He Was A Real Good Man

(Honoring Craig Wilkins)

I met Craig along time ago
When I went to college
Right after I left home
Much older and wiser than me
He just got out of the military
He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

With a smile hard to resist
With a twinkle in his eye
He called himself a feminist
Long before Robert Bly
The last in the room to say good-bye
He was real good man. With a real slow man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

Listening to some old fiddle tune
With Diane Odegard
And their friends at the Grand Mantel Saloon
Life with Craig it wasn’t hard
He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

From that South Jersey front porch stoop
A real class act people say
Always one to tell the truth
One beer to mourn. Two beers to celebrate
He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

His mother taught him how to cook
When he was just a kid
From recipes not found in a book
Until Craig said, “Mom, I want to get slim.”
“So cook your own damn food!”,
His mother told him
He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em uch better than Craig

With Candy the love of his life
Together they built a home
Not long after she became his wife
They got that FHA loan
Craig cooked for Candy
each night when she came home
He was real good man, with a real slow hand
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

Through their love they had a son
Ethan, a real good guy
Who like Craig, has now become
The last in the room to say goodbye
With a twinkle in his eye
He’s a real good man, with a real slow hand.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

On that bus his father rode
To work each morning
To MN DOT where they love his Dad a lot
Craig their ‘Newsline King’
The ‘wittiest, pithiest editor you have ever seen!’
He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

When you lose someone you love
What more can one do
But to love those who are
Still here with you
What more would Craig want us to do?
He was real good man with a real slow hand.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

He was real good man. A real good man.
They don’t make ‘em much better than Craig

Words & music by Larry Long

 Larry Long 2009 / BMI

When all do better we all do better
     Children of earth standing together
     Be the change you believe in

—Be The Change by Larry Long

After completing a successful run of the play Wellstone! at the Sabes Jewish Community Center through September, I received the following email from Deb Harley:

“Hi Larry,

So how would you feel if we used your song “Be The Change” for the video we’re hoping to create in support of the Obama campaign?”

One week later Deb brought together a large group of people to film, “Be The Change— Minneapolis for Obama” at the Rose Gardens across from the Lake Harriet Peace Garden. With the help of Joe Chouinard and video production from Jeff & Rita Nohner, Deb Harley pulled it off!

Be The Change—Minneapolis For Obama was posted on YouTube, Friday, October 10th and at the time of writing this newsletter it has already had over 1,700 hits!

“So here it is… we’re proud of our grassroots effort! If you can take a few minutes, we would really appreciate you reviewing it. Our video will also be on the Mn. Campaign headquarters for Obama site. I’ll be interested to see what you think….even if you may be McCain fans! Love to all, deb”

The song, Be The Change, was written for Senator Paul Wellstone, and his wife Sheila. Paul said, “When all do better we all do better!” Senator Barack Obama carries that vision forward.

Thank you Deb Harley for the inspiration behind this video. Vote November 4th!

Music credits for Be The Change:

Vocals: Larry Long and Tonia Hughes

Arrangement: JD Steele

Bass: Enrique Toussaint

Piano: Peter Schimke

Guitar: Dave Berry

Drums: Brian Kendrick

Engineer: Joe Johnson

Studio: Furseal Recording Studio

Photos by: Peter Leach

Larry Long wrote the song Tibet with 5th grade students in honor of Mr. Gyatsho Tshering.  Mr. Tshering worked directly with the Dalai Lama in India for over 30 years after Tibet was invaded and hundred of thousands of Tibetans were thrown into exile.  The lyrics (which are posted below) speak for themselves. The English translation for the chorus to Tibet is ”Peace, Loving-Kindness, Compassion”.  The video podcast will be up soon and is of Larry and the kids singing “Tibet” for Mr. Gyatsho Tshering at an Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song celebration in March of  2008.    
 
Larry Long is working on a new CD collection of original works, tentatively entitled “Old Ways”. The song Tibet will be featured on this collection.  This recording of Tibet is a “work in progress. The chorus and additional instrumentation is yet to be added”. Larry is featured on vocals and 12-string guitar.  Featured on percussion is Marc Anderson and on electric bass is Enrique Toussaint.