L.A. INFIRMARY BLUES
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On the day that I went crazy
My baby called 911
Hello LAFD – Where you boys taking me?
– You’re going down to the LA Infirmary, old son
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She went down to the LA Infirmary
And what did she see?
Strapped into a bright yellow gurney
An old man who looked a lot like me

I said I’m so glad you come by baby
But I really don’t need a thing
I’ve got angels flying round the ceiling
And I love to listen to them sing —

Let him go, let him go, god bless him
If you love him, set him free
You can search the wide world over
You’ll never find another such as he

So she went up to see the doctor
Yeah, he’s all fucked up, he said
He’s clogged up a drain, it’s backed up to his brain
It’s making angels fly around his head

But I’ve got this brand new gizmo
I can sneak it right up his spout
Gonna roto-rooter his old pea shooter
And flush all them angels right out 

Let me go, let me go, God bless me
If you love me, set me free
You can search the wide world over
You’ll never find another man like me
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Now, when I came to in the ICU
The doc was at my bedside
Are you still seeing angels, the doctor said
Not any more, I lied

Yes, I lied to the doctor
And to my baby I lied
And I’m lying to you – or am I telling you true?
Well, that’s for you to decide

Let me go, let me go, goddammit
If you don’t love me, just let me be
You can search the wide world over
There’s a million more men like me
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Now, when the undertaker takes me under	
Here’s how I want to spread the news	
I want lightning, I want thunder	
I want my angels to sing me
The LA Infirmary Blues

L.A. Infirmary Blues

DIE HAPPY
© Lawrence Zempel

I was a tongue-tied schoolboy
She was Homecoming Queen
All the way through high school
I danced with her in my dreams
It took me years to take a chance
And ask her to a real dance
She said, I’ve been waiting for you
Since we were fourteen
She said, Welcome home, darling
Wanna be my king?
That’s when I heard an angel sing —

Do you want to die happy?
Do you want to die happy?
If you want to die happy I can tell you how
If you want to die happy —
Do you want to die happy?
If you want to die happy, die now.

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I was a would-be cowboy
Riding for the B-bar-B
First time working night herd
I got caught in a stampede
All I could do was hang on and pray
But my pony knew the way
We ran ‘em down and turned ‘em round
And sang ‘em back to sleep
Well, come sunrise
You shoulda seen that cowboss grin
That’s when I heard that angel sing again —

Do you want to die happy?
Do you want to die happy?
If you want to die happy I can tell you how
If you want to die happy —
Do you want to die happy?
If you want to die happy, die now.

-------------

Ah, well — life goes on
I did not become a cowboy
My Homecoming Queen is long, long gone
But I can tell you — next time, I’ll be listening
If there is a next time—that I hear that angel sing		
Do you want to die happy?
Do you want to die happy?
If you want to die happy I can tell you how
If you want to die happy —
Do you want to die happy? 
If you want to die happy
Better make it snappy
Before it turns crappy 
Or just gets sappy 
If you want to die happy
Listen here, Pappy
If you want to die happy, die now.
-- Die happy, die now.
-- Now.

Die Happy

Singer-songwriter. Born in Colorado, raised in rural Illinois and urban Missouri, college in California, now living on Mt Washington in LA. Background in architectural, industrial, and graphic design. 
"I ain't never been no cowboy, but heaven knows I've tried." (THX, L.L.)

L.A. Infirmary Blues

Zempelworks

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