Tuning: StandardCloser to death
Been many miles since we last met
Still, it seems like I stood still as time passed by
That year my pride did sting
‘Cause for a young man, it’s a terrible thing
To realise for the first time that his mother was right
Oh this old gin sling will keep me satisfied
Ah yeah, the cold air won’t blow and I can close my eyes
Ah she came to me
Her eyes full of sorrow and empty of sleep
And asked how it seemed I’d been doing alright (and I laughed)
It was a trick that she taught me
I drink so that I sleep without having dreams
And when I wake up in the morning, oh it is all I can do to survive
Oh this old gin sling keeps me satisfied
Though it hurts me more than I know and takes away my mind
Oh but the closer I get to home, fills me with dread just to know
I’ll be alone with a bottle on the shelf
All right…
But I put it down, just as soon as I realised
Oh that the hard times, they don’t get better
When life goes in the shadows of memories
The dark times make it hard to remember
All the reasons the good times ended
We remain where others cannot dwell
It’s not our place to fall where they fell
Do you really think that makes anyone happy but yourself?
Oh this old gin sling left me high and dry
So I put it back on the shelf for a little while
Ah but I still pull it down every now and again
Not to toast what’s gone before, but to all that remains, yeah
Oh always lost in memory, never to forget
Laying low with those ghosts is my only regret
END