Written the day Kurt Vonnegut died. On my 2005 solo LP, "Revisionary Man," I wrote a song honoring another dead hero, Hunter Thompson. That one was more of a musical biography. For Kurt, I attempted to write a tribute song that ignores biography. In fact, there's no mention of Kurt in the song at all . . . It was easy, as I find myself sharing his worldview, so the narrator of the song is more myself than Kurt. I believe these things and they guide me as much as any religion ever has. We should be kind to each simply because it's the HUMANE thing to do. . . not for any expectation of reward or punishment in an afterlife.
lyrics
"So It Goes"
(R.F. Restaino)
You're born, you die
You laugh, you cry
But the day you check out is just another day
For ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the human race
So it goes, my friend
You were here and then you went
And the best that any of us can expect
Is for someone left behind
Who might say that you were kind
So we work, we dream
We plan, we scheme
But we get no guarantees, except one
The big one; I'm talking 'bout the great-big 'D'
So it goes, my friend
We are here just for a while
And what a nicer place this old world would be
If instead of looking toward the sky
We tried to make each other smile
We're flesh, we're dust
Life hurts, but we must
'Cause it's the only game in town
And they only give us one go-round
So it goes, my friend
You were here and then you went
And the best that any of us can expect
Is for someone left behind
Who might say that you were kind
Is there someone left behind
Who might say that you were kind?
credits
from The C'est La Vie EP,
released January 1, 2009
Rich: lead vocal, acoustic, baritone, & electric guitars
Dave: drums
Zimmy T: bass
Hunt: guitar
Lloyd: organ
Sara: backing vocals
Elzie: backing vocals
Roz: backing vocals
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