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And When I Am Free

This song came to me as I woke up one recent morning. I had the picture of a man's face in my mind and a fairly strong feeling that back aways he was a relative of mine. He was a man who'd had some bad breaks and precious few good choices in life.

These words came to me as though I had overheard them and was pulling them back in before they slipped away.

As time wears on the words can strike me as too open or too corny; and then I remember clearly the hollowed cheeks on the stubbled face I woke up seeing that morning and suddenly I find myself singing this song in a way that I never sing other songs. I think he's in there somehow.

Whippoorwill is currently working this song up for performance.

I died on the vine
I've labored and lost
Swept away by the waters
While others have crossed

And I've come to know
One solace in life
If you think that I'd tell you
You're a damned sorry sight

And when I am free
And when I am free
Don't set your dogs chasing after me

A man's no more good
Than his word and his deed
And I'd rather starve
Than to take charity

So pass me on by
Don't pay me no mind
I'm a stranger to kindness
And I sure ain't your kind

And when I am free
And when I am free
Don't set your dogs chasing after me

It's lucky the man
Who just knows the sounds
And never the feeling
Of the quarry of hounds

So leave me alone
I'll live with my lot
I'll take the next break and
I'll pray I'm not caught

And when I am free
And when I am free
Don't set your dogs chasing after me

e-mail Kelly Kessler All Rights Reserved - copyright Kelly Kessler (BMI - Blame It On Bristol Music)