Surf And-or Die (Walter Becker)

Earthbound to Johnny boy just picked up your message 'Bout those Balinese ikats you thought I might buy Now your voice on my machine is more alive than what you are Since your daredevil hang glider fell out of the sky Now Armand's looked all over but he can't find your car keys Were they under the tire? Were they under the seat? Because as it stands now your beloved white Aires Is fair game for the vandals up on Makapuu Street And your grandmother's number, we know it's here somewhere But Suze can't seem to find it, now she's losing control And so what about her, and little Eldon and Layla And that hypothetical spectre, your gilt-edged soul Which defied many perils, in the face of all reason And in so many settings and for all your young years Insisting on pure freedom for its too-short season Riding high on its ration of enchantment and fear Over the hill and into the next meadow and on and on and on In a near random universe there are still certain combinations Picked out from all other possible ones Which, when given some time and the just-right circumstances Not too far from the earth or too close to the sun They will dance and they'll spin in the embrace of the trade winds Playing havoc with the hearts and the upturned faces down below Until the laws of curved spacetime, susponed without warning Kick back in with a vengeance for the last act of the show Going too far too fast in that final wing over As your glider comes tumbling out of the clouds And you clutch at your chest but the chute never opens And they find you there tangled in that white nylon shroud When we get Grandma's number I think I'll just say to her Your Johnny's home for Christmas, it was a hell of a ride And I know that some day you'll be showing me those blankets All covered in glory on the hereafter side, saying There was never any question, it was always all or nothing Surf and/or die