This is a song I hoped to finish, but life intervenes. I have worked at the piano in a gospel waltz style, but didn't find anything worthy of the lyrics yet. If any gospel oriented FAWMers would like to create the music, please do.
The stories are true. Johhny is my dad. He rebuilt his home when he was 88. Jessie and her parents are close friends. It’s not like me to swear even in this mild way, but the paired lines capture Jessie’s dad and mum accurately. The combination of deep faith and sweary determination is what brought Jessie to where she is today, and in the process helped transform how the NHS treats the condition she has.
Gospel Waltz
Johnny carries the wound that he got in the war
His poor legs don’t carry him like they did before
His mates from the Air Force are mostly all gone
They’ve fought the good fight but he presses on.
He lost all he had in a high mountain fire
His friends said, “You’re ninety, it’s time to retire.”
His friends said to sell up, but he said, “I’ll stay
And fight to live another day.”
Now he’s a hundred, still living at home
With a heart full of thanks for the life he has known
He knows what it means
To not run away
And fight to live another day.
When Jessie was born, the doctors said, “No —
She’ll never make past two years old.”
Her father said, “Jesus, don’t let our child go.”
Her mother said, “Bastards! What the hell do they know?
“They think we should give up and just go away,
But we’re gonna pester and argue and pray.
They want to erase us but we’re gonna stay
And fight to live another day.”
Now Jessie is twenty and out on her own
With her dog and her carer and a job and a home
She knows what it means
To not run away
And fight to live another day.
J L Nelson FAWM 2022
@tseaver Feb 2022
Awesome write! I'd love to hear it set, and wish it seemed more in my wheelhouse: I'd ask to collab on it. But I'm short on time through the end of the month, sadly.
@kadmad202 Feb 2022
I agree with @mikeskliar . I think you're the one to bring this to full musical life. If not this year, maybe next? The title says it all, and is such a good play on words. I think you have something here - much better to fight to live, than to live to fight. Blessings on all these folks.
@mikeskliar Feb 2022
This is a beautiful and engaging lyric, give yourself time and the music will come