Just days before Laurie was scheduled to leave for a week in Mexico, our vet suggested we read up on a condition she said was in Woogie’s future: acute renal failure. When I did the homework, my world fell down. As nature took its course, it was a question of how much heart he would have and for how long. He could be with us a few more months or as long as a couple of years.
I had planned to do some writing while Laurie was gone, but now suddenly the work had focus. I thought how purrfect it would be if the last project Woogie heard me work on was a tribute to him. It was a glorious early spring week, much like the one at the beginning of our life together. I knew the time was a gift, and I went to the piano.
When I had finished demoing seven songs, using the seven keys I depend on for most of my writing, a strange thing happened. I looked at Woogs, and it seemed I could read his mind. “Look dad, you’re on a nice roll here. I appreciate what you’re doing, but if you’re going to continue with this ‘tribute’ thing, you should write in keys you never write in. You should get something out of this too! You should stretch yourself! You’ll thank me later.” I realized he was right and returned to writing in uncharted keys. The value of the exercise amazed me! And once the emotional trip was over, I realized I had created my own 12-step program for grieving pet owners — 12 songs in 12 keys — all smothered in grief as I sobbed through the writing of each one. Tough gig.
But for now, Woogie seemed fine. I still saw him chasing his brothers across the backyard, still nimbly jaunting up and down our two sets of stairs, still grooming himself — to my endless delight. He was still top cat, although it wasn’t long before I could see him growing ever so slowly thinner. He found it harder to keep his balance, was less eager to jump on the bed, and his beautiful coat started to lose its sheen.
His morning walks around the backyard became more poignant. We finally put the cat stairs next to our bed, and he began to use them. He tried so hard to do what had always worked for him. Whatever he was called upon to endure, he did with perfect grace.
At some point in Woogie’s adolescence, we had started using the Flipper TV theme song to call him in for the evening. Laurie and I would step onto the patio and sing at the top of our lungs, “They call him Woogie, Woogie, faster than lightning!”, and he always came running, faster than lightning. Now I made a point of singing this to him, very quietly, over the last few days of his life. I wanted to ring the bell of his memory and let him know that he would always be my beautiful boy, always “faster than lightning.”
The last few times he came to jump on my lap as I worked at my desk, I knew my chances to hold him close were slipping away. On August 26th, I watched Woogs struggle to make his morning rounds in the backyard. I knew he was saying goodbye to his home. It was a profound thing to watch, as he struggled and faltered several times, and had to lie down and rest on a steep hill. He lay there for a good long spell, his tummy on the cool dirt, peacefully gazing across his backyard. He sniffed the air, listened to the birds chirping away, and watched his brother Philip make the rest of the trip by himself for the first time. Philip had always followed a respectful distance behind Woogie on the backyard trek. It was a longstanding, two-cat ceremony that involved covering the edges of our entire fenced boundary. Woogie said goodbye to our backyard that morning.
When people found out Woogie was gone, most had a similar response. “You always think they’re going to live forever, you never think you’ll lose them.” On the contrary, I began having emotional spells over Woogie’s mortality years before I had any reason to. And I think if I’m still kickin’ 20 years from now, I will feel the grief as easily as I do today. Over Woogie’s last months, my heart found a new way of breaking, and I gave it a voice through music. I hope you enjoy this tribute in song that came to me one week in March, 2010. A burst of music for a wonderful cat. Simple as that.
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Song For Woogie
Up above the clouds it seems we’re flyin’
Can’t imagine anywhere i’d rather be
Alone in a world of you and me
Just like it started, that’s how it’s gonna be
So let’s open up the doors to apple-blossoms
See what mama nature’s got today
And we’ll see the world our way
Come on up and show me around
I know you know your way around this town
I’m in the wings for you
I’m on the mid-night crew
So come on up and show me around
You can have it all just like you want it
We’ll make it look like it has to be, cause it has to be
You call the shots, then you count on me
Come round lay down the word
That powerful, wonderful word
And i’ll sing along with you
I want to hear it now, do it like you do
Now i know that life don’t get much sweeter
Than to move on down that line with a cat like you
Show me the window and i’ll jump through
Come round show me the light
That beautiful, wonderful light
And i’ll make it shine on you
For the magic years i had with you
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Knucklehead
Wish I knew what goes on in that little knucklehead
I can guess, I can try lookin’ under your bed
It’s a game you play with me, I know it’s true
So off you go on your day, leave me hangin’ by a thread
Hope it’s cool, hope you’re down with everything that we said
Don’t be late, don’t make me fret,
Over you, sweet child o’ mine
Cause you know I do, sweet child o’ mine … it’s a
Song in ‘b’, ‘b’ for boy, boy you really did me in
Never once had to try to make it under my skin
There you’ve stayed where I know you’ve paid some dues
But life is good, yeah we’re cool, my little knucklehead
Maybe god broke a rule when he gave you me instead
But here we are, and I’m still gone
For you, sweet child o’ mine
I love you, sweet child o’ mine
Yes I really do
Wish I knew, had a clue, what you’re thinkin’ in that head
What goes on, all day long, in that little knuklehead
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Happy Birthday / Happy New Year
I only want to be, the same old company
That you had with your dad in our first pad
Couldn’t be any more sincere
Happy birthday – happy new year
I won’t deny the truth, cause it’s right in front of you
I’ve been a fan from day one tried and true
So we’ll raise a glass, and we’ll toast my dear
Happy birthday – happy new year
And as the writer of this song
I feel you are among the lucky few
I’ll break the rules for when I say
And come hell or high water
That’s the way it’s gonna stay
So we’ll celebrate the two, it’s the least we can do
As the time flies much faster for you
So with a message that’s loud and clear
Happy birthday – happy new year
Happy birthday – happy new year
Have a birthday – have a new year
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
When You’re Gone
Well I’m gonna count to ten my friend
Then I’m gonna count to ten again
Waitin’ on a sign from you, anything will do
Sure enough I’ve got time to spend
And if you want to hang around all day
Or if you want to pack a lunch and a bunch o’ friends
Head out and play
Sure enough I can get away
It doesn’t matter much what you say
When you look in the mirror, do you see that face?
Up on that mountain top with so much grace
I’m gonna have to write a song for you
You can make a lot o’ noise my friend
And why it doesn’t bother me? … I hope it never ends
We’ve got to play a round or two
Any number of the things you do
That send me round the bend
And when we’re hangin’ mellow in the evenin’ breeze
Lookin’ at a summer sun come dancin’ through the trees
I’m gonna want a photograph, we’ll look back and laugh
But it’ll bring me to my knees
You got all the life that you could squeeze
And just like the hummingbird that fights the fire
I’ll do anything I can just to lift you higher
Before that journey you’ll be goin’ on
When you’re gone
When you’re gone
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Look At You
How many times have I saved you from fallin’
In a bad dream that was sweeping you away?
Call it your destiny, I call it mine
Some things just find a way to find a way
Through space and time
Yes I’m the guy that steps up when you need me
I can be there in the blink of an eye
And all for the notion that I matter to you
I’ll have to meditate, and radiate the truth
Look at you, casually stealing my heart
Pushing the limits of what tears me apart
I’ll get the dinner, you take the tab
Time to get home to feed the cats
So one more time let it be as forever
Nothin’ better, got it all right here today
Smiles in the sunshine, and love on the wing
I just want to open up my heart and sing
Look at you, touching me deep in my soul
I don’t want to lose you, but I know you’ve got to go
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Bellyflop
Well there’s a train rollin’ brother
Comin’ round the bend
Don’t know where it’s headed
Don’t know where it’s been
I’ve got a hunch there’s a ticket waitin’ in my name
And if my timin’s right, I’m gonna catch that train the same
Yeah I’m up on all this business
And I’m bound to do things right
So let’s kiss and hug and mean it
‘Fore that train’s out o’ sight
We’ll call it good little brother, good as it gets
The gangs all here, raise a cheer, lots of love, no regrets
Pardon the act of the feline here
With so much image to maintain
It’s all a silly game
Yeah it’s been good to know you
Now I’ve got to make my move
I’m headed off somewhere, got this brand new attitude
And I hope I land easy, ain’t no bellyflop
It’s been real, such a deal, and did I say
Baby you’re the tops
It’s been real, such a deal, and i did I say
Baby you’re the tops
If I’m the cat’s whiskers, baby you’re the tops
If I’m the cat’s whiskers, baby you’re the tops
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Ride, Ride, Ride
You brought some thunder
Along your merry way
And I think I’ve got the right to say
Don’t you know life and the lovin’
You know it’s all right there it’s true
And it’s always the first choice when it comes to you
So hold on dear brother
Because some thunder’s rollin’ round
And if you think you might be goin’ down
Climb on my back and ride
Can’t make it over till you jump in
Ride … no you don’t get the good stuff without the pain
So I want to ride with you … ride, ride, ride
Islands of mercy
And wide open space
With enough of both to keep that smile on your face
I will roll back the thunder
When you look into my eyes
And in a single moment’s effort to epitomize
Climb on my back and ride
Can’t make it over till you jump in
Ride … no you don’t get the good stuff without the pain
So I want to ride with you
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
Petunia
He would follow her
Like a knight in shining armor
Gently calling her name
Owning the flame
And sure as you’re born to love
Things changed, and rearranged
But the bond it was on
Two spirits twice as strong
Life became a dream
A dance in proximities
That they called their own
And it was written in stone
One step at a time
Till the song played through
Then it came down to two
At the edge of the world
He said she’d always be his girl, then he sang
CHORUS
“Flowers don’t grow, don’t you know, any finer than Petunia”
“I’m over the moon, some kind of love I’m feelin’ for Petunia”
He’s got a girl on his mind
And everyday it’s right on time
One drop in the ocean of love was all
Lord knows it happens everyday
Come what may
But let it be known
There was Woogs and Tunes
And the times they knew
Like a song that plays on
He says our love never dies, it’s never gone,
Then one more time he sang … (CHORUS)
Download Suite Woogie 9.99 Woogie was born Easter morning 1990 and we had each other for twenty years. Suite: Woogie is my tribute to that relationship. [read more]
With Peace And Love
Callin’ … someone out there’s callin’ out in vain
And you almost know that voices name, beggin’ you to
Hold on … but only just as long as love allows
Then you look up and you see clouds – but no chance of rain
They’ve come to take you home … I hear you cryin’
“Touch me, someone out there touch me now real slow,
Then you can send me on my weary way” …
I said “I’m your man, I understand, I will
Touch you … yes I’ll reach out to bring a soothing hand
To make it easier, you know I’ll do what I can
With peace and love to send you home
No you will never be alone
With all the best this world could bring
I wrap it up for you and sing
With peace and love to send you home
