Death Is The Best Thing That Can Happen To The Living
I recently interviewed Syd Barrett, one of the founding members of Pink Floyd. During our conversation, Syd said "Death is the best thing that can happen to the living." and I immediately knew I had to write something using this phrase. In fact here is the conversation:
Rene' "Where you are now, are you happy?
Syd "Oh yes, what’s not to be happy about. No pressure, no expectations, it’s great here."
Rene' "Are you going to come back here and try again?"
Syd "I’ve considered it. There are some items that I do need to address, things that I wanted to accomplish but didn’t. There’s no rush to do it, I’ll make up my mind when I am ready."
Rene' "So there’s no rules, no expectations?"
Syd "No, those are human things. We don’t live by those here. When you leave that body you leave all the bad behind and your soul doesn’t keep track of anything. You just live, pure and simple. No right, no wrong, just live your way, whatever that is. Nobody bothers anybody else. We all just go our own way."
Rene' "Looking forward to being there someday."
Syd "Death is the best thing that can happen to the living."
Rene "Love that, sounds like a song."
Syd "Help yourself, you’re the poet, write the poem then turn it into a song. It’s not that hard to do."
Rene "Thank you, Syd."
Syd "I appreciate your interest in my life there."
Rene "And where you are now is just as important, if not more."
Syd "I’ll tell you what I can. We’re very limited as to what we can divulge."
Rene' "I appreciate the time you gave me today. I hope that hearing from you will help anyone who is still struggling with your passing."
Syd "Let me know when you finish that song, I’d like to hear it."
What follows is my poem/song. What comes next is learning how to write a song.
Death Is The Best Thing That Can Happen To The Living
Letting go of things we love.
Being stuck with things we don’t.
Every day I give thanks that I am here,
But I don’t know how much longer I can do this.
You see
Death is the best thing that can happen to the living.
It is our reward for enduring this adventure called life.
Living is hard, dealing with the ups and downs
And ins and outs.
But life is long and hard my friend
And it ain’t no fun getting older.
So be prepared to spend most of your time
Being unhappy.
You see
Death is the best thing that can happen to the living.
It is our reward for enduring this adventure called life.
If you make it to the finish line alive,
You will reap your reward.
Life is what you make it,
Not quite true.
We have no control over our destiny,
It is what it is.
Try as hard as you can,
You still won’t get what you want,
What you deserve,
If it isn’t what you’re supposed to have or be,
You see
Death is the best thing that can happen to the living.
It is our reward for enduring this adventure called life.
If you make it to the finish line alive,
You will reap your reward.
Like climbing the mountain,
Almost to the top,
My foot slips
And I fall.
Back to the beginning.
What did I do wrong?
I followed the directions,
Obeyed the instructions,
Did the best I could.
Why do I still fail to
Reach the top of the mountain,
The peak of life?
You see
Death is the best thing that can happen to the living.
It is our reward for enduring this adventure called life.
If you make it to the finish line alive,
You will reap your reward.
You will reap your reward.