"grandpa here's your coffee,"
said edith as she filled his cup,
"nobody'll find you here
and earl is glad you guys showed up
the way things are downtown
you might have to stay for a while
there was a helicopter flyin' over your house
when i talked to your neighbor kyle"
"who the hell do they think they are?
invading our home like that
grandma and i had to leave so fast
we couldn't even catch the cat
the helicopter scared the shit out of it
and it took off down the trail
down past the railroad track
towards the county jail"
"jed you really screwed up now
what'd you have to do that for?
everybody wants to hang your ass
here's a note from lenore"
she touched the cold steel bars
as she pushed the paper in
jed took it up and read it
and couldn't hide a grin
outside the jail window
a crow flew across the sky
completely disappearing behind each bar
then a helicopter flew by
"say hi to earl and edith
tell'em i'm doin' fine
tell'em you're ready to leave home now
and they should cut the line
can grandma come and see me?
i've got a new song to sing
it's longer than all the others combined
and doesn't mean a thing"
the noise was unfamiliar...
a walkie talkie squealed
generators were runnin'
vans parked in the field
tv crews and cameras
they wanted to interview grandpa on the porch
they came through the gate and up on the lawn
knockin' down edith's tiki torch
grandpa saw them there
looking through the venetian blind
"those people don't have any respect
so they won't get any of mine
i ain't gonna talk about jed...
i don't watch channel 2 or 6 or 9
i don't have time to talk that fast
and it ain't my crime
it ain't an honour to be on tv
and it ain't a duty either
the only good thing about tv
is shows like 'leave it to beaver'
shows with love and affection
like mama used to say
a little mayberry livin'
can go a long way"
he took earl's gun from the closet
and loaded up both barrels
went out on the porch and fired them off
and up walked a woman named carol
"susan carol from early magazine
i've got some questions to ask"
"well you can stick 'em where the sun don't shine,"
grandpa said with a gasp
then he fell face first and let out a sigh
edith came out in shock
grandpa was whispering to her from down on the floor
he looked like he was tryin' to talk
"that guy who just keeps singin'
can't somebody shut him up?
i don't know for the life of me
where he comes up with this stuff"
they laid his head on a newspaper
with a picture of carmichael on the front page
posing with a little league baseball team
and a seedy shot of jed with a motorcycle.
grandpa died like a hero
fightin' for freedom of silence
tryin' to stop the media
tryin' to be anonymous
share your lovin' and you'll live so long
share your lovin' and you'll live so long
share your lovin' and you'll live so long
live so long
