This Lyric is #009

Cowboys & Indian Philosophy
Steven Barkhimer/ c2001, Wandering Bark Music/BMI

Things were getting too complex
The money, the job, the car, the sex
And general ugliness everywhere I looked

So late one night as is my wont
I got two sixpacks right up front
And determined to seek my solace in a book

So I took off my pants and set up camp
Right by my high intensity lamp
Perused the shelves to see if aught appealed

Sat down on the floor with some day-old pita
Cracked open the bhagavad gita
And there stood arjuna looking at the battlefield

He saw his family all arrayed
Against him with their weapons displayed
To be or not to be, it was time to choose

He thought, Time and Fate make me go up
Against everybody who helped me grow up
If I lose I lose, and if I win, I still lose

He thought, I ain’t gonna do this [naughty word removed]
Ain’t no good’s gonna come of it
I’ll be damned if I’m going out to fight

Perhaps the time is out of joint
But frankly I don’t see the point
And I’m not gonna be the one to set it right

So at the risk of being thought afraid
He sat griefstricken in the shade
Of his parasol overcome with pity

Threw down his bow and spear
When Krishna, his loving charioteer
Saw his despair and mocked him with a ditty

He said, what was all that training for
If finally there comes a war
And you succumb to sentimental grieving?

Your foes all watch as you shrink from
Your duty now that the hour’s come
You don’t think of the legacy you’re leaving

And arjuna said, With all respect
I conscientiously object
To killing my friends and family who were kind

I just don’t see much reward
In slaughtering people I adored
Along with my cousin and an uncle who is blind

And Krishna scoffed, This is distraction
That makes you lose the name of action
Your impotent despair makes you a quitter

It should be no surprise that now
You slay the ones who showed you how
Cast off your fear, lift up your eyes, consider:

He who thinks he kills
And he who thinks he is killed
Both of them are mistaken
That which is will never not be
That which is not will never not not be
I am the Lord
Take up my sword
Go forth and do your duty

Well, the text was getting rather dense
But it all seemed to make great sense
And was extremely beautiful to boot

I swear my head began to hum
True, the beers had helped me some
But I sensed a certain calmness taking root

So I closed the book and I killed the light
And I murdered sleep, I stayed up all night
Surrounded by a new-found truth and beauty

Decided to leave my job and wife
Start out on a brand-new life
Take up a sword, go forth and do my duty

So in the morning I pulled up to the light
I really needed to hang a right
There was a car there, I just pulled out in front

The guy started to beep and yelled, Hey wait,
And I said, These are Massachusettes plates
I drive any mother****in way I want

I could see I’d thrown him for a loop
As he climbed red-faced from his coupe
Determined to see just how far I would carry it

He started to swear and spit and kick
Yelled, Get outta the car, you prick
But I refused to dismount my royal chariot

I just smiled, rolled down, said:
He who thinks he kills
And he who thinks he is killed
Both of them are mistaken
Dig it

I said, If you wanna see old age
And not be a victim of road rage
Here’s my advice, I said and I flashed my gun

I said, If you wanna live another minute
There’s your car, just get the **** in it
And I shot him once in the ankle just for fun

Well, the bullet seemed to calm him some
And I figured soon somebody’d come
And he’d been in the hands of a capable officer

So I drove off and in my heart
I knew I’d made a pretty good start
On my new life as warrior and philosopher


[This message has been edited by Kaley Willow (edited 06-07-2006).]