From the recording Hello Mr. Death (A Love Song)
"Hello Mr. Death (A Love Song)" started, I suppose, with the way that the last line of the following e. e. cummings' poem has rung in my head since I first heard it:
'Buffalo Bill's/ defunct'
Buffalo Bill's
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat
Jesus
he was a handsome man
and what i want to know is
how do you like your blueeyed boy
Mister Death
Beyond the poem's influence was my desire to reframe death. I wanted to balance our fear of death with another view, a sort of yin to the yang of the great terror.
Lyrics
HELLO MISTER DEATH (A LOVE SONG)
Hello Mr. Death, Hello Scary Face
Hello Icy Breath, Hello Big Erase, I know
You could pluck me from this world any time
Is that Lady Death I see? Hey, you sure look fine today
Did you just wink at me? I’d like to steal you away
And take you dancing through the night
Chorus: Mr. Death brings everybody down, down, down
Every time he comes around
But the Lady she gives me wings to fly
Come on Lady D, let’s ditch old What’s-His-Name
You could help me see that I don’t really need the pain
Especially when he says it’s nearly my time to go
Chorus:
We’ll dance the Taj Mahal, strut the Vieux Carre
Jump Niagara Falls, stroll the Champs Elysee
Dance with the stars across the Milky Way
Chorus:
We’ll do the hoochie coo underneath the moon above
Swim the ocean blue—is there ever time enough?
Do you think, do you think this could be love?
©2010 David Hawkins