Sixty-Five Roses

Tonight I went to see Everlast play at the Waiting Room here in Omaha.  I don't know if many of you know who Everlast is, but he used to be in the rap group House of Pain.  Remember the song "Jump Around?" from the early 90's?  Anyway,  it has been awhile since I have gotten to see live music, so I thought Everlast would be a good one to go see since he just put out  a new album.

Before he sang the song Sixty-Five Roses, he explained that he has a daughter with cystic fibrosis.  So of course I had to come home and do a little research on the song.  This is what he said about it in an interview for the New York Times when he was asked if there was a particular track on his new album that he liked....

"There is a song called “65 Roses.” My daughter was born with a genetic condition called cystic fibrosis. As we did research we found there was this organization called 65 Roses, and we were trying to figure out why and it was like because that’s how kids who have cystic fibrosis end up pronouncing it: 65 Roses. The song isn’t about the disease, but it’s about the path of coping with and accepting this thing that has been brought into your life that you didn’t ask for. If you don’t get the right mental state as a couple and get yourselves together, it will break you and grind you into dog meat, sitting around waiting for the hammer to drop."

Something about the song resonated with me.   I know firsthand what it is like to have a child with a genetic condition and understand what it is like to have to cope with something that you did not ask to be brought into your life.

I hope you enjoy this song as much as I did!

It's been a bit of a while since I seen you smile 
It's been too long baby what went wrong 
Tell me how it got spoilt 
Tell me when it went bad 
How to get back to the times that we had 

We're both young 
And our spirits are old 
Now we're just angry and we act like we're old 
We can't even talk it out without one of us walking away 

You were 18 I just turned 29 
I was fresh out the coffin and 
Girl you were so fine 
The future was bright 
The world, it seemed new 
I was with some other woman 
I was thinking of you 
Knew how it hurts 
Knew how it feels 
Knew it how aches 
Cos the heart never heals 
We're so busy screaming that we don't hear the words that we say 

Taking out lumps 
Took a few blows 
Hit a few bumps 
Had our fair share of wounds 
We tried to see good 
Through all of the bad 
Put on our smiles 
Pretend we're not sad 
Gotta be tough 
Gotta be strong 
Gotta be right 
Can't afford to be wrong 
It's hard to sing the blues 
When you're hearing bad news everyday 

We worry too much for one couple to bear 
Hunger so much for one person to care 
Fooling our family 
We're fooling our friends 
Pray that the pain and the frustration ends 
Hope is a chance 
Hope is a dream 
Hope is a drug 
Maybe hope's a vaccine 

In the race against time I get down on my knees and I pray 
Shout at the devil 
I curse the lord 
Offer them everything I can afford 
I'd sell out my soul 
I lighten to see 
Tried to be righteous 
Tried to believe 
Prayed every prayer 
Kicked all of my highs 
For hours I'd stare at those beautiful eyes 
All of my problems seem to be melting away 
The smile on her face says daddy everything is okay 

In the race against time I get down on my knees and I pray