The sweetest goodbye

Whatever you may feel about our incoming president, it is a fair bet that you'll be pretty pleased to see the back of George W. Bush. (And if the door hits him on the way out, so much the better.) Tomorrow is Barack Obama's day, and I join with the multitudes that hope tomorrow will mark the first step toward positive change. Today, however, I offer the following in tribute to the last full day of Bush 43's presidency - to those of us who have survived it, and in memory of those who have not.

Back in November, as the election night euphoria began to fade, it occurred to me that the months between election and inauguration would be a little like the end of a complicated, dysfunctional relationship. I thought of the unfortunate couples who decide to separate or divorce, but must live together for a few months afterward, until one person can save enough to move out. I imagined coming home every day to such a household, where every annoyance would be magnified at the same time your tolerance for the ex's behavior was at its lowest ebb. Where even the best day would end with your deadbeat ex sleeping on your sofa, or leaving dirty dishes in the sink. Where the only solace would come from being one day closer to your freedom - and no matter how much you'd lost, you would at least have the chance to start again.

I've found this idea fairly useful in the past several weeks, and so I share with you this song, never performed publicly, and soon to become an unknown relic of a particular political moment, with a bluesy melody that you'll have to imagine for yourself.

The Sweetest Goodbye (written by RVR, 2008)

Don't know how I ever let you into my life
Don't know how it came to be
Thought I had you kicked to the curb once
But now it seems like you'll never leave

Your smug little smile makes me crazy
Your words make me madder than hell
I think its time you head for the door now
You and your little friends as well

Chorus
Cuz now you're going, going, gone
It won't be easy, it will take far too long
You won't go gently, time it won't fly
But I'll have the sweetest, the sweetest goodbye

Don't know how we got into this mess
You sure made a wreck of this place
All these years, so little left standing
You're a national disgrace

There's no justice for people like you
And so there's no justice for me
You'll take what you can on your way out the door
And I'll just be glad to be free

Chorus
Cuz you are going, going, gone
It won't be easy, it will take far too long
You won't go gently, time it won't fly
But we'll have the sweetest, the sweetest goodbye