Oxygen and water

you were eight years old

you were playing in the woods

by crawdad creek

when he saw you

and he grabbed you

and he ordered you

to neither move or speak

and he did things to you

that a small boy

can't begin to understand

and you're still keeping your secret

a child in the body of a man

skinned knees

torn jeans

blood on your sneakers

and your shirt

you looked just like a kid

who didn't know what he did

but got more than just his feelings hurt

he held you down on the ground

and he turned around

and keep the upper hand

and you're still keeping your secret

a child in the body of a man

now you are a grown-up

you're around the same age

that man was

way back then

but every night you have no choice

you feel his touch

and hear his voice

over and over

again and again

bedsheets soaked with sweat

but you never can forget

how he shook you

and he took you

under his command

and you're still keeping your secret

a child in the body of a man

Now, it's going to sound like I'm making excuses, but you've got to understand that this is a possible first draft. I mean, it's not really even a first draft yet. What I do many times is this kind of writing where I just get everything out and then I edit it later and put it to a melody if I don't already have one in my head. And I write a lot of free writing/first draft stuff that never gets past that first stage.

And this one, farmboy? I think it shows potential.

Thanks. But I don't know yet. I have to look at it and see if it still interests me, you know? I can see one possible issue: I offer no solution whatsoever and all I'm doing is reporting what happened. But that might really be all I can do. I'm not a therapist, I ain't no fuckin' social worker here.

But, basically, I don't want to analyze too much when I'm writing the first draft. I want to get all I can out there until I reach the point where I'm just forcing it. Forcing it -- the writing -- almost never works. It seems that it has to be as natural as it can.

So you have some thinking to do, then?

It's more than this weird subconscious thing where it kind of...marinades, for the lack of a better word. It percolates for a while. I have to see if I'm interested in it, and there's all these kind of bookmarks, you know...Do I like the words? Is it preachy?

You really don't like preachy, do you?

I hate preachy with a red hot passion.

I do too. I feel insulted when a song is preachy.

Yeah, it's so condescending.

So we'll see. If it keeps my interest, I'll keep you posted on how this song is going.

That would be great, farmboy.

I really want to write great songs, man. You have no idea how important it is to me. It's like oxygen and water.

And nobody has to be involved with this. That's one of the things I like about songwriting. No one can stop you from it. It's yours. It's a personal thing. No one can take it away from you.

It belongs to you.

And I belong to it, I guess. (laughs) It's a win-win situation!