m going to pack my lunch in the morning And go to work each day And when the evening rolls around I’ll go on home and lay my body down And when the morning light comes streaming in I’ll get up and do it again Amen Say it again Amen

I want to know what became of the changes We waited for love to bring Were they only the fitful dreams Of some greater awakening I’ve been aware of the time going by They say in the end it’s the wink of an eye And when the morning light comes streaming in You’ll get up and do it again Amen

Caught between the longing for love And the struggle for the legal tender

Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring And the junk man pounds his fender Where the veterans dream of the fight Fast asleep at the traffic light And the children solemnly wait For the ice cream vendor Out into the cool of the evening Strolls the pretender He knows that all his hopes and dreams Begin and end there

Ah the laughter of the lovers As they run through the night Leaving nothing for the others But to choose off and fight

And tear at the world with all their might While the ships bearing their dreams Sail out of sight

I’m going to find myself a girl  Who can show me what laughter means And we’ll fill in the missing colors In each others paint-by-number dreams And then well put out dark glasses on And well make love until our strength is gone And when the morning light comes streaming in We’ll get up and do it again Get it up again

I’m going to be a happy idiot And struggle for the legal tender Where the ads take aim and lay their claim To the heart and the soul of the spender And believe in whatever may lie In those things that money can buy Thought true love could have been a contender.

Are you there? Say a prayer for the pretender Who started out so young and strong

Only to surrender.  (his song ends and ours begins).

Shirley, you have given me hope not to surrender, for you are the girl I found, who can show me what laughter means and we can fill in the missing colors in our paint-by-number dreams and then, we’ll put our dark glasses on and make love until our strength is gone.  And when the morning light comes streaming in, we’ll get up and do it again Get it up again doc.

I refuse to surrender to hopelessness.

Thank you for being you.