one of the very first batch of songs I recorded direct-to-PC using cooledit pro and my Alesis SR-16

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I used to have alot of emotive pain going on during the period of my protracted divorce - the "Angsty Goldmine" - during which my ex was doing a really sweet job of embracing alcoholism...sometimes you just want it to be over and the pain to end. This isn't the first song I'd written cathartically exploring those feelings. the stop-time guitar solo, mimicking the drum pattern, is ALL IMPROV - after about 6 or 7 tries ;-) this is one of my favorite bits iof improv work I've ever done...

Oftentimes the hand that's dealt out
Might well be the hand you'd rather
Chop right off
And though it may leave you lacking
suffice to say you'd be glad of it gone
Just to know this pain
You wait
I stare into the mirror
And I call that truth
How my doppelganger scoffs

I've waited
I've dragged it out
I've played right out

So whe walks right next to me
this three-day-old aquaintance
wakes the old sad beast
and so sometimes I would rather
I wasn't quite so blindly self-aware
Since you know this pain
You wait

I stare into the mirror
and my god damned doppelganger laughs
and doesn't care

I've waited
I've dragged it out
I've played right out

Oftentimes the hand that's dealt out
Might well be the hand you'd rather
Chop right off
Funny though to realize that with it gone
I could not wield the axe
To bring the end of pain
Make 'em wait
I stare into the mirror and see the truth
and on that stare I turn my back

I've waited
I've dragged it out
I've played right out
(var. ad libs)