Free

[good4somethingbum]

Free ©2015 Robert George BMI

Well, the driver let me off that Greyhound
Near the gates of Restful Hill
As a lonely, long black Caddy
Drive through in the morning chill
O I knew the first place I’d be heading
After getting back to town
Was to Mazie’s corner diner
For some eggs and fresh hash browns

Cos they called that prison minimum security
But those gritty powdered eggs,
And those greasy tater cakes
Sure reminded me I wasn’t free

Mazie’s smile was just as bright as ever
When she brought my breakfast plate
Then I asked about the Caddy
I’d seen pull through Restful’s gate
She said they’d just buried Johnny Burnside
He’d died in Afghanistan
I’d remembered him as poor and awkward
Livin’ with his drunk old man

But he wasn’t with the crowd who hung around with me
We were busy stealin’ cars,
Usin’ fake IDs at bars
Thinkin’ that’s what made a young man free

Then I stirred some sugar in my second refill
And I thought of circumstance and freewill
I did two years for the life that I’d been leadin’
While that brave kid gave his lifeblood for my freedom

Well, I sat and wished that I could somehow
Photoshop my memories
So a man who’s always righteous
Would be what my conscience sees
But I paid my bill and walked to Restful
Then I found poor Johnny’s cross
Told him we take liberty for granted
Until it’s been lost

O but Restful gates are minimum security
So now somewhere in the sky,
He is watchin’ from on high
And I know that soldier’s fin’lly free