Double
you're sittin' there wondering why is it like this
and the whole world's crazy and the earth is sick
and someone's yelling from the bathroom door
the toilet's overflowing on the floor
and the one by the phone says i cannot hear
while the one by the jukebox spills his beer
and the man on the pinball hits sixteen mil
someone ducks behind the counter to pop a pill
and you reach in your pocket to see if there's more
and the biggest bill falls so you're left with four
and you're too gone to look but you still try
then you see it in the hand of a great big guy
who looks just like he'd kill you fast
and you think for a minute
you let it pass
and the stool falls over when you set back down
it bumps a mean pool shooter from across the town
he misses his shot - it's all on you
and with your last four bucks you know what you'll do
sorry man can i buy you a drink
and he shakes his head and says, make it a double
the next thing you know you wake up at home
and the little one there won't leave you alone
she's awake and hungry
she needs some potty help
and you remember what happened last time she tried it by herself
and your wife says hurry, we're late for church
and you can barely see
and your head still hurts
and the preacher starts preaching
and you feel remorse
he's got five little kids and a big divorce
and your wife looks down and says she don't know how
he's been her guiding light for ten years now
and his marriage is over, it's barely alive
and how in the world will ours ever survive?
by Mike Knott of Lifesavers Underground or L.S.U. (full lyrics of the album Grace Shaker, where this song is from, can be found on http://www.michaelknott.com/lyrics/grace.html)
Mike Knott has been, as long as I've known about him, an ugly duckling of the Christian music scene. He's fought with alcoholism for most of his professional career and then some. I saw him perform live for the first time after having been a long time fan of his style of music (which, when with the Lifesavers, is surf rock, pretty much) at last year's Cornerstone, a sort of Woodstock for Christians. Now, I smoke and drink and see nothing morally wrong on either issue, but alcoholism is something I think we can all agree is destructive, no matter what we believe in spiritually. He was performing in a tribute to another Christian musician and good friend, Gene Eugene, a member of the bands Adam Again and The Lost Dogs (a conglomerate band that included Knotts in its members), who had died in his sleep of a brain aneurysm months before.
Now, we all know how the religious right reacts to sinful behavior, but to me Mike Knott is a testament to human fuckups. He still got to play at the show and was well respected and appreciated. That's says more about so-called religious freaks than what we normally are led to believe.