Coarse and Anarchistic

I like this old song. I like it a lot. It touches something deep in my core.

The Good Boy

I have led a good life, full of peace and quiet,
But I shall have an old age steeped in rum and riot;
I have been a nice lad, careful of my morals—
I shall be a grandad full of vice and quarrels.

I have never cut throats—even when I've yearned to;
Never sung the queer songs that my fancy turned to.
I have been a good boy, cowed by smug conditions;
I have tied my real self tight in inhibitions.

I have been a sweet boy, wed to peace and study;
But I shall have an old age ribald, coarse and bloody—
With white hair and red face—full of hell and likker—
When I get a bad thought I shall let her flicker.

I shall quit the good life, full of peace and quiet,
And I shall be a Falstaff steeped in rum and riot—
I shall leave the straight path, which I've walked dejected;
I shall be an old bum—loved and unrespected.

THE GOOD BOY (2)

I have led a good life full of peace and quiet,
Now I shall have an old age full of rum and riot;
Yes, I have been a good lad, careful and artistic;
Now I shall have an old age, coarse and anarchistic.

Once I paid my taxes and followed every rule;
Banker, boss, and bureaucrat thought me a willing tool;
I voted Democratic and paid the church its due;
Now all those swine will have to find some other chump to screw.

Of interest, banks and credit, insurance, tax and rent,
Of lawyers, agents, generals and clerics I repent.
With this finger for corporations
and scorn for those elected,
I shall be an old bum, loved but unrespected.

I prefer the second version as sung by Utah Phillips.