Warrior

Why don't you have a seat, Jack?
This won't take long
Neither one of us has much to say
Do we?

You want a drink?
I can pour you a drink
Scotch and soda, right?

I know what you drink
God knows you haven't changed

Oh Jack...

I didn't know what I was going to say to you
When you came over here tonight
And then it came to me
All of a sudden

A story from when I was a kid
About a Great Warrior
And a Teacher

You up for a little story, Jack?

I promise it'll be quick
And it has a happy ending

So once upon a time
This Great Warrior
Decides he's getting too old to, you know
Be a warrior
And so he settles down somewhere
Somewhere in a clearing
You know, in the woods or something

And one day he's hanging clothes on a line
Because even warriors have to do laundry
And a boy comes stumbling out of the forest
Dirty, and wild-eyed
Looking like he's just been through Hell

The Warrior takes the Boy in
He lives alone, he's lonely, you know
And he cleans the boy up
Feeds him
And then decides that he'd like having a son
And so he tells the kid to stick around

The boy's only seven or eight
Not very old
So he doesn't have the words to describe
What happened to him in the forest
But the Great Warrior can tell
It's created something in him
Something that could prove useful later on

He starts training the boy
Not because he really wants to, but just--
For lack of anything better to do
Not much happens in a clearing in the woods
You know what I mean, Jack?

The boy picks up the training pretty quick
Pretty soon he can hold his own with the Great Warrior
One day, the boy even beats him
Throws his teacher down on the ground
And stands over him--smiling
Happy to have made his Teacher proud

And that's when the Warrior has to make a decision

Because, as I understand it
There are two ways a story like that can continue

The Boy can become the successor
--Or the rival of his master

Which means either he has to continue being encouraged
Nurtured, and trained

Or he has to be destroyed

You see, Jack, it's a question of legacy

We all have the power to teach someone
How to go further
Than we ourselves can go

We have the power to take what's in us
And give it to someone else
Thereby allowing them to overtake us

That is--if we want to

But you see, that requires embracing
Our own mortality

It means we have to accept
That one day we will be fogotten
And the one we have taught
Will be remembered
Until somebody overtakes them

Or...we stop them

Right in their tracks

And we die one day
Taking everything we know with us
Ensuring we will be remembered
As the last of a line
As someone who was special
Because they knew things
Nobody else knew

And yes, maybe it's selfish
But nobody thinks of it that way
Because deep down
We all understand selfishness
We all understand and respect
Self-preservation

So the Great Warrior is lying there on the ground
Looking up at the Boy who has the potential
To surpass him
And he has to decide
What comes next

Then it happens

He decides

But that's where the story ends, Jack

That's why it's a happy ending

Because you never have to hear
Whether he killed the kid
Or if the kid grew up and killed him instead

You never have to know
And that's nice, isn't it?

I mean, when you consider the alternative?

You sure you don't want that drink, Jack?

You look thirsty

Sitting there--you look parched

Well, if you don't want a drink
Then I guess there's no point in delaying it any longer

Why don't you get down on the ground
And I'll stand over you
And you can decide
What it is
You want to do

Who You Are in the Neighborhood

Look who decided to show up

Come back for a victory lap?

Don't bother

Nobody gave you a crown here

Nobody told you were somebody here

Who you are outside of here?  I don't give a fuck

I didn't say you were anything

Nobody here said you were anything

You remember that

You remember that before you come back saying you're this and that

That's somewhere else

And I don't care where it is--it's still not here

Here we got our own rules, our qualifications, things we need to see you do to figure out if you're worth something

See, success is local, okay?  Success is what the person next door to you thinks, not what some person halfway across the world thinks of you

You gotta earn your success here, first, before you go acting like you're hot shit

You gotta be somebody where you grew up, in your neighborhood
Because this is where it's tough
This is where it means something
This is where you get judged

People somewhere else think you're a genius?
You ain't no fucking genius
Not unless I say you're a genius
Because I've known you since you were at my knee
And that means I'll know you forever
Because people don't change all that much
Whether they want to or not

You left her a piece of shit
And you think that's changed?

Nothing's changed

Maybe I can't make people outside this neighborhood
See you for who you are
Because all they get is the piece of you
That you want them to have
And they say that's enough for them to say you're one thing or another
Which--hey, sorry, but that's fuckin' stupid in my book
But--hey--if that's good enough for them, whatever

But here--right here
I get to see all of you
Every bit
And that's why I'm not standing here with a smile on my face
Acting like I'm thrilled

So if you're looking for somebody to kiss your ass
You might need to buy some lipstick
And do it yourself
Because we got nothing for you here, okay?

Who you are in the neighborhood is some guy who couldn't hack it
That's all
That's it

Somebody who couldn't make it here
So he went off somewhere easier
And that's fine by me
But that just makes you a quitter
It don't make you smart

But hey, yeah, take a look around
See what you missed out on
Shake a few hands
Make yourself feel good

Just remember where you are
And what that makes you

Then get back in your car
And drive away, okay?

'Cause nobody here is impressed

A Mountain

Do not cry, my son
For what you see before you
Is nothing but a mountain

A pile of rocks
A bump
A lump
A lot of nothing

Oh yes, it is majestic in its way
But it is nothing to fear

For fear is something we reserve
For much darker days than this

You see your father
Suited up
For great adventure
And you fear
He will not return

But you see, a father never really leaves
And so when I am but out of sight
That missing man?
The one beyond your vision?

That is just one form of myself
It is not all of who I am

And so return or no
I am and will be forever
Your father

And what we have
That ties us
Is like a rope
That can go around this mountain
More times than you can count
And never strain or break

If you must know why I climb
It is because sometimes there are things
You cannot go around
Under, or through

Sometimes, my boy, one must climb

And if you fall
The gods will applaud you
For having tried
And they will catch you in their hands
Before you can feel yourself
Touch the ground

That is what I believe
That is my only religion

Love and luck to you, my son

And I shall see you
On the other side

Rain in Miami, Snow in New York

Nothing like a Christmas party in July, huh?

Don't you just love theme nights
At a dive bar?

Gives you something to live for, huh?

You like my Santa hat?

Ho ho ho

I talked myself into coming here
Now I'm trying to talk myself into going back home

Something about getting drunk with strangers
Seems healthier than getting drunk alone

If nothing else, at least I'll be social

I'll be...

There's a snowstorm in New York, you know

And here we are, safe in Miami
Paradise
Minus the rain

At least here you know it'll stop raining
When it's winter in New York
It feels like it's always going to be winter
And it starts to get to you

Winter would always set me back
For awhile, I thought I had seasonal depression
But it turns out I just don't like staying in for days at a time
Or seeing the daylight run out at four in the afternoon

I'd quit things, you know
Like smoking
And then--February would roll around
And I'd go right back to it

Same thing with drinking
Same thing with a lot of things
Men and...yeah...

...Yeah

Sometimes you feel like you've met every person in the world
You're ever gonna meet

And it makes you feel so alone
Like...
Like there's nothing left
That's going to surprise you
Except the bad stuff

You try to remember the last time you felt happy and...

I was in New York
And I said, 'Ugh, I gotta get out of here'

This place that I worked my whole life to get to
And suddenly I couldn't stand being there
For one more second

So--I get on a plane
And here I am
And the first day
It rained

Isn't that--

Well, see--because it was snowing
When I left New York

Flight got delayed three times
And then finally we just took off in the middle of it
Airlines decided to make a break for it, I guess
And everybody on the plane was freaking out
Except me--because I just wanted to get the hell out of there
And if I died trying, I really didn't care

Btu then I get here
And the weather is...

God, if you believed in omens
I would have just walked into the sea
Then and there

But I don't

--Believe in omens, or--

--Anything, really

Wherever you go, something's gonna remind you
That you can't go that far

Not as far as you need to, you know
To...

To, uh...Well.

Cheers, right?

Cheers to sucky weather
And big cities
And cheap liquor

Here's to hoping the sun comes out

Do you even remember the last good day you had?

Hard, isn't it?
Hard to remember

Well--Merry Christmas, right?

And here's to next year...