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Jim Hoehn: Music

Word Guys

(Jim Hoehn)
Jim Hoehn

 Note: "The Shooting of Dan McGrew," by Robert W. Service, the favorite poem
of a youth that was not necessarily misspent.

Mesmerized at the age of 10,
Frank and Joe had done it again,
Their Hardy efforts solved the mystery of the Twisted Claw
Newspaper would slap the porch,
I'd run down and grab the sports
I've read Buckshot's column for as long as I can recall

    (Chorus)
    Word guys, caught my eyes, leading with, who, what, where, when and whys
    Set the stage, at an early age, dreamed of days
    I'd share the page, With those word guys

Some chose songs and some chose poems,
others wartime letters home
Some kept journals to cleanse their tortured souls
Some sit in the pressbox late at night,
shake their heads at a called third strike
Yet write with passion when the bottom of the ninth unfolds

    (Chorus)
    Word guys, crackin' wise....
    
    I learned from Hemingway, the highway,
    but too often only the hard way would do
    Lessons learned from pages turned,
     like the shooting of Dan McGrew
    Pitched on his head, pumped full of lead,
     lay dangerous Dan McGrew

Chuck and Dave were a vowel apart,
but those Berry/Barry boys could grab your heart
One made you dance, the other laugh out loud
Jerry Jeff penned the eyes of age,
might be the best line ever laid
And gave you three-chord courage to face a barroom crowd

    (Chorus)
    Word guys, they harmonized, singing of....
    Middle age, yet another page, who'd of thought,
    I'd share the stage, With those word guys

Life unfolds one line at a time,
like a country road full of Burma Shave signs
The punchline hidden somewhere around the bend
So I'll sit down by myself tonight,
nothing planned, but I'll just write
Maybe nothing more, than "I Love You" once again

    (Chorus)
    From a word guy, as time goes by, looking back on ...
    Set the stage, at an early age, thankful
    I can share the page, With those word guys
    
    And pitched on his head, pumped full of lead,
    lay dangerous Dan McGrew