About my all-time favorite artist, Brian Wilson, who struggled with and overcame incredible adversity to finish his musical masterpice, SMiLE, nearly forty years after beginning it.

Thank You For SMiLING
Copyright 2013, 2022 by Kid Charlatan

Well, there once was a time when the world was mine for the taking:
Close to perfection, a strong wind at my back.
But lately it seems all the waves in my life are breaking
In the wrong direction; no one's cutting me any slack.

When caught between failure and complacency,
One needs to vanquish his demons and their psychic debris;
Your greatest achievement makes it seem you agree,
So I'd like to thank you for SMiLING at me.

Now I'm floating on air, can't keep my feet on the ground;
Your SMiLE still produces the most wonderful sound.
After all these years, the music's finally free,
And the SMiLE that I heard I thought that I'd never see.

So I thank you for SMiLING at me.

Well, it all fell apart so fast that it sent you reeling;
Severed connections turned your dreams to incomplete rhymes.
A hostile environment could only leave you feeling
The soulful dejection of someone not made for his times.

When you couldn't deliver on your guarantee,
They blamed your sandbox piano and the LSD.
But the music hid a truth in its mystery:
It was your only source of refuge from the insanity.

Bridge

Artistic redemption helps provide certainty
That the past blends with the present in smooth harmony.

And now you're back on your feet; so glad to have you around!
Your SMiLE still produces the most wonderful sound.
After all these years, the music's finally free,
And it set the world virating to a new frequency.

So I thank you for SMiLING.

I wanna thank you for SMiLING at me.

Lack Of Demand

Thank You For SMiLING

"Crossroads Blues"
By Kid Charlatan

1

Thanks, old friend, for receiving me,
On a visit that was never foretold;
Y'all have made me feel so welcome
In your floating city of gold.

Now, I don't mean to alarm any saints
Or to make any angels cry,
But from where I'm standing it looks like y'all
Could use a little fire on high.

I'll keep my distance; I hope you understand -
I've never stood this close to your father's right hand.

So I'll cut to the chase, tell you straight-up to your face
You can save at most a chosen few;
But a flame could be spreadin' that averts Armageddon
If you only pay the devil his due.

2

Your alleged "followers" have disobeyed
And have broken the rules of our game;
They no longer care whether you're aware
Of the sins they commit in your name.

They're loud, proud, and angry
As they rage with the rich against the poor;
The ignorant fools are such self-righteous tools
That they're truly lost forevermore.

Their economies run on greed; they think they pull the strings.
The "invisible hand of the market" is the new "divine right of kings."

So I'm tempted to say you should cast 'em all away;
A battle for their souls needs not ensue.
They have more in common with Osama bin Laden
Than they ever will with you.

Bridge

[Bell] Thank you for the offer, my bro,
But I've given it some thought, and I gotta say, "No."
My message of peace is the same as it's been;
For those with ears to hear, let 'em hear it again:

Treat everybody like they live next door,
Celebrate compassion, and make love instead of war;
Sell whatcha got, give your money to the poor,
Then you judge a little less and forgive a little more.

And then you na na na-na-na, na na na
Just like you na na na-na-na, na na na
Until you na na na-na-na, na na na
Or maybe na na na-na-na, na na na, na na

And sometimes na na-na
And people na na na-na-na,
But if you just na na-na-na, na na na,
Then we could all na na-na-na, na-na na, na na na.

Yeah.

[Horns/Guitar]

3

As the Prince of Lies, even I sympathize
'Tho I despise the virtue that you seek,
And it's with pride I confide your Believers all side
With the vengeful who bully the weak.

And I love how you watch from the sidelines
As their world becomes a lifeless stone;
They've even made it easier to shoot up a school
Than to repay a student loan.

They dig my prototype antichrist and his polluted aristocracy;
They're the face of respectable evil in a modern theocracy.

So when you change your mind, and you give up on mankind,
Reconsider, please, from my point of view:
The children of gawd are acting mighty un-Chr!$t-like;
It's time to pay the devil his due.

Yeah, you gotta pay the devil his due.

Copyright 2023 Kid Charlatan, Scott Kalar, and Housing Project Hill Publishing

Crossroads Blues

Kid Charlatan

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