Sun Kil Moon - Butch Lullaby lyrics

Beautiful May day just back from the house
Checked on the roof
Got a call that an old friend died
His name was Butch he was tough as nails
You couldn't kill him if you tried
He was tough as an ox but
There on the floor he died
Next to a 40 and a hot plate
Next to the sound of a band rehearsing
Through the walls of a rehearsal space
Butch was always there and yet
We took him for granted
Butch was a cool cat from another planet
We though he'd last like a piece of granite
On your grandmother's kitchen cabinet
We thought he'd always be there like
The stars and the moon
But we're all gonna end up ashes in
An urn or bones under a tomb
He'd watch over us down there in the TL
He'd watch us rock out to our music
And was always supportive as hell
He worked for Fishbone and George
Clinton when he was younger
To be around music Butch
Had an insatiable hunger
(Butch) Butch could show you respect
And uplift your spirit
(Butch) Butch could lay down the law
And make you fear him
(Butch) Butch could make you laugh and
Smile if you earned it
(Butch) Butch had that Sunny Liston stare
Down if you deserved it

I remember Thanksgiving out at my house just
A few years ago with Caroline and
Butch and Nathan we watched
Drugstore Cowboy and
Butch gave Caroline tips on how
To cook a turkey she thought Butch was
Charming and sweet and he really
Took to her too matt Dillon's character
In Drugstore Cowboy was after Dilaudid
The Holy Grail of pharmaceuticals
Butch knew what Dilaudid
Was he was older than me so
There were things you didn't have to explain
To Butch there were things he
Just got and understood when someone is older
Than you always take the time to
Listen to them a person older than
You knows something that you don't
At the very least Butch knew what it
Meant to be black and born in
1952 do you? Because I don't know shit
About that i remember the wood
Burning stove and the heat
Was really cranking
In the living room nathan kept getting
Up to remove himself from the heat
And to have a smoke outside
But Butch didn't budge unless he needed to
Go to the bathroom butch wasn't the
Agile mother fucker he used to be
And he needed a damn good
Reason to get up off of that cozy
Chair butch's favorite part of the
Turkey was the drumstick and when they
Left, at around midnight or so
Butch took almost all the leftovers
With him that was
Butch if he was in your backstage area
Forget it he had a
Relentless hunger and thirst
And he cleaned your backstage area out

Butch makes sure no one stole no microphones
Butch makes sure that safely, you return home
Butch makes sure no one stole your keys
To your car or your wallet
Butch makes you clean your own
Fucking piss off the toilet
There's no fucking around with Butch
He'd shake you down
He'd put you in check until you
Felt like a fucking clown
Every day he'd watch the pigeons flutter
He saw the bums sleeping in the gutter
And San Francisco’s tenderloin
He walked the streets but I couldn't
Say if he felt joy
And when my time comes for me to die
I hope I see Butch again
And to pass some time
I'm sorry man I didn't get
A chance to say goodbye
But, I hope you like my little Butch lullaby
I'm sorry man that I didn't get
A chance to say goodbye
But, I hope you like my little Butch lullaby
This one's for you this one's for you

This one's for you (Butch)
This little lullaby

(Butch) Butch was the resident
Mayor of the tenderloin
(Butch) Butch was into Red Hot
Chili Peppers Funky Monks video
(Butch) Butch threatened a guy with a
Machete who was messing with Equipto
(Butch) Butch was there when I cut
Old Ramon in the studio

May 28th, 12: 58 AM, 2016
I'm just back from Butch's memorial
I stopped and got a
Bouquet of poppies along the way it was a
Sparse attendance when I first showed
Up but it filled
Up pretty quickly i stayed out back for
A while in the alley with a handful of people
Sharing stories about Butch almost
Directly under the room
Where he died stories ranged
From Butch chasing people
With sickles, to his times
With George Clinton
To his always entertaining
Mood swings people encountered over the
Years i asked a friend
When it was exactly that
Butch began working at
Hyde Street and he said that
Butch turned up with
George Clinton's entourage about 20
Years ago or so that he just never left he
Said that there were several
Times he wanted to strangle Butch but that he
Had an unexplainable affection for him
That kept him around
Everyone had a lot of love for Butch
But seemed to have experienced
Some kind of confrontation
With him except for me all of my
Experiences with him over the
Years were pleasant
And I asked someone why that was
Somebody said, "Because you're Mark Kozelek"
And I said, "No seriously really"
And they said, "Well
That's because you never told him what to do"
That was correct in all the
Years I've known Butch I
Have no memory of ever telling him what to do
I mean I've seen him get
Serious and angry before but
It was always out of
Protectiveness and he was
Never hostile towards me at some
Point a couple asked me
If I wanted to go smoke a joint with them
With a group of people
Up in the echo chamber
I said well I don't smoke pot but sure
I'd be happy to join them and that I
Hadn't been in the echo chamber for years
The last time I was in the
Echo chamber it had been a
Storage room filled with amps and 10
Inch tapes we went up
There and a girl liked the way
Her singing voice sounded with all
That echo she sounded like Janis
Joplin and we all hummed
Along and tapped our feet as a
Joint that looked like a small
Wet cigar got passed around when we
Left the room several of
The people began climbing the long ladder
That leads to the roof
They asked me to join but
I said, "No fucking way
I'm too old" it was late and
I was ready to go home
As I left a band was playing in the main room
And lots of pizza boxes were everywhere
And beers all around and
Girls were dancing butch would've loved
It i hugged a
Few familiar faces goodbye and headed out
Onto Hyde Street into the
Heart of the Tenderloin like I've
Done so many times over
The years this time Butch didn't
Follow me out like he
Would often do asking me to buy him a 40