um dia escreverei aqui qualquer coisa sobre a música de mark kozelek 
(que, a par de bill callahan e kurt wagner, completa o meu trio de "americanos tranquilos"). 
mas hoje só quero dizer: um dia feliz, pai (i love my dad).



when i was young my father taught me not to gloat

if i came home too proud of myself i’d get wrestled to the floor and choked

but i forgive him for that

he was an 8th grade drop-out and i was bein’ a brat

i forgive him i do

i know that he loves me and he knows i love him too

when i was young my father told me to each his own

the lady said as she kissed the cow some like the fiddle some like the trombone

and i live by that rule

your trip is your trip and my trip is my trip too

yeah, i'll mind my own business

i’ll have an o’doul’s and my friend here will have a guiness

i love my dad

your kid goes to the private berkeley school with one black kid

my kid goes to the public school came home with cracked ribs

and when my kid's 18

he'll be out there like i was and probably chasing his dreams

and when your kid's 22

he'll have an internship at a law firm and hey that's okay too

when i was 5 i came home from kindergarten crying cause they sat me

next to an albino my dad said son everyone's different, you gotta love em all equally

and then my dad sat me down

he said you gotta love all people pink red black or brown

and then just after dinner he played me

the album they only come out at night by edgar winter

when i was young my dad taught me the beauty of patience

we'd go and hang with his friend billy brislin all day in his steubenville basement

we'd watch wrestling matches on tv and billy couldn't move cause he was handicapped

and i learned to shoot the shit and how to care for those in need and how to show respect

when i was a kid my dad brought home a guitar he got from sears

i took lessons from the neighbor lady but it wasn't going anywhere

he went and got me a good teacher

and in no time at all i was getting better

i can play just fine

i still practice a lot but not as much as nels cline

when i was young my dad told me to pay gossip no mind

when people talk bad on you you gotta flick it off your shoulder like a fly

learn to pick your punches

don't get in no tussles or no dead end ditches

life is short young man

get out there and make the best of it while you can

i ain't trying to say my dad was some kind of a perfect saint

when something set him off i’d hit the floor quicker than what mike tyson did to ricky spain

i’d hit the floor so fast

but that was so long ago and we both moved past

my life is pretty good

and i owe it to him my dad did the best he could

i love you dad