Michael

Michael, where are you now?
Michael, where are you now?

Somehow in my excitement, the last time you called
It slipped again to ask your hidden whereabouts
I got a lead from your old triple-ex-girlfriend, she said
"I heard he lost his mind again and again"
I said I didn't know that you ever did

Michael, where are you now?
Michael, where are you now?

Sleeping through the mornings in flannel impaired
And getting high in the Southern air
Shoeless, sandy evenings down the unfamiliar
Last whiff of salt-water freedom
Skipping shells in the dead zone

With the ghost on your side
Of the state border line
Whispering

"Take it, take it, take it, take it
Take it"

Do you remember
Our first subway ride?
Our first heavy metal haircuts?
Our last swim on the East Coast?
And me with my ridiculous-looking pierced nose?

I remember
Your warm smile in the sun
The daydreaming boy without a shirt on
The Birmingham barfly father left a mother of three sons
You're the oldest juvenile delinquent bum

My best friend