» When I Lived – from “Flying Home”

When I Lived – from “Flying Home”

Posted by John Kirnan on May 28th, 2016

Here's another one from the "Flying Home" album. It's a quiet tune but that seems to be the right energy for what's being said.

It's been a while since I posted anything and, because of that and the song's lyrics, I should say to any friends and relatives that, although the song is for the most part autobiographical, I'm not dying. That part is just a projection into a hopefully far distant future.

I took this picture of myself some time in the early '70s. The stone had been the bottom step of an old house's porch. When the owners built a new porch, they turned over the stone and found that it was from someone's grave, though I imagine, from the shape of it, they probably suspected as much. After that, for years, it leaned against the back wall of their garage. For all I know, it might still be there.

I'm not sure why I thought to take this picture, though I've always liked it. It does seem to work for the song, maybe I knew I'd need it in the future. But of course in those days, I couldn't have imagined where it would end up.

I've long forgotten whose name was on this stone, but I think they lived in the 1800s. I may not know who they were, but strange as it might seem, I want to dedicate this song to them and to the Magic I hope they saw in their life. So, stranger from another time, even though you're now "long gone without a trace," whoever you may have been, wherever you are now, this is for you.

When I Lived

Time is getting short.
Time is flowing by.
Time to make the best of things
And say all my goodbyes.

I'll write one more poem,
Sing one more tune,
Play guitar one more time
For the sun and the moon.

And when I'm dead and buried,
Long gone without a trace,
There'll be no one to remember
The smile on my face.
When I lived, I was happy
Just to watch the Magic rise
In the world all around me
And sometimes, in her eyes.

We lived for each other.
We lived for a dream
Till something from the past came
To torture us, it seemed.

Magic lives forever
But love can sometimes die
When you push someone past the point
Where they can even try.

I chose the good memories
And threw away the rest.
In any life that's truly lived,
You can only do your best.

I gave myself to life.
I lost my love to time.
I always saw the Magic's glow
But I missed love's warning signs.

And when I'm dead and buried,
Lost without a trace,
There'll be no one to remember
The smile on my face.
When I lived, I was happy
Just to watch the Magic rise
In the world all around me
And sometimes, in her eyes.

Time is getting short.
Time is flowing by.
Time to make the best of things.
Then, time for me to fly.

I'll write one more poem,
Sing one more tune,
Play guitar one more time
For the sun and the moon.

And when I'm dead and buried,
Lost without a trace,
There'll be no one to remember
The smile on my face.
But when I lived, I was happy
Just to watch the Magic rise
In the world all around me
And sometimes, in her eyes.