Before I Go (for Tookie‪)‬ I Wrote this Song for You

My Aunt Tookie has always been the black sheep of the family. Sharp as a tack, comically irreverent toward convention, and unafraid to speak her mind, she has forged her own unique path in life. She's recently been moved into hospice care, but before she dies she has one very unusual wish...
 
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Before I Go is written and performed by Wells Hanley on piano and vocals. Mixed and mastered by Curtis Fye. ©2022
 
Before I Go
Music and Lyrics by Wells Hanley ©2022

Someone once said
Don’t waste your time on the dead
There are things you can’t control
Just don’t let them weigh on your soul
It’s while we’re here, we can let it show
Say what we need to say before they go
 
Before I go,
What I want you to know
is that as awful as it may seem
there’s no need to cry and scream
Just take a chill - give up your straining
It could be worse, it could be raining
 
Better off, do something for someone still around
Lighten someone’s load, wouldn’t that be cool?
Help them to approach the unknown, the frightening and mysterious
with a joke or a laugh - it doesn’t have to be so serious.
 
So before I’m dead
Please get it into your head
that the sky is not falling down
and the king has got no clothes
And while there are those who'll try explaining,
it’s best to see it all as entertaining
So shed your worry, it was only draining
It could be worse, it could be raining
 
Before I go, I hope you’ll know that dying’s not so bad
Everyone must go - one day, even you
And while we hope for heaven and fret about hell, which is just such a pile,
you know the measure of a life well lived is if you made somebody smile.
The hellfire and damnation, it’s such an awful crock you know
I may never have been “saved”, but think of what I’ve saved:
At the cut rate crematorium for just 800 bucks
I’ll be relieved of all but seven pounds and I’ll remain with zero…
fear and regret
 
Before I go
What I want you to know
is that I love you in a place
where there’s no time or space
And I don’t know how, but I think it’s true
that when I’m there, I’m everywhere too
Which means that I’ll be here with you…
So don’t be sad, don’t start complaining
It could be worse, it could be raining

 
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Thank you to family and friends for your support in the long journey that created this podcast. Your hearts are woven into every episode.
A special thanks to Jude Treder-Wolff for introducing me to the NYC storytelling community and for our many adventures together pairing story and song.
A very special thanks to Courtney Page Ferrell for bolstering my confidence before I believed in this idea, for realizing "it's a podcast!", and for continuing to cheer me on tirelessly.
The deepest and most cathartic thank you to Elizabeth Smartt for partnering with me to birth this creative vision. For spending countless hours sculpting my idea into something clear and concise down to the logo, website, and even the format of each episode. You are a godsend of a creative collaborator and I am eternally grateful to you for bringing