Better Than I Used To Be

  • 5 Replies
  • 1393 Views

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

IronKnee

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 1200
« on: January 25, 2017, 07:44:49 AM »
Hi all.........just wondering if the story makes sense ???
 :) Thanks
                      -T

“Better Than I Used To Be”
By Tom Tognaci


V1
He started off a preacher’s only boy
The only time, in his life, he knew joy
But a gun brought his daddy down
On some dirt street in Illinois

He stood scared while he watched his father bleed
Picking up the six-gun at his feet
He aimed to have his vengeance there
But was too young to do the deed
He hung his little head in shame
And cried the tears no one could read

And while the church bells rung,
And while a choir sung…
…He swore, to himself, that he’d be,
“Better than I used to be”

V2
From the everglades to the desert sands
He turned outlaw, wanted, in the badlands
Some say the demons in his head
Fanned the fury of his hands
Yeah, the last thing Sheriff Dillon saw
Was the blur of his right hand

And while the church bells rung,
And while a choir sung…
...A tattoo on his right hand reads,
“Better than I used to be


V3
It’s a mystery that’s still misunderstood
It’s a story of how the bad was turned to good
Where a woman gave her heart to
The man who’d steal it, if he could

He was an outlaw, hardened by his trade
And the deal with the devil he had made
Some say she bartered her own soul
Others say, it’s how she prayed
Some say she was an angel
Explaining why he seemed afraid

And the church bells rung,
And the choir sung…
…he promised her, that day, he’d be,
“Better than I used to be”


V4
He earned the reputation as a thief,
A scoundrel who would lie right through his teeth
But, in that church, a miracle
Had turned over a fresh new leaf

Now, it’s said, he disappeared in ole Paris
But, it’s whispered that he died inTennessee
Where it’s rumored that his headstone reads,
“Better than I used to be”
"I know the truth, by my struggle against it"
                                                          -IronKnee

Skub

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3663
    • Soundcloud
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2017, 09:12:05 PM »
Cool yarn.It makes perfect sense to me Tom.  :) Was there something specific prompting you to ask the question?

IronKnee

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 1200
« Reply #2 on: January 27, 2017, 06:42:00 AM »
Cool yarn.It makes perfect sense to me Tom.  :) Was there something specific prompting you to ask the question?

Hi Skub.....and yeah. There was this guy (another forum) who had one question after another, asking for clarification. He was confused as to who's gun lay at the boys' feet......and why would a preacher, if in fact it was his, (in a 19th-century western town) be carrying a gun?

I answered by telling him that those details weren't important for this song; but, would be addressed in the song's reprise   ;D

I was just wondering if it was me ???

Thanks, Man!!
                                                  -T
"I know the truth, by my struggle against it"
                                                          -IronKnee

Skub

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3663
    • Soundcloud
« Reply #3 on: January 27, 2017, 09:58:38 AM »
Ha! Some folk can't enjoy a thing for what it is without over analysis. I often wonder if they get pleasure out of anything at all, other than picking holes in stuff and feeling they have superior insight, when in reality they are totally missing the point, which is to be entertained.

I wouldn't worry Tom, you'll never please everyone!

IronKnee

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 1200
« Reply #4 on: January 28, 2017, 08:01:57 AM »
Ha! Some folk can't enjoy a thing for what it is without over analysis. I often wonder if they get pleasure out of anything at all, other than picking holes in stuff and feeling they have superior insight, when in reality they are totally missing the point, which is to be entertained.

I wouldn't worry Tom, you'll never please everyone!

Hi Skub......nothing to worry about, indeed! I always make entertainment the most important point. Analyzing is something I do when in my own process of writing. I always listen to others music to be entertained.
I got a great laugh out of an interview Colbert had with Paul Simon.....Colbert was asking him questions with regards to Celia, up in his bedroom..........and how could someone take his place (so quickly) after just getting up to wash his face ???......(Then, looking disapprovingly at Paul)"I mean, what kind of women do you go with??"

Funny stuff!
                                 -T
"I know the truth, by my struggle against it"
                                                          -IronKnee

Skub

  • *
  • Stadium Tour
  • *****
  • Posts: 3663
    • Soundcloud
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2017, 08:52:51 PM »
Ha! I've sang that line a hundred times and never gave it a passing thought.  :D