This is Carl’s song (if you listen to the audio interviews you can get a lot of the background there) but I will say this, I think every man has a Raymond Jesse whispering in his ear. The good men usually ignore him. I want to add, men like this exist in every family and in every culture and he is not unique to any one family. The apple and tree line came to me on the interstate in Charleston, WV. -MK
Much of what I believe constitutes being a “good man” is our battle not to surrender to our base, selfish nature. When that nature happens to have been grossly evident in your grandfather, you might feel him applying a bit of extra pull in that nasty direction. -CG
I saw it in my boy today
Made my icy pinky start to shake
I’ve also heard it through the years
A hoary breathing tickling my ears
“Give it up, boy. What’s the use?
Your time with them is the time you lose!”
The whispering of Raymond Jesse’s ghost
He visits me from time to time
He makes me listen to his diatribe
And he keeps talking low, but clear
And I can’t help but feel he’s somewhere near
“Balls and chains, boy. Balls and chains.
Free from them means you’re free from reins!”
The whispering of Raymond Jesse’s ghost
The mirror details every day
Foreign deeds with this familiar face
And I still put on quite the show
Convince myself they’ll never even know
“Apple and tree boy, apple and tree
More than DNA is what you get from me!”
The whispering of Raymond Jesse’s ghost
I bet he’s kept my dad awake
But it ain’t something he’d ever relate
Comparing notes on having things
And laughing at the emptiness it brings
“It’s legacy, boy, legacy.
And when it’s all about you then it’s all about me!”
The whispering of Raymond Jesse’s ghost
“Balls and chains, boy. Balls and chains.
Free from them means you’re free from reins!”
The whispering of Raymond Jesse’s ghost
