YOU CAN'T TAKE BACK WHAT YOU'RE GIVEN
You live and learn
You slash and you burn
You save what you earn
But you can't take back what you're given
You end and begin
Through thick and through thin
You win, and you sin
But you can't take back what you're given
There's not enough love in the world
You surely got something to share
You got enough time until there's not
You get what you give, so give what you got.
Above, you know
And down below
You run the show
But you can't take back what you're given
You go, you leave
You dodge, and you you weave
You cut, and you bleed
But you can't take back what you're given
There's not enough love in the world
You surely got something to share
You got enough time until there's not
You get what you give, so give what you got
You're up, you get down
You feel the sound
You're the best around
But you can't take back what you're given
You jump, you kick
You know the trick
Your moves are sick
But you can't take back what you're given
There's not enough love in the world
You surely got something to share
You got enough time until there's not
You get what you give, so give what you got
Alone tonight
Who's left? And who's right?
Too dark. De-light
But you can't take back what you're given
You'd like to stay
Tonight and today
Well it's like they always say
I wrote the general groove of this song a day or so before heading down to southern Indiana for a funeral. I knew what the title likely was going to be, so while I was down there, I also recorded the extra vocals with the kids from Salem High School band, a group I have been writing for over the last 10 years. The funeral was for the drill writer, a former art teacher at the school and the husband of the band director. Richard Trueblood had taught art at Salem for over 40 years, directed all the plays and musicals, taught the color guard, and wrote the drill for the band.
The funeral was a celebration held in the auditorium that had been named for him. Even with the pandemic, the sheer number of people that came to pay respects and tell stories about Richard was truly inspiring. Thousands of lives touched, and the one factor that was present in all of those lives was love and acceptance. I will consider my life well lived if I can say I touched half as many lives in such a positive way.
Driving home from the funeral, the rest of the words pretty much wrote themselves.
I also felt like this song should close out the album because after some of the heavy shit that came before it, something uplifting and funky seemed like a great way to go out.
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