| carlsnow | 9 Jun 2010 06:43 | Quote |
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Carl Snow's - 'In Lieu Of Flowers ...' -For Henry Granju (R.I.P), a wonderful student and human, who will be missed greatly Carl Snow's - 'In Lieu Of Flowers ...' -For Henry Granju (R.I.P) ‘In lieu of flowers’… ‘In lieu of flowers’… Please bring mercy Failing mercy Bring some love In lieu of hatred… Born of vengeance Please bring light Let it rain from above There aint no making sense of this Not with any words I know But I’ll remember innocence And try to love better in its glow ‘The family requests… Please don’t wear black’ Yeah, please don’t wear black There’s enough darkness around In lieu of mourning… Hold your children warmly Hold one of them for me I got no kids of my own Yeah, but I’ll remember Henry …and the big guitar And no There aint no making sense of this Not with any words I know But I’ll remember innocence And try to love better in its glow So In lieu of flowers.. Please bring mercy Failing mercy Bring some love….. Henry was a student of mine for a few of what seem now to be the very brief years of his young life. Henry broke away from lessons to write, I liked that, I still do. What I don’t like, what fills me with sadness and anger is that he died last week at the age of 18 from an assault with a tire-iron (3 “men”) at a drug-buy gone terribly bad, and the resulting ingestion, prompted by “friends” of Methadone. Henry seemed to be getting better at one point , even held his guitar up for a picture, but his body simply could not handle all the trauma it was dealt, and so, Henry Granju, guitarist, writer, and friend to many died this (or last … my head is still spinning) week. When I stopped crying one day this weekend I picked up the old martin and wrote a song for him, his family, and all those who have known the loss of a loved one to drugs and/or violence. I wrote it in 6 minutes or so but could not sing through it all the way for many a ‘take’. I did not want to record this ‘as usual’ and so I placed my largest Mic on the spot where my students sit, and sang to it. In some unfathomable way (God imo) I tossed the pick down and sang to Henry as if he were that mic, as if he still sat there on Saturday afternoons, and I made it through without sobbing; it aint perfect but it is real, and I’ll not record it again. I fought myself all morning, knowing I was going to post this and links to his story, about whether or not to ‘preach’ at , well, everyone, I guess about the incredible dangers of doing street-drugs. I’m sure you’ve all heard that before though so I will spare you, adding this: Henry will be among the 20-plus friends I have buried, due to drugs/violence, in the last 44 years … that’s far too many people, and all but 2 of them were musicians/crew. I could have easily been one of them many times in my Teens and 20’s (and early-early 30’s). A memorial College fund was set-up to honor Henry and the public has been kind, downloading the tune (and seeing the memorial link) at the rate of 1,200 a day. So yes there IS kindness and mercy and grace in this sometimes roc-hard world. No donations here, needed. I know most of you are young, so in Lieu of donations, I’d lke to ask all on AGC to take a minute, just ONE, empty you head and think how horrid this world would be were it not for your being alive. Rest in Piece Henry… Carl Snow Henrys Story: Henrys Mother, a friend of mine, is a much published author of books on parenting, motherhood and such. She Is also a well know (USA) Blogger Via Mommapundit Here are some links, (a few may have to be scrolled down to view) http://mamapundit.com/ http://mamapundit.com/2010/06/steve-wildsmiths-column-about-henry/ http://mamapundit.com/2010/06/in-lieu-of-flowers-for-henry/ And many other Blogs, Print media, etc + The news http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jun/01/knox-county-authorities-investigating-death-teenag/ thanks for the healing |
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