When I was a young son-of-a-gun
To win you had to be willing to lose
You could get knocked about, or even knocked out
While in the service of paying your dues
Here’s what I said, as I went through life
Battered by golfball sized hail
When Lady Liberty came knocking at my door
I told her,
  “I’ve got the freedom to fail”

I told the Government, “Stay out of my life
And don’t you dare touch my medicare”
If a man didn’t have a job with insurance
I told him,
  “Get another job,” might be some there
And when my neighbor fell upon hard times
And I was stuck listenin’ to him wail
I told him,
  “Try looking on the sunny side of life,
You’ve got the freedom to fail”

Now the Frenchman he has his fine wine and cheese
And can drink latte in a cafe all day
Gets six weeks of vacation, paid for by the state
And kisses his women in public, any which way
He doesn’t even worry about a doctor when he’s ill
But what he’s missing would turn my face pale
In America, here’s what I’ve got, for no money down
I’ve got the freedom to fail

For twenty years my 4-0-1-K
Went soaring right through the roof
Risk’s a fine thing when there’s no risk at all
Clueless, my monthly statement was proof
But just when retirement was comming into sight
And beyond that horizon I’d sail
Risk kicked back in,
    the natural order was restored
They gave me back my freedom to fail

Now, the Wall Street man, has no respect at all
For the natural order of things
As he stole the bootstraps,
    He said I needed to pull up
Happy days never left he would sing
He tells me, “Clarity,
    Have I got a deal for you”
Heads he wins, But I lose if it’s tails
As I switch chairs with my wife
    On the Titanic’s deck
He belly laughs at my freedom to fail

I believed early on that a fetish for failure
Would all but guarrantee I’d succeed
I could roam through life, getting sliced and diced
And somehow I would never bleed
But once my blood had spilt and dried
And life’s hammer used me for its nail
I posted on e-bay, for whatever I could get
That good ol’ American freedom to fail

I’m now ninety-two, in my room watching reruns
I can’t keep a thought in my head
Wond’ring when next my children will visit
I can’t remember if they’re alive or dead
Every now and then, I nod off and dream
I’m sixteen again, and I’m chasing tail
Back when I first learned, that great lesson of my youth
I’ve got the freedom to fail

                             Copyright 2010 by Clarity Hahaha