A Good Death

A Good Death

(By Walter Beck)

I died a good death

Didn’t I?

I made a statement as nice and clean

As anyone under the guillotine.

I died a good death for you;

So you could sweep up the remains

Before the gold shoulders

Knocked on your door.

I took your honorable mentions

And consolation prizes;

I accepted the half-hearted rumors

Of a good fight on my behalf.

I died a good death for you;

So you could retire in glory

And move your ten-pound pretty boys

Up the line.

I died a good death for you

So you couldn’t the broken strings squeal

On my way out.

Soundtrack to a Chapbook: A Selection of Songs to Enjoy While Reading Life Through Broken Pens

Soundtrack to a Chapbook: A Selection of Songs to Enjoy While Reading Life Through Broken Pens

By Walter Beck

Thanks to Mr. Eric Norris for giving me the idea.

In the few interviews I’ve done as a writer, I always mention rock & roll as one of my biggest influences and it’s true; if you were to come over while I was writing, you’d find me sitting at my desk with a lit cigarette hanging from my lip and my pair of Sony MDR-V150 headphones blasting out noise from hell. So here’s a list of songs, a soundtrack of sorts to my forthcoming chapbook. I got this idea from a poet named Eric Norris who threw together a soundtrack for his amazing book Nocturnal Omissions: A Tale of Two Poets (written with Gavin Dillard). Eric’s soundtrack is one of love; mine isn’t.

MC5 “Kick Out the Jams” (Live)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwFeN0Zl1bQ

Rage Against the Machine “The Ghost of Tom Joad”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMaCg4fpJKg

Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company “Piece of My Heart”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8PGDlh6GfM

Jimi Hendrix “Star-Spangled Banner”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa-q-ztyZZw

Jefferson Airplane “We Can Be Together”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxA3Q96a8XE

Ministry “Stigmata” (Update Mix)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR5NTCqTIIc

Bob Dylan “Blowin’ in the Wind”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96i2WCgdqa0

Dropkick Murphys “Which Side Are You On?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AI0agUKkQw

Lou Reed “Walk on the Wild Side”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wNknGIKkoA

Nine Inch Nails “Mr. Self-Destruct”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce3xOgg9mtk

Ministry “Just One Fix”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbXciBKcfQ8

The book comes out March 8^th, but go ahead and play these tracks. Consider it a sneak preview, a special trailer, a chance to get the sonic vibes of my first book.

Life Through Broken Pens, available exclusively on March 8^th, 2012 from Writing Knights Press: www.writingknights.com