The Man Who Wrote Danny Boy

It happened one night

At three in the morning

The devil appeared in my studio room

And he said I'm your pal

And I'll make you a deal

Blow away your struggle

And I'll take your soul for a toy

After rubbing my eyes

I looked all around me

At the half-finished drivel I'd worked on for days

And I told him my dream

Was to live for all time

In some perfect refrain

Like the man who wrote Danny Boy

And I said if you're real, then I'll ask you a question

While most of us turn into ashes or dust

Just you and that other guy go on forever

But who writes the history

And who do I trust?

He gave me a wink

And he said it was funny

How mortals would pour all their blood, sweat and tears

Onto tape, onto paper

Or into the air

To be lost and forgotten

Outside of his kind employ

Then I thought I could hear a great sound in the distance

Of whiskey-soaked singing

And laughter and cheers

And they're saying, that song could bring tears to a glass eye

So pass me the papers, I'll sign them in blood

And the smell of the brimstone was turned into greasepaint

And the roar of the crowd like the furies of hell

And I hear the applause and I hear the bells ringing

And the sound of a woman's voice from the next room

Saying come to me now

Come lay down beside me

Whatever you're doing you're too gone to see

You can't hold onto shadows, no more than to years

So be glad for the pleasures

We're young enough to enjoy

So maybe I'm drunk

Or maybe a liar

Or maybe we're all living inside a dream

You can say what you like

When I'm gone, then you'll see

I'll be down in the dark

Down underground

With Shakespeare and Bach

And the man who wrote Danny Boy