Saturday night, drinkin an' smokin, out in Barts shed, with a fire in the stove:
The Godz_self titled
:
Before Straight, I would frequently smoke WEED before school at my friend Tony Papleoni's house. He had that record, and would frequently play it during our early morning smoke sessions. I remember one song, with the cheesy chorus "THe Godz are a rock and roll machine" or something like that. It had a spoken part in the middle about how "Everybody's some kind of junkie, money junkies, sex junkies" etc., and "The Godz are rock and roll junkies". I never really thought the song was that great, I always preferred Iron Maiden , BOC, Sabbath, or Judas Priest. Tony liked them, and that was cool with me, though, we'd alternate between choosing what we were gonna listen to. Tony was a good guy, I met him after his dad, a Navy captain, got assigned to Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville.
When I copped out (hell, I'll use their word for it), or "admitted I was powerless over being there and made a decision to leave", the first time, from a motel room my dad had rented for the weekend, I made it to Jacksonville and was staying on a friend's couch. After a couple of weeks, I felt comfortable enough to make a low-key visit to yhe old neighborhood, and to see Tony's mom.
You see, Tony had killed himself while I was in Straight, within the first four months, I 'm really not sure when. I never got to go to his funeral, never got to sit around with other friends and wonder why, until it had been long over and everyone else had dealt with it---I was pretty much alone in mourning my friend.
A few years later, I met a guy who was a friend of a friend. He lived a few blocks from Tony's place, and my parent's, and I found out from him that Tony had hung himself in the tree in his front yard. He never knew him, and I don't know why Tony chose that place, over any other. I just know that he is gone, he left the show early, before the first act was even over. No one knows why, and knowing night not even help us understand. I just know he was a friend of mine and I miss him.
I hadn't really thought about the Godz much, or even Tony, to be honest. This is a strange memory, but one I'm glad I have examined. Thanks for the post, Pirate, that was a weird synchronicity.
RTP2oo3
