Johnny be Dead

It was a dark and stormy night. The wind was high, he didn’t pay it any mind. He had his boots on and he walked on down the hallway. He came to a door and he stepped outside.

It was a stormy Monday. He knew Tuesday would be just as bad. It was time for the blue bus. He climbed aboard.

“Driver, where you taking us?”

“Strap in, son, we’re setting our controls for the heart of the sun”, said the driver.

“Oh really, we won’t be fooled again, you know.”

The driver smiled. When he smiled he showed ‘em pearly whites.

The blue bus drove on through the night. It was midnight in Harlem when Johnny B Goode got off at the corner of 56th and Wabasha. He was headed to Kansas. But first, he had some business back in town.

In the white room with black curtains, Johnny paused just inside the threshold. The Acid Queen swept forward in a swirl of silk.

“Welcome!”, she hissed, “where have you been?”

“Chicago, New York, Detroit and it’s all on the same street. Your typical city involved in a typical daydream.”, he spoke through clenched teeth.

“So, you’re not gonna take it?”

“Yes. I want you to see me, feel me, touch me and heal me.”

“You do realize that if you go chasing rabbits and you know you’re going to fall, you will end up spending your nights in white satin.”

“Yes. It’s a mean old world.”

He stepped forward as she bowed him in. He stretched out on the couch.

“Breathe, breathe in the air. Every breath you take, I’ll be watching you.”

“I want to tell you, my head is filled with things to say.”

“Speak softly, love.”

“I met a gin soaked barroom queen in Memphis.”

“Ah ah.”

“She was my brown eyed girl. One summer day, she went away.”

“And?”

“I met another girl, in a club in North Soho, where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola.”

“You’re meeting far too many girls, in clubs and bars. “

“I can’t help falling in love with them.”

The Acid Queen mixed a potion and handed it to Johnny.

“Drink to me, drink to my health.”

And he did.

“Now, go your own way.”

That’s how Johnny made a record, which went straight up to number one. With a little help from his friends, he went on trucking, like the doodah man, on the long and winding golden road to perdition, scarlet begonias tucked into his curls.

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