The Be Good Tanyas - Waiting Around to Die

Sometimes I don't know where this stony road is taking me

Sometimes I don't know the reason why

So I guess I'll keep gambling, lots of booze and lots of rambling.

Well it's easier than just waiting around to die.

Well one time, friends, I had a Ma I even had a Pa

He beat her with a belt once, cuz she cried

She told him to take care of me and headed down to Tennessee

Well it's easier than just waiting around to die.

Then I became of age and I found a girl in a Tuscaloosa bar

She cleaned me out and she hit it on the sly

Well I tried to kill the pain I bought some wine, I hoppped a train

Well it was easier than just waiting around to die.

Then a friend said he knew where some easy money was

We robbed a man and brother, did we fly

But the posse caught up with me and drugged me back to Muskogee

And now it's two long years just waiting around to die.

Now I'm out of prison, and I got me a friend at last

He don't steal, or cheat, or drink or lie his name is codeine

And he's the nicest thing I've seen

And together, we're gonna wait around to die.

      "Waiting Around to Die" is a folk song written and recorded by Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt. It chronicles the life of a drifter as he passes sadly through the experiences of an abusive father, the abandonment of his mother, drug and alcohol abuse, fast women, and even prison. The song appeared first on Van Zandt's debut album, in 1968. It's the solemn story of a boozy rambler struggling to see the point of a fruitless existence that precedes eternal silence. A mirror of the US way of life at the time here sung by three ladies of this recent generation.