Is it too prosaic to include “shit happens” in my Zaxioms? The truth is that bad things happen. Unhappy things happen. I can stay locked into yesterday’s very bad day or let go and get on with the next thing. I’m not saying it’s easy. Looking at the future of this disease is ugly. I would really, really not have to go through it or have mom or anyone else in my family go through it.
But shit happens. You deal with it and live your life the best you can. Happiness isn’t about perfection, it’s about taking the good where you find it and enjoying it.
You can cry but it won’t do much
You can hope for luck with your fingers crossed
Grab your rabbit’s foot, for a moment you’re found
But you’re bound to get lost again
Lining up the colors to map your life on canvas
Don’t overlook the paint that spills onto your life
It happens, why it happensAnd you can pray to things beyond your reach
But a human being will never find a teacher who can
Show him how, how to see beyond
So many clouds of futility
You pick a major key to harmonize your life in
But nothing could be finer than the relatively minor
It happens, why it happensPeople love, people lose, some sober up
And some may choose to wallow in despair
Pulling out their hair
Searching for a strand of something close to grand
Father’s in the garden, he’s rooting out the weeds
Though ugliness surrounds flowers seeds bust through the mud
It happens, it happens, shit happensYou can pound your fist against the wall
You can curse the world while your fingers swell
As far as you can tell temper gets you by
Angry oceans never fail to meet the peaceful sky on the horizon
Many songs are sung
Bitter gives sweet its taste
Nothing good goes down in haste
It happens, it happens, shit happens, it happens, shit happensWords and Music by Mitch Treger
Okay, I’m not 100% sure of some of those lyrics. Mitch has always had really creative and sometimes inscrutable lyrics but even then I can’t figure out the spool of blood.
Edit: fixed!




6 Comments
“Spool of blood” doesn’t compute for me, either. Then again,, I’m so tired right now that nothing sounds quite right. I saw a lady in the store with her granddaughters (toddlers). She was promising to take them home and put them to bed. I asked her to please take me along – I want to go to bed, too.
However, I’m minding my grandkids (the certainly never mind me!) while Mom and Dad have a date today. This is the last-ditch effort to see if my daughter can satisfy whatever ideal he has in mind that she needs to meet to salvage the marriage. I think it’s pretty hard to live up to an ideal, to perform some non-specified task to prove she is worthy of his continued love and respect. Like the man said – “Shit happens.”
It certainly does! From my perspective, you don’t work relationships out by saying ‘if you were different everything would be okay.’ I hope maybe they’ll try some professional help. Marriage is hard! I know – that’s why I’m still single.
dear zazz, i’m really glad that this song tagged you in the way that it did. it’s been hitting me alot lately. you described the intended message of the song (we live where loss, love, life, pain, joy, grief, celebration all intersect and we have to learn to live in that moment) with your intro and you got most all the lyrics down but here are the ones that might not have been clear from the recording:
1st verse, line 6 — it’s “paint” not “pain” that spills onto your “lap”
2nd verse, line 6 — nothing could be finer than the relatively minor —
(zazz, in music theory, i’ve always been intrigued by that, that every major key has a relative minor key.)
3rd verse, line 2 — some “may” choose — not “men”.
3rd verse, line 6 — “though ugliness surrounds flowers seeds bust through the mud” — you’re confrusion was on target — there’s no spool of blood line. this line again is in synch with the intro you gave. in the midst of the weeds, beaufitul things happen.
4th verse, lines — “as far as you can tell, temper gets you by. angry oceans never fail to meet the peaceful sky on the horizon many songs are song bitter gives sweet it’s taste. nothing good goes down in haste.”
Well – you know, that makes a lot more sense! Thanks for stopping by and I will edit the lyrics later. So, when are the Emptys going to record another album?
zazzy — hope you’re well. i can’t wait to record the next one. we just need to get up to speed. arrange a selection of newer songs and let rip. of course, you will be the first to hear anything new that we do record!! stay positive. MT
Perhaps not the first – but I will be waiting in line with the rest of the Emptys fans!