Martyr's Cross

Oh Muse, I could use a healthy dose of your wisdom
Find me a good line and I’ll try to rhyme it with this one
Please make 'em think that I might be the next Bobby Dylan
Or at least as good as the last next one

I got all the answers right here written down in my book
To all of their questions but I just can’t yet let ‘em look
They’ll see when I’m along an' gone that the life I forsook
To get ‘em all down was worth all the time it took

The martyr’s cross teases me to shut my eyes
‘Cause I can’t be famous, immortal and alive
Speakin' truths that only my death will make you realize
I’m livin’ life by my own sentence, waitin' to die

I’m set on the title, I’m callin' it “The Big Joke”
Each day and every page I write it I’ll be flat broke
I’d talk your ear off but that wouldn’t make me Van Gogh
It’s worth more when I’m gone than any words I ever spoke

Oh Muse spread the news to my friends that I’m sorry I left
And greatly exaggerate all the reports of my death
Tell 'em I spoke of 'em well with my last breath
Just in case they don’t show up in the final draft

Now I’m due to thank the producers who paid for my song
And please excuse me if a few of the words come out wrong
I’m only a prophet if someone is makin’ a profit
They say all I have to do is play along


1998