The Minute You're Born, You're Dyin'

by Gary "MoFilker" Hanak

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about

This song will be part of an album conceived after some life-altering news. This is the fourth song to come to fruition. (I had thought to make this a sea shanty. Just didn't work out...)

The album will be called "Before I Go", assuming I get that title past my wife.

lyrics

title: The Minute You're Born, You're Dyin'
composer: Gary "MoFilker" Hanak
key: D (G on Baritone)

vs1:
Sitting by a busy road, just my dad and me
Watchin' cars go zooming by so very frantically
Talkin' 'bout how things were now, and later, how'd they be
Then he said, out of the blue
Something I took as a truth
Not till later did I figure out that I just didn't see
What it was he'd tried to say to me

vs2:
I didn't know that Dad was ill--he hadn't told me yet
I was clueless about life and stuff, and hadn't yet begun to fret
Dad was forty, I was sixteen, but in three short years his death
Would hit me hard since it seemed sudden
Though in truth, it really wasn't
Not till years had passed did I pause to reflect
Not till then did I recall that thing he'd said

chorus1:
"The minute you're born, you're dyin'"
That was what he said that day
I'm sure now that he was thinking
Of his illness and his fate.
"The minute you're born, you're dyin'"
Maybe he was trying to say
That you never know what's coming
So live life to the fullest every day

bridge:
Now I'm older than he ever got to be
Doesn't mean there still aren't things
that he could teach to me
Wondering how he handled knowing
That his light would soon cease glowing
Did he worry for his wife and family?
Was that what he was trying to tell me?
("The minute you're born, you're dyin'"...)

vs3:
So now I have my own clock, counting down to some time hence
I hope it's set for later--some far off future reference
And we will keep the kids informed, though that may get intense
And I'll keep trying to accomplish
Things that to myself I've promised
That I'd do--it's at my own insistence
And encouraged ... by that single instance...

chorus2:
"The minute you're born, you're dyin'"
Take it only for what it's worth
Though it might seem pessimistic
It's really no more than the truth
And it's what my father said that day
I'm just keeping it in mind
I think he meant the end is coming
So don't waste too much time

You never know what's coming
So don't waste too much time

credits

released May 30, 2021
All vocals and instrumentation by Gary "MoFilker" Hanak

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about

Gary "MoFilker" Hanak St. Louis, Missouri

Old person. Sings and plays guitar, piano, bass, accordion, and programs drums, sorta

Writes originals and parodies.
Currently there are four albums out there, with two more as a gleam in the eye.

Filk Hall of Fame awardee, winner of a Pegasus, and an invited music guest in St Louis, San Francisco, Chicago, Toronto, and Columbus. So far.

And, plays around St Louis in the live music scene. ... more

mofilker.com

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