billy, religion and me

 

 

i can fly shouted billy borden as he jumped from mcmillan's cliff

i can fly screamed billy borden

he did too,

 

for all of six feet

 

then the bottom of the canyon raced towards him like old home week

 

when i saw him jump i said: 'my god, i hope he can fly'

 

i was an atheist then.

the fact that they couldn't pick him up with a sponge

didn't make me any more religious

 

billy was an honour student when i was failing all but two

billy was my hero, almost as much as you

 

he used to tell me about women and how to win their hearts

he used to show me pictures of all their naked parts

 

now billy is a concrete cross in st. peter s home for the dead

and i won't go to see him, they never found his head

 

i told them he wasn't a christian, just my best friend

but they kept saying prayers right up to the end

 

i'm not sure why he thought it, i'm not too sure at all

but when he jumped from mcmillan's cliff

jesus christ i wanted him to glide like a bird

 

and come to think of it i almost believed he could do it

i mean all my life he'd been doing things i didn't think

possible

so goodbye to billy borden, he was silly saviour and all

and now i think i know how he felt when he finally took his fall

at first i didn't know it, i mean his parents never let on

but there were scars someone said, scars that lingered on

 

if i ever go back to church, i'll laugh just for billy b.

cause that's what we thought of religion, billyb. and me

 

 

Copyright © michael dennis/fast eddie press 1979

 

back to quarter on its edge

back to michael dennis home