Life A.D.

May I have you attention please?

You will all get your turn

Young lady, please step up and tell me your name

Uh, Alta Dustin

Miss Dustin

Will you please tell me something about yourself?

(This is life, life A.D.)

(Life A.D., yeah)

(Life A.D., yeah)

So you wanna talk? Okay, let's see, uh

You wanna know a little something about me?

I was born in Heidelberg, that's in Germany

There was Mom and Dad, Rick and Sharon, Larry and me

I was the baby, the youngest army brat

And I guess we were pretty normal if you could call it that

But what do you еxpect? I mean, a child of the sixtiеs

And believe or not, my parents names Dick and Dixie

Dick and Dixie Dustin?

Mhmm, I see

(Life A.D., yeah)

So your father was in the army?

Oh, yeah, well

Dad was active duty so we moved around a lot

A CW3, I think he got shot a couple times in the back

Vietnam War

I was only 5, or maybe I was 4

Anyway, he's okay

Except he drinks the day away

And I would play like a little soldier

I guess I didn't understand until I was older

Mhmm, and your mother?

Mom? She was cool

Fixed us lunch and sent us off to school

Did all the kinds of things that mothers usually do

I guess you never realize the kind of hell you put them through

I mean, she was a saint, a religious fanatic

And Dad was becoming, well, sort of an addict

So we had to make a choice, it was one or the other

And I guess she didn't want a bad example for my brother

(This is life, life A.D.)

Bad example, mhmm

So what exactly did your mother decide to do?

(Life A.D., yeah)

There was only one solution

Dad couldn't put the bottle down

We packed a few possessions

And she got us out of town

(This is life, life A.D.)

Hmm, got you out of town

It sounds easy, but I was really bummed

Because I couldn't figure out why Rick and Dad weren't comin'

See, I was 13 and it hadn't occurred to me

That this time really meant D-I-V-O-R-C-E

It was me, two dogs

My sister and my brother, guinea pig

And a station wagon driven by my mother

We moved to Utah to be with family

And found a tiny little house outside of Salt Lake City

You know, to start a new life?

Life A.D

(This is life, life A.D.)

Okay now, Dad in the army

Mom moved the kids to

Excuse me, sir, there's no smoking up here

(Life A.D., yeah)

(Life A.D.)

Now where were we?

Okay, let's see

That was only the beginning

After a long losing streak

I learned the meaning of winning

You see, I was down, I really let myself go

I guess my confidence was suffering from an all-time low

You know, the feeling when you're out on a limb

I was falling fast and it was time to sink or swim

So I got my strength together what little I had

And looking back through everything

I can be glad 'cause

It's from the bad times you really learn a lot

And it helps you figure out what you got

Or what you got not

And then it happened like a falling brick

It hit me on the head

I know that music was the ticket

(Oh, no)

Was it something I said?

(Oh, no)

Don't mind him

(Oh, no)

Would somebody tell that guy to shut up?

Anyway, as a new kid

It was hard to make a friend

But by writing songs

It was the beginning of the end

You see, I found other people that I could relate to

When you're singin' and dancin'

Well, then no one can hate you

When you sing in church

In clubs or on the street

You really wouldn't believe

The kind of people you can meet

But before too long

We had this kind of reputation

And I must say

I didn't mind the public adulation

Public adulation? Mhmm

Now, somewhere along the way

You ended in New York

How'd that happen?

My brother had this band

Where they dressed like gangsters

He put me out in front

And called it Spanky and the Wankers

We did as a joke, but somehow it caught on

And before I knew it

We were giggin' and goin' pretty strong along

When one night, and I ain't lyin'

I was singin' along

When I was approached by this guy

(Jason)

And his friends said that they were from

A big record label

And would I like to join them

For their drink at their table?

I was like, yeah, right, give me a break

Handed me his card

And I started to shake

That's how it started and now here I am

Just doin' my thing, but that's how it begin

And it seems to me

That life's a series of beginnings

Like a baseball game

With never-ending innings

Sometimes you play it safe

Sometimes you gotta gamble

So excuse me, please

If my philosophies began to ramble

(This is life, life A.D.)

You gotta make it what you are

And what I am is what I'll be

So what I've chosen is my own life

And this is life A.D

(This is life, life A.D.)

(Life A.D., yeah)

(Life A.D., yeah)

(This is life, life A.D.)

Your papers seem in order

And you've gotten this far somehow

(Life A.D., yeah)

(Life A.D., yeah)

Take these with you to that office

(Life A.D.)

God will see you now