In My Next Life

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* co-written with Emma Gale *

Couldn’t say the last time I stayed up after dark
Took a chance or rolled the dice, listened to my heart
Never took the fast lane or threw caution to the wind
Waited on the sidelines for my life to begin

Stepped across the cracks between the pavement in the clouds
In a pair of silver slippers and a long white cotton gown
Stood in line and heard the laughs of souls ahead of mine
One by one they reached the pearly gates and stepped inside

Well I tried living perfect but my dreams I left behind
Funny thing about life is no one makes it out alive
I’d be breaking all the rules if I could do it all again
Lord in my next life, gonna’ live before it ends
Lord in my next life, gonna’ live before it ends

Saint Peter raised an eyebrow, yawned and checked the clock
Looked me up and down, then he offered me a scotch
Said “son, I checked the transcript … a mighty careful life;
Coulda’ let your hair down, coulda’ drawn outside the lines”

Then he handed me a ticket, one-way back to Earth
And told me “hold on tight now, this is gonna’ hurt!
So dig a little deeper and take a couple risks
It ain’t time to die yet ‘cause you never really lived”

- July 2019 - #285