Thirty-three

Here I am in Saint John, NB, where I spent my 3rd through 10th birthdays. Funny that today I'm spending my 33rd birthday in the same city. This is a dirty, uninspired town that no tourist could love, but I love it nonetheless. Age makes you reflect.

If you have a copy of the Smashing Pumpkins' opus Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, I invite you to have a listen to the 3rd song on the second disc. Somber, detached, yet hopeful -- it's a birthday song like no other!

"thirty-three"

speak to me in a language i can hear
humour me before i have to go
deep in thought i forgive everyone
as the cluttered streets greet me once again

i know i can't be late, supper's waiting on the table
tomorrow's just an excuse away
so i pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own

the earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
at the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
steeple guide me to my heart and home
the sun is out and up and down again

i know i'll make it, love can last forever
graceful swans of never topple to the earth
and you can make it last forever
you can make it last, forever you

and for a moment i lose myself
wrapped up in the pleasures of the world
i've journeyed here and there and back again
but in the same old haunts i still find my friends
mysteries not ready to reveal
sympathies i'm ready to return

i'll make the effort, love can last forever
graceful swans of never topple to the earth
tomorrow's just an excuse
and you can make it last forever
you can make it last, forever you

© 1995 Billy Corgan