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Golden Years

from Only One Life by peter zeldow

/

about

This song had two distinct sources of inspiration. One was my mother's experience in an assisted living facility. The other was a concert by Chip Taylor, the composer of Wild Thing, maybe 8 or 10 years ago. There were an awful lot of canes, oxygen canisters, wheelchairs, and coughing fits in the audience. He closed with Wild Thing, the audience sang along, and it was either very poignant or terribly sad, I'm still not sure which. People ask why name the character George Rodriguez? My answer is that Virgil Caine was already taken. Photograph by Arnold Brower (www.arnoldbrower.com). Used with permission.

lyrics

Well my name is George Rodriguez, I was born in Minnesota
I worked 37 years in a bureaucratic maze
And I raised a loving family with my angel Esperanza
And we tried to fight the good fight, And we danced to Purple Haze

Now my children I love dearly, And they clearly love their father
And we still speak every Sunday but the visits now are rare
When I lost my Esperanza in the summer of 2000
I moved south to Albuquergue seeking out the crisp fall air

Chorus:
Now it's bingo every Friday, stop for dinner at 4:30
There are field trips to the mall for those who can
And a cover band on Sundays tries to cheer us playing oldies
As we sing along to Wild Thing, Maybellene, and Nowhere Man

I used to read philosophy, Dickens, Twain and Melville
I have heard the great conductors, I have seen Grand Coulee Dam
You can tell me I am lucky, You can say I should be grateful
But how all this came to pass, I will never understand

Chorus




Well my name is George Rodriguez, Born and raised in Minnesota
I worked 37 years in a bureaucratic maze

credits

from Only One Life, released July 9, 2018
PZ: vox and guitar
Steve: second guitar, organ

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tags

about

peter zeldow image

peter zeldow Chicago, Illinois

Songs that hover around folk, rock & country genres with a mostly gentle, acoustic guitar-based mid-60s sound. The themes are universal: love (Jerome, You Are True), loss (Go), desire (Hunger), memory (It All Comes Back), aging (Golden Years), empathy (Kindness), & gratitude (Grateful). The delivery is understated, but the storytelling packs an emotional wallop that rewards careful listening. ... more

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