One of the first gigs I ever played
out of all places
Was at my brother's fraternity house
in Norman for some philanthropy event
And, you see, my 12 year old self
at the time decided to go on stage
and intro one of the ballads
By saying, "This is for all the people
who have fucked me over"
At 12 years old, I can only imagine
how long that list was
And after the show, my mom pulled me aside with
like, true Catholic anger in her eyes
Red in the face, you know, whole nine yards
And she said, "Listen
men don't talk like that, boys do
and I'm raising you to be a man"
And of course she was right
and I think I hated most that I disappointed her
She stopped smoking the year I was born
but any time I think of that story
I always picture her
with a Virginia Slim in her hand
It was her favorite smoke