behemoth and me

behemoth rolled into denver

in a truck from tennessee 

he had hitched a ride from nashville

just to come n sing with me

at mercury cafe one night

he lit his cigarette

he said chaidie i'm the devil

and i'm here to make a bet

see the folks of denver never did

see a cat stand on two legs

the moment someone here does well

they drink 'em to the dregs

so i'll tell you this n listen close

fact you better write it down

cuz this cat sees these angry looks

n tonight i'm leavin town

my bet is this these people here

won't listen to your tunes

they'll lock you out n shut you up

n never pay your dues

so if you can make this city live

n listen to your art

i'll give you a new gold guitar

n this town a brand new heart

but if in ten days i get back

n you haven't earned a cent

i'll set a virus to these streets

that'll spread from here to kent

n if in ten long years i come

n still no people sing

i'll set fire to your guitar

bust this town like a rusted string

n just like that the cat was gone

in a whirl of fur n fire

n i set straight to play guitar

i never was so inspired

on a corner of 16th street mall

near caribou cafe

i played my heart out to the dregs

every hour of the day

my hat was on the sidewalk

and the strings twanged in my hands

but not a dollar did i get

not once from any man

it weren't for lack of tryin

i played every song i knew

janis joplin, johnny cash

n some of my own tunes too

but ten short days they came n went

n with them all my hope

n when at last behemoth came

i was towin the end of my rope

he said that's alright my dear ol friend

n bought me a drink or two

but all that time we both knew

what he was bound to do

n that night sure 'nuff th' first case came in

of a man who coughed all wrong

every time he hacked up from his chest

out came notes from a song

well the sickness spread from town to town

til it made its way all 'round

the globe n everywhere you went

you heard that coughing music sound

n all the while i played my songs

n never a dollar made

until by n by the virus left

n still i ne'er got paid

but neither did the workers who

got stuck inside their homes

til more n more folks joined the streets

to get chilled down to their bones

n by n by the years went past

well i continued to play

n by n by folks helped me out

but homed folks ne'er did pay

'til all at once ten years were up

n not a dollar to my name

i sat on colfax avenue

n waited for that final flame

well sure enough that cat walked up

n he'd put on a pound or two

his whiskers'd greyed, some teeth fell out

his ears were a bit more chewed

but that look in his hadn't changed a lick

when he saw my empty hat

he jumped that town straight away

like t'was an alley rat

n as the screens burst red n blue

n condos straight collapsed

i sat right there n played my heart

with the guitar upon my lap

n when some folks said 'god has come'

n others said 'he's not'

i sang about behemoth's oath

that they had plumb forgot

n when at last he came to me

with the fire in his tail

i pleaded long n pleaded hard

but t'was to no avail

for that black cat took my guitar

n held it in his paws

n played it hard 'til every string

snapped on his iron claws

n as my guitar burst to flames

on colfax avenue

i begged upon those molten streets

from one last chance to play to you

then behemoth grinned n said 'no tears!'

he took my hand in his paw

n led me through those burnin streets

where people moaned n hawed

he took me right down to a place

that he called new orleans

where on every corner street i saw

gold guitars — or so it seemed

right there he sat me down n said

'kid you've had a bitter life

i thought you'd like a place to play

that offers some less strife'

then i said 'what 'bout our bet my friend

i thought i owed some dues

on the streets of denver i earned naught

for all that folk n blues'

but he just laughed n said 'sweet kid

do you know who i am?'

'well the devil of course' i said n he

said 'well then c'mon let's jam'

ten years or days i couldn't say

since we've been playin here

n not a day goes by i don't think

of those old 16th street tears

n never a day goes by i don't

think about those busted strings

for the devil plays no games when it comes

to those folks he likes who sing

so the next time that you see a cat

or a busker on the street

you better think of behemoth

n start dancin to the beat

cuz still the devil wanders 'round

n on jams that sordid kitty

n i go with n i'll tell you

he's burned down many a city

— July 2021, Bedford, TX