Fortitude

Why must a song like this be a country tune? That's the kind of melody that comes to mind. Well, that or blues. Or something like that great Tracy Chapman song, Fast Car. That was a concrete storyline. There's another song like this I've got to write someday. A woman and I had a moment together and she told me of a tragedy that happened in her family and we cried and she asked me to write about it. I've never known quite how to do it.

Fortitude
By AWM (c) 2006

This breathalyzer on the ignition
You got to crouch down to fire it up
So the neighbors cannot see how low you’ve come to blow

This bail bond station
You walk in like there’s no out
And you sign all that’s mine away on the dotted damn line

I know I’m not a saint
But I wish I were stronger
I wish I were quieter, better, calmer
Life’s in the going on and on and on
Love’s in the giving up and up and up
Leaving’s in the letting go and go and go
And you curse the moment when you don’t know if it's love or hate
And which matters more or is this fate

This anklet transmitter
The machine's unrelenting grasp
Seems like an improvement but it’s a free man’s last gasp

This wire-and-glass partition
You can see it but you can’t believe
And you talk on the telephone staring sadly face to face

This simplified existence
Staying afloat ’cause you cannot sink
While the little man who is your boy comes ever closer to the brink