I was the mongrel dog
Back in the day when the days were long, endless and familiar;
Johnny T and Me
I’m always running into you, man,
Your band playing the Music Machine, you hanging out in front of Peaches Records on Hollywood Blvd waiting for Jessie Ed;
Johnny T and me
Sitting up in the high school gym bleachers at a Bell Gardens powwow,
We both drinking deep from our shared cup of culture outside the circle,
Both trying to recharge souls crushed and worn down from colonial domination.
And how about that time I ran into you in Amsterdam and you thought I had to be a Fed. I said nah; I’m too scruffy for government
We smoked some weed and followed a Lakota creed when we ran away from the hippies wanting to join our table.
You were the real warrior.
On the frontline since Alcatraz in 69,
Since Wounded Knee in 72,
Since they killed your wife and kids
And warned you to shut up or you’ll be next.
So you took their words like birds and taught them to fly in a different way, now you’re back home dying slow on show for the world to see; your last lesson
Johnny T and Me.