Goodnight, Texas - To Hurry Things Along // Out 2/10/23

"I wrote a poem in 2017 called "To Hurry Things Along" about this spry old man who would walk his dog by my house when I was a kid. I never spoke to him, but I imagined his tobacco pipe and occasional smile concealing a deep and unshared sadness, perhaps because I too was dealing with the loss of my father a few years prior. I adapted my poem into a song about what I imagined his life to be, speaking from his perspective." -Avi Vinocur Lyrics: There are mornings where I try to wake up with my head held high But I suppose I'm not so strong And there are mornings where I let Myself an extra cigarette I do to hurry things along There is monotony in this Pretending there are purposes Behind the things that don't belong They say that time's a precious thing You gotta fight, you gotta sing I guess I think that they are wrong There is no order to this list There is no hint or even gist There is no reason to explain There is no outcome that is planned There is no super guiding hand There is no way to stop this train One time she came to me in tears Her voice an octave from my ears and writ her death inside a song Well, now I dream of her at night I see she's dressed in angel white I smoke to hurry things along Time is always treading There is no use in hiding from its song Life is long and lonesome So I smoke to hurry things along Nothing's organized by type And fruit was picked before it's ripe I tried to keep it all from rot I tried to make it what it's not But it's a game of zero sum That always leaves you feeling numb And picking pieces from a floor While you are locked inside a door I tried to wrap it in my mind and even leave it all behind It seems the best ones always go Before you get the chance to find that Time is always treading There is no use in hiding from its song Death it may be random But I smoke to hurry things along There are mornings where I try to wake up with my head held high But I suppose I'm not so strong And there are mornings where I let Myself another cigarette I do to hurry things along I do to hurry things along I do to hurry things along