the summer of crying dymes

the details are hazy
afterall
it was 20 years ago
was it really that long ago?
my son's life times 6??????
now that's depressing
maybe i'm just gonna go have a sulk now
instead of finishing this...









ok
sulk over
now where was i.......................?

when i last left our starcrossed heroes
the c.d.'s had decided to leave el paso
for greener rock'n'roll pastures
see
we were seers
not boys
we'd predicted the next musical medium
without even knowing it!
a meeting was held
in F's room
to discuss the next move
"bobby" suggested austin
i wasn't so keen on austin
"bunch of hippie potheads!" i said
you see
i knew it all back then
i was worldly and well travelled
even though i'd never left my bedroom
schneider told us how cool the music scene was there
like california in the middle of texas
he made a very convincing argument
so i conceded
austin it would be
crying dymes unite in the form of
ROCKSTARS!!!
we'd agreed that i would make arrangement to transfer from
U.T.E.P. to U.T.
to get $$$ from the p's
and move in the fall
"bobby" had to go back to germany
to visit his parents for the summer
and we were supposed to move
once he got back
meanwhile
the wheels of the savant were turning...

our best friend jeff georges
was going to U.N.T.
in marvelous denton
he'd been writing us letters
saying how good the music scene was there
lot's of music students
trapped
nothing to do but join bands
surely we could find a bass player there
we'd be idiots if we couldn't
maybe i knew dad would never go for the U.T. thing
maybe i was scared of austin
maybe i was just a big dumb fool
no
i'm think i was a big dumb idiot
so
when "bobby" returned
ready for the cds to join him in his journey
to rock'n'roll mecca
paradise on earth
heaven without the death
i'd up and changed the plan on him
it was denton for me
not austin

now this moronic decision plagued me for years
not only did "bobby" move on
to eventually find success as bob schneider
king of austin
but F and i suffered the slings and funk bows
of denton for 5 years before moving to plano
then arlington
floating around the metroplex suburbs
languishing in big D obscurity
through most of the '90s
and in fact
you can pretty much credit F's subsequent breakdown
from lack of appreciation
to that 'orrible decision i made
way back
in the summer of '87
doesn't bryan adams have a song about it?
i think it goes something like this...

got my first real six-string
at cielo vista mall
with pawned earrings
from dad's london square jewelry store
it was the summer of '87

me and some guys
had a band and we tried real hard to find a bassist
but we never found one
or played a gig
even though we had a cool flier
bobby moved to austin to be a star
and faris got his nose broken by our next guitarist

i spent my evening's down at pizza hut with gina
that's before she kicked me in the face
those were the days of my life
back in the summer of '87

man we were killin' time
we were young and listless
i wanted to be reckless not feckless
i guess nothin' can last forever
thank god those days are gone
when i look at everything that's come and gone since then
i'm glad the summer of '87 is gone