What if the Terry Jacks classic song had been about bees and dying, instead of love and dying?
Bee-sons in the Sun
Goodbye to you, my trusted friend.
We’ve known each other since we were nine or ten.
Together we’ve climbed hills and trees.
Learned of love and ABC’s,
skinned our hearts, got stung by bees.
Goodbye my friend, it’s hard to die,
when all the bees are buzzing in the sky,
Now that the spring is in the air.
Killer bees are everywhere.
Think of me and I’ll bee there.
Had no joy, and got stung, we ran from hornets in the sun.
But the hills that we climbed
were just beehives out of time.
Goodbye, Papa, please pray for me,
I brought the bees back to the family.
You tried to teach me right from wrong.
Too much wine and too much song,
and the bees all stinging strong.
Goodbye, Papa, it’s hard to die
when all the bees are buzzing in the sky,
Now that the bees are in the air.
Children screaming everywhere.
When you see them I’ll be there.
Had no joy, and got stung, we fought hornets in the sun.
But the wine and the song,
like the bees, have all gone.
Had no joy, and got stung, we fought hornets in the sun.
But the honey and the bong,
like the bees, have all gone.
Goodbye, Michelle, my little one.
You gave me love and helped me find the sun.
And every time that I was down
you would always come around
until the bees put me in the ground.
Goodbye, Michelle, it’s hard to die
when all the bees are buzzing in the sky,
Now that the bees are in the air.
With the flowers they don’t care.
Just to sting us here and there.
Had no joy, and got stung, ran from wasps in the sun.
But the houses we could reach
were just wall to wall with bees
All our lives we would run, we faced hornets in the sun.
But the hills that we climbed
Were just beehives out of time….
Okay, that’s pretty bad, but I somehow feel better having written it. Also, I tried to rhyme “reach” and “bees”, which illustrates my mastery of poetry and songwriting.
