So long and goodnight

The final words of a song

The final words of a band

That had lasted so long

Those words have taken

Me through so much

Heartache, death,

Grief, strife

So much misery for such a short time

I look back now and remember where I was

When I first heard those words

I was twelve and alone

Waiting for a grandfather who’d never come home

Broken inside, though on the surface I was calm

Watching a video of a funeral

Where the lyrics reached home

I saw the black and the red procession

The singer as preacher, the band a salvation

Three cheers for sweet revenge, the title of the album

The first thing that made me smile as tears streamed down my face

And now you’ve gone and taken your place

Like all the great bands, you’ve gone your separate ways

But the parade marches on, and your music lives with us

So long and goodnight, my eyelinered angels.