The Big Gig in the Sky


pondering today about the singers
and songwriters of my time
and how many are now playing
the Big Gig in the Sky
there aren’t all that many
left alive, let alone performing
the rest are old and wrinkled
a lot like me
living on borrowed time
what will I do for lyrics when Willy goes
and Cohen and Lightfoot
and all the other geriatric genii that I love

I can’t help but wonder
if a man’s interest in music
is defined by the singers he’s outlived


* John Irvine is a regular IS&T contributor – we hope to get our hands on a review copy of the anthology he recently put together, real soon now.

** Talking of Leonard Cohen, during his recent gigs in London, he commented on his previous trip to London, saying “I was 60 years old, just a kid with a crazy dream.”