of death & dismemberment

Backstory
In the last two years my wife lost her uncle and then her father. Both had cancer (although her dad’s was in remission at the time) and when it became clear that her uncle was not going to make it, I wrote this song. I put up a video of the song on YouTube, and both of them got to see it before they died. I hope that they appreciated the sentiment behind it.

Lyrics
I’ve been thinkin’ a lot about you lately
And what you’re going through
You’ve quite a bit to be thankful for
But I can see this has been pretty tough on you

It’s like you’re walking up to a mirror
And you can’t see what’s on the other side
The closer you get
The more its clear
The reflection is just of yourself
And what you’re leaving behind

Well I could go on in this same vein
Dealing out more clumsy metaphor
We never seem to hit death head on
Even though for every one of us it’s in store

Maybe I’m selfish and this just for me
But I want to share it too
You see the closer it gets
I can’t ignore it
The more I see in me
Little pieces of you

Well I don’t want to be trite When I tell you that I love you
But I don’t want these things to go unsaid
And I don’t want to be crude but I’m tired of all the pretense
And I’m gonna miss you when you’re dead

Maybe this song is a gift to you
Sometimes it’s hard to know
It’s up-tempo in a major key
Because I wanted my love for you to show

So when you’re walking up to the mirror
I hope you see it too
yeah the closer you get
The more it’s clear
That you look in our eyes and see
Little pieces of you