About five years ago I heard an instrumental version of this song on my Bose radio playlist. I did not know the lyrics but the song seemed very familiar. Listening to the melody choked me up and brought tears to my eyes.
"Where did I hear this song?" I thought. I racked my brain and couldn't figure it out but the familiarity was there. I thought maybe I heard it in one of those old Western movies where pioneers were trekking across America via the Oregon trail, dodging Indian attacks, the sweltering heat and blizzards to finally arrive at their new home in the West. I looked up the lyrics
"If you miss the train I'm on, you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles,A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.
Lord I'm one, Lord I'm two, Lord I'm three, Lord I'm four,
Lord I'm 500 miles from my home.
500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles, 500 miles
Lord I'm five hundred miles from my home.
Not a shirt on my back, not a penny to my name
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way
This a-away, this a-way, this a-way, this a-way,
Lord I can't go a-home this a-way.
If you miss the train I'm on you will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles.
A hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles, a hundred miles,
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles."
Nope. That wasn't where I heard this song. But I do know why this song is familiar.
As you know I believe in the Afterlife. We're just here on earth in this body to learn. Our real home is in the Afterlife or as others call it.....Heaven.
Now when I die, and we all die. I know I've talked about my impeding demise often on this blog but it is going to happen....eventually. I don't know if there will be a service for me. A funeral or a memorial. I have requested than there be none but once I'm gone, I no longer have any control over what happens to mark my time on earth in this iteration of one or my many lives. But if there is a service please play this song "500 Miles." And preferable the Peter, Paul and Mary version. Coincidentally, Mary and I share the same birthday, November 9th. I knew there was a connection!
And please, PLEASE......DO NOT PLAY "AMAZING GRACE." I swear to God, almost every funeral or memorial service I've attended they play "Amazing Grace." This was particularly graceless when my cousin Bud died. He was the same age as me. He loved "Phantom of the Opera." He wanted that song played at his funeral. His caregiver, his sister, chose not to play it because she thought it would be "inappropriate." And yes, she had "Amazing Grace" played at his funeral.
Pat (or whoever) will take care of my final exit, DO NOT PLAY "AMAZING GRACE" AT MY FUNERAL.
Play this song......"500 Miles." To me, this is the perfect sendoff for me in this life of mine. Especially the Peter, Paul and Mary version.
Thank you folks and have a wonderful day and week!
4 comments:
Thanks for posting, Ron. I agree with you. Please, no Amazing Grace. Find a more appropriate song that everyone can join in and sing.
But, Ron, I thought that being prostate cancer free had given you many more years of life - so no moaning about funerals and "Amazing Grace". Think positive, Roderick
Hey Rod,
We all die sometime. There is a date circled in red on a future calendar reserved especially for us. When that time comes, and if whoever has a service for me, please.......PLEASE DO NOT PLAY "AMAZING GRACE" or else I'll haunt you forever. Having said that, I think I'll stick around for another ten years or so.
Ron
Oh Tommy,
I wanted to get up and walk out the last family funeral I attended and they played that damn song "Amazing Grace." I am so sick of that song. Have a little imagination folks!
Ron
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