Beatrice - Rick Barry

I once knew a girl named Beatrice who confided in me,

But she died every night in a recurring dream.

When she’d awake startled in a pool of her sweat she’d be so grateful and happy

just to be alive that she came to me and she swore an oath

she’d reach out to her loved ones and make sure that they know.

she won’t hide her love beneath a blanket of sadness

where only the darkest forms of beauty exist.

She says, I’m no damsel in distress

I’m no precious mistress to be rescued from the ruin

and if you can’t see that now I promise you’ll see it soon.

And I could be a holy man on top of a hill but in this life I’ve found that

it’s easier still to be the devil waiting in the shadow of the gutter

King of murderous lepers and unfaithful lovers

but my thirst won’t be quenched

drinking from that unholy breast,

it’s a path to regret and doom

and I can’t feel it now but I know I’ll feel it soon.

And when I wake with a call from my father,

he’s not trying to upset me,

he just wants me to try harder.

I tell him I will and sometimes I mean it

But he knows me too well so he never truly believes it

He says you’re gold in the ground, a falling tree with no one 'round.

You can make it kid, but it’s up to you.

And if you can’t see that now I know you will see it soon.

And Beatrice, my trembling hands present you no comfort.

The most I can offer is less than you deserve.

I will not follow too close behind since the path that you walk is far more

righeous than mine.

And that place where you are, between the morning star and Saturn’s sixth moon,

well, I can’t go there now but I promise I’ll be there soon.

Alone in the darkness I think of my mortality

It sends a chill up my spine and it becomes hard to breathe.

I think of a world without me,

an infinite empty abyss

and suddenly the thought of dying makes it so hard to live.

Sometimes I get so scared.

I just want it all to end.

But then I remember what Beatrice said and finally I understand.