Ahhh, Life . . .

            Last week I got a wild hair and called a buddy of mine, (a pretty good guy who is not only blessed with a sense of humor, but aint too bad on that ole’ six-string box.)

Any old hoo, I talked him into flyin’ us over to Oahu for the big Fourth o’ July Fireworks show in his little Grumman Cheetah aero-plane, where, for lodging, we got to stay on his 40’ sailboat. Now, this is one of those deals where altho’ I may not have the toys, I have still have friends who do, and I sometimes get to play with them. (when they are willing to share of course)

It was a blast, and I tell you this not to provoke jealousy, but to emphasize the vagaries of our existence; for, as fun as it was, I missed my humble home and the small pleasures it provides . . . which leads us to the point of this post.    

            These are men who were not nearly as foolish in their youth as I; for while they have managed to acquire and retain such wonderful things, I have managed only to hold on to a few fine treasures; a Woman, a Dog, a Guitar and a bottomless Chest packed with songs and stories. (I have capitalized these on purpose to indicate their incalculable value.)

            It seems my friends, bless their souls for loving me as they do, and sharing their toys, were lucky enough to have metaphorical cotton stuffed in their ears at birth, muting the siren song that called to me from the day I first opened my ears.

For those who've not heard the sweetness of that wicked refrain, there are no words capable of describing the delicate fishhook that imbeds itself into one’s soul, convincing the unlucky recipient to run themselves repeatedly onto the rocks; only to be left to salvage the contents of your ship from the flotsam and jetsam found in the surrounding waters of your being.

~

            Now, with the illness that befell me in 2004, I've spent the past decade and a half crawling across the sharp reefs of survival, the worst of me left in bits and pieces, caught on the razors edge for the scavengers to feast upon. But with love and luck, and blessings from above, I have not only survived, but have come back with a vengeance, scarred and beaten, but a better man for it all, with the talents that had lay snubbed for so long being wrestled to the surface where at last, they see the light of day.

            I could go on with the observations and witticisms that a lifetime of livin’ has shown me. (As a matter of fact, I've a song by that title, and it will soon be included on this site, and on FB through a service called; Sound Cloud.) But I feel that by reading my novel; ‘Southwestern Songline’ you will find Teller walking you through a world still tinged with magic.

            So, as I'm beginning to ramble, I will leave you with a fun little tune I wrote awhile back that seems to fit the general concept of my reality. It’s a simple thing, but beneath all of my complexity, so am I.

Ahhhh, Life . . .

ALL BETS ARE OFF

Denver C. Davis  Copywrite 2004

   C

It came as no surprise to me

           G                          

 When I turned off my TV

         F                                                     G

That everything I thought I knew was wrong

        C

Like Alice down the rabbit hole

           G

The whole damn things out of control

               F                     G                    C

Now the best that I can do is just hang on

 Well it seems a few decades have passed

Since the days I thought I had a grasp

On what at the time passed for reality

Now looking back in retrospect

The one thing that I most regret

Was betting that I’d keep my sanity

        * CHORUS *

Barre F        Barre G          Barre F           Barre G

All bets are off now, all bets are off now

Barre F             Barre G         C

All bets are off now you bet!

Barre F                              Barr G

I’ve been played by the best of fools

       Barre F                                Barre G

But you learn the game, they change the rules

      Barre F                      G         C

So roll those dice but, all bets are off!

Life’s a lot like countin’ cards

Except twice as fast, and twice as hard

And there’s at least a dozen jokers to every Queen

Be you Jack a’ diamonds, or Ace a’ Spades

The dealin’ slows and the money fades

So you best have somethin’ hidden up your sleeve                                                                                                                                          

Win or lose, the results the same

So it’s all in how you play the game

You can play it crazy or play it crazy fun

Between lunatic and the slightly strange

The little off, full blown deranged

There’s always someone to show you how it’s done

All bets are off now, all bets are off now

All bets are off now you bet!

When I was young I could have sold my soul

Now the dang things worn all full of holes

But it’s all I got, so, all bets are off

It’s academic anyway

Tomorrow will be yesterday

And you’d think by now I might have had enough

I would’a bet a leg, tossed in an arm

By fifty I would have bought the farm

But here I am so, all bets are off

All bets are off now all bets are off now

All bets are off now you bet!

 All bets are off now; it’s a losin’ game anyhow

But I have not lost it all no not yet;

I have not lost it all no…..

Not yet!