IT'S A HELLUVA PARTY
(Gary Kanter)

I died in my sleep, I went up to the pearly gates
St. Peter met me there he said "Sorry son you're gonna have to wait
He conferred with Jerry Falwell and some preacher types that I did not know
He said "Sorry son to tell you this, you're going down below.
Devil met me there and he handed me a drink
He said "You're gonna love it here regardless what the upstairs neighbours think
There's losts of happy souls inside wating for you to arrive
To share our little blast the likes of which you never saw when you were alive

It's a hell of a party, it's still going on
Mama don't you weep for me now that I am dead and gone
It's a hell of a party, to celebrate my fall
And the best part of the party is we're never gonna hear the words "Last call"

Jerry Garcia played guitar, Paganini bowed the violin
George Carman read my eulogy and Molly Ivins waved me in
Caruso sang from Figaro and Lady sang the blues
Ella sang some scat, Phil Ochs sang the news
The great W. C. Fields was right at home behind the bar
Orson Wells filmed it all right behind a big Cuban cigar
Ginger said to Fred "Now you know just how it feels"
Doing everything you had to do backwards and in high heels

It's a hell of a party, it's still going on
Mama don't you weep for me now that I am dead and gone
It's a hell of a party, to celebrate my fall
And the best part of the party is we're never gonna hear the words "Last call"

I walked down in the garden, never was I ever ever so glad
Waiting for me there was every single dog I ever had
They ran around for hours each was as frisky as a pup
And miracle of miracles there was nothing to clean up
Jesus came post Christmas he was exhausted from the praise
He joined Moses on the golf course he'd been there since the high holy days
Jesus could not sink a single put to save his soul
So he ditched his cubs and walked across the water right to the nineteenth hole
Mark Twain and Kurt Vonnegut were busy making each other laugh
Joe Hill and Mother Jones were busy organising the staff
There's billion tales to tell, right now I've gotta go
It's getting late and I've got a date with Marilyn Monroe

It's a hell of a party, it's still going on
Mama don't you weep for me now that I am dead and gone
It's a hell of a party, to celebrate my fall
And the best part of the party is we're never gonna ever, ever ,ever, ever, ever, ever, ever ever, ever, hear the words "Last call"

Notes: Sonny Ochs played this on "Sonny's Playdate" WIOX 28/07/15. I contacted Sonny to enquire the title and artist and received the following reply: "Hi Roger, Glad that you're listening from afar.   The song is "It's a Helluva Party" by Gary Kanter who is an activist on the west coast.   It's on a cd called Forever Vigilant which has lots of political songs on it.
Best,
Sonny".

RP Dec2015