When I broke up with Patti, i drove across the country for a family gathering
in Arizona.  Along the way, i did some field research, ground-truthing 
the satellite imagery.  Trying to get her out of my system, i wrote this 
song over the 3-month journey:
      
     
    
  
  

I want to sing you a country and western song
       'cause i'm a man who's been done wrong

i had a woman
       and i loved her well
but she cursed my genes
and dragged me through hell

now, i'm not one for naming names
                 or playing games
               but i swear by all the heavens above
that patti was my partner in this thing called love

and that she broke my little heart
well, that's the really sad, 
                          bad part

but there were plenty of good times too
  and those are what i prefer to review...

like the little black dog that she rescued and found
    'cause you know this country boy loves his hound!

and with a magic healing touch in her fingers
     no wonder my heart-felt yearning lingers

  she ate all the right food
her laughter was a good mood

she was brave enough to travel the land
     living like a gypsy in a hippe van

   strong enough to train in three styles
she would bike and hike with me for miles

          even the car that she drove
fit my life, like a kettle to a stove

but baby there is one thing you know is true
          and that is, honey, we are through!

'cause there ain't no going back
no, 
   not to that
             angry little italian girl
that took my mind and body for a whirl

     'cause beneath the sheet,
   well, she couldn't be beat
but when she got mad, 
it was time to hit the street!

now i'm staying on the road
    driving where it's cold

   living like a monk
stinking like a skunk

unclean, 
   unshaven, 
      unkempt
my face all covered in fuzz
i wish i had an altimeter
     to tell how high i was!

     heading out to see my family clan
to find out just what kind of man i am

and i guess that's just a space age cowboy
     herding truth on the open range
rounding up the lies propagated by the spies in the skies
and this is where my story's strange...

I found myself hugging a big tall Sajuaro
     trying to bleed out all of my sorrow

singing this song out to the coyotes
 trying not to take any more peyotes

climbing to the top of the mountain high
      shouting out to the clear blue sky
           "Lord!  I gave it my best try!"

    Sewing my heart up with a suture
There i was, facing forwards
standing in the middle of the future 
  that i was heading towards

right through the middle of a
   mind numbing
         bone chilling
                   cold desert rain

and you know i'll never be the same
no, not after the cold,
                      cold,
                           cold
                        desert rain.