Uncle Ray

Uncle Ray is gone, a relative they couldn't find
Finally free of his insanity, they covered him with lime
In a ditch outside the old junkyard on 17
Well, that crazy drunk, I swear, he was a gentleman to me

So take him far, far away, take him far, far away
Out past all discussions, far from what they said
Take him far, far away, take him far, far away
'Cuz we're sort of related, here lies Uncle Ray

Dry rough skin, his hand, a working man, like bark from trees
He'd come to the back door of my family's house
For coffee and something to eat

Pushed a shopping cart all filled with junk and empty cans
He came home from the war to find his wife
Now loved another man

So take him far, far away, take him far, far away
Out past all discussions, far from what they said
Take him far, far away, take him far, far away
'Cuz we're sort of related, here lies Uncle Ray

In this photograph, we're hand in hand, in deep white snow
Ray was sixty five, and nearly blind, and I was four, or so
All the neighbors used to laugh and throw snowballs at him
Now I live alone and when it snows, I try not to think of them

So take him far, far away, take him far, far away
Out past all discussions, far from what they said
Take him far, far away, take him far, far away
'Cuz we're sort of related, 'cuz we're sort of related
'Cuz we're sort of related, here lies Uncle Ray

Here lies Uncle Ray