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Baby Boomer Lament

Jim Smith's avatar image

By Jim Smith

2 min read

I was born in the 50s; came of age in the 60s; went to college and married in the 70s; raised my kids in the 80s; watched them graduate high school and leave for college in the 90s.

In the 2000s, I cared for my parents in their final years, walked my daughter down the aisle, watched my son marry, and was blessed with two grandchildren.

Then, I was given two more grandkids, settled into retirement, and got leukemia in the 2010s.

Now in the 2020s, I'm wondering what the hell I'm going to do when I grow up.

Yeah, I'm a Baby Boomer

We’re the generation of hippies, the Vietnam War, the Kennedy brothers and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassinations, Kent State, Woodstock, the moon landing, Watergate, and a hundred other iconic moments.

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But we also had some great music: Elvis, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan, The Mommas and the Papas, The Doors, The Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Otis Redding, The Beach Boys, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and the Beatles.

And, of course, the queen of 60’s music, Janis Joplin.

So, for the younger members of this site who missed out on all that fun, I thought I’d pass along a little paraphrased version of one of her biggest hits.

A song about leukemia

Cancer’s a bummer but maybe this far-out tune will blow your mind. So put on your paisley shirt, Nehru jacket, or mini skirt, pull your Harpoon out of your dirty red bandana, and sing along to the tune of Mercedes Benz.

Oh Lord, don’t you know, I was feelin’ just fine
Maybe a cold, or a flu sometimes
But now I'm a-sittin' just bidin’ my time
Oh Lord, I remember I was feelin’ just fine

Oh Lord, soon I’ll have, no hair on me
That’d be okay if I looked like Connery
But it’s gonna be more like Mahatma Gandhi
Oh Lord don’t take my hair from me

Oh Lord, there’s lots you could’a sent down
A car, a TV, a night on the town
But ya sent the Big C, now problems abound
Oh Lord, there’s lots you could’a sent down

Oh Lord t’aint the chemo that worries me
But it’s got side effects, I guess we will see
I’ll stock up on blue pills and take one nightly
Oh Lord, I really don’t want ED

Oh Lord I guess it’s all part of your plan
I’ll do the best to do the best that I can
Til’ the show’s all done and the film’s in the can
Oh Lord I’ll do the best that I can
Oh Lord I’ll do the best that I can

I hope that groovy tune really did blow your mind. Life can be a bad trip, man, but it like doesn’t always have to be a bummer, ya know? After all…

I’m not tryin’ to cause a big s-s-sensation, just talkin’ ‘bout my g-g-generation.

Peace.

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