Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell 1936-2017

He said the secret is clear for an unhappy life:
About every three years find a new wife
Say “I do” to your honey and as she repeats it  
Say adieu to your money, ‘cause she gonna keep it

As foolish at romance as he was adept with frets
He got a last chance,  was baptized and blessed
Kim kept him in line till he sang Happy Trails
(though from time to time, he went off the rails)

He was high for years, the 70’s forgotten
And he could be weird, even for Austin
He’d record a few tracks then he was liable
To do coke and Jack and quote from the bible

But we know the story, Alzheimer’s curse,
No memory of glory, what could be worse?
What could be worse? Well how about this:
He never honored this earth with his many gifts

I suppose Jimmy Webb would’ve still been inspired
But only Glen could get that whine in the wire
And who could capture on a Phoenix drive
The lonely disaster of two broken lives?

Had a sharecropper daddy who hoped that his son
Could get out, be happy,  maybe be someone
Got a guitar at four, on the radio at six
Then he’s out the door layin’ down licks

As a session musician, perfection the mantra
Playin’ lead and rhythm for Elvis,  Sinatra
And while Brian Wilson composed “Pet Sounds”
Glen calmly filled in and sang “I Get Around”

And then his time came and he had hit after hit
There was money and fame and finally true grit
When he took the stage and said to us all
These are wonderful days that I won’t recall

We are all on the river where memories cease
The sweet and bitter, friends, enemies leave
But until they do, let us live in this wonder
This sky of blue of lightning and thunder

Be loving, be lost, undefended and kind
And may all  thoughts be gentle on mind