"Grandpa, here's your coffee,"
said Edith, as she filled his cup.
"Nobody'll find you here,
and Earl is glad you guys showed up."
"The way things are downtown,
you might have to stay for awhile.
There was a helicopter hovering over your house
when I talked to your neighbor, Kyle."
"Who the hell do they think they are,
Invading our home like that?
Grandma and I had to leave so fast,
We couldn't even catch the cat."
"The helicopter scared the shit out of him,
and it took off down a trail,
down past the railroad track,
towards the county jail."
"Jed, you really screwed up now!
What did you have to do that for?
Everybody wants to hang your ass,
and here's a note from Lenore."
Sun touched the cold steel bars
as she pushed the paper in.
Jed took it up and read it
and he couldn't hide a grin.
Outside the jail window
a crow flew across the sky,
completely disappearing behind each bar,
then a helicopter flew by.
"Say hi to Earl and Edith.
Tell 'm I'm doing fine.
Tell 'm it's time for them to let you go now,
they should cut the line."
"Can grandma come and see me?
I got a new song to sing
it's longer than all the others combined
and it doesn't mean a thing."
The noise was unfamiliar,
generators whirling,
walkie-talkies screaming,
vans parked in the open field.
TV crews and cameras,
they wanted to interview grandpa on the porch.
They came through the gate and across the lawn
knocking down Edith's Tiki Torch.
And grandpa saw them there,
looking through the venetian blind.
"Those people don't have any respect,
so they won't get any of mine."
"I don't wanna talk about Jed.
I don't watch channel 2 or 6 or 9.
I don't have time to talk that fast,
and it ain't my crime."
"It ain't a privilege to be on TV
and it ain't a duty either.
The only good thing about TV
is shows like 'Leave it to Beaver.'"
"'Shows with love and affection',
like mama used to say.
A little Mayberry living
could go a long way."
He took Earl's shotgun down from the closet,
loaded up both barrels.
Walked out on the porch and fired 'm off,
and up walked a woman named Carol.
"Susan Carol from Early Magazine,
I got some questions to ask."
"Well you can stick 'm where the sun don't shine!"
grandpa said with a gasp.
Then he fell face first and let out a sigh,
and Edith ran out in shock.
He was looking at her from down on the floor,
Grandpa looked like he was trying to talk.
"That guy just keeps singin'!
Can somebody shut him up?
I don't know for the life of me
where he comes up with that stuff."
They laid his head on a newspaper
with a picture of Carmichael on the front page,
posing with the little league baseball team,
and a seedy shot of Jed on a motorcycle.
Grandpa died a hero.
Trying to stop the media.
Fighting for freedom of silence.
Trying to be anonymous.
Share your loving and you live so long.
Share your loving and you live so long.
Share your loving and you live so long.
Live so long.
