North of New York

My name is North Wilde McWilliams
And I live New York City
Last night I went with my father
To see Vampire Weekend at
Madison Square Garden

It was a still and beautiful night
As we rode home through the city lights
And I had thought that I was thinking

I thought of all the people in the buildings in the sky
And I thought of the people in my family who have died
My great grandfather and my dad’s sweet brother
Sure wish id met my mother’s father
I look at my dad and he’s looking at me
The way he does on nights like these
And I look at his eyes and I ask him
If God makes us live why did he make it so we could die?

Dad draws a slow and thoughtful breath
As his mind goes searching through his chest
And he says:

Oh North, this life is so sweet
And, my boy, its filled with many mysteries
And its true all the things we love someday must die
And oh it hurts so bad when we must say goodbye
Cuz with love sweet boy comes sadness and comes pain
But thats what knits us all together to closely.

And then dad fumbles through some analogies
But I know just what he means