America and Me - Part 1

I was next to James Dean in the Spyder. I held the high ground with Chamberlain on Little Round Top. I was in the Inn where Paul Revere stopped and a stable boy finished the ride. I was in the Enola Gay. I pitched to Babe Ruth. I wandered the streets of Copenhagen with Tom Waits. I was in the car with Bonnie and Clyde when that Melvin Purvis got over. I hit the beach at Normandy. I was on the bandstand with Charlie Parker. I was hitchhiking with Jack Kerouac. I was in the Pepsi Generation, and had a Big Mac attack. I was with Jack Benny when the robber approached with "your money or your life". I know Who's on first. I was with Bogart when he told Ingrid Bergman to get on the plane. I told Lee to go up the middle at Gettysburg. I was on the raft with Huck and Jim. I hung out with Holden Caufield, and Ishmael. I told Francis Ford Coppola to stick to his guns, and keep Al Pacino. I asked Emily Dickinson to come out of her room. I suggested to President Obama that we could. I told Sherman, "Let's go all the way to the sea!" I told Elvis to try and do a blues song to a country western rhythm and let's call it rock n roll. I was with Ray Croc when he told the McDonald brothers he'd buy them out. I watched Jimi Hendrix choke on his own vomit. I told the Smothers Brothers to be careful, Nixon was out of his mind. Lou Gerhig, Mel Ott, Harmon Killebrew.... I played with them all. I told George H. W. Bush to proceed with Operation Desert Storm. I was there when Dick Winters got field promoted to Lieutenant - I was in the Band of Brothers. I was watching the "Our American Cousin" in the box with Lincoln at the Ford's theater. I told Louie Armstrong he should just go with 'Satchmo' since his smile was as big as the satchel he was carrying. I told Allen Ginsberg to howl. I sat in the chair with the Rosenbergs. I told Thomas Wolfe to look homeward. I sat and waited and waited for Edison's light to finally burn out. I told Andy Warhol to paint a can of Tomato Soup. I suggested to Orville Wright that if the distance over the top of the wing was greater than the distance under the wing, we might get lift. I told Walt Disney to go with the mouse. I was in Cleveland with Eliot Ness because we'd been in Chicago during Capone. I told Andrew Jackson he wasn't fit to be President after the "Trail of Tears." I was in the parking lot with Sal Mineo when a blade slammed into his heart. I was with John Glenn in the capsule while we orbited the Earth. I was in the New York parade when the confetti looked like a snowstorm. I was angry that Lincoln missed "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and Kennedy missed The Beatles. I was on the Arizona in Pearl Harbor. I told Steve Jobs not to hire that Bill Gates. I was in the audience in the Ed Sullivan Theater on February 11, 1964. I introduced Paul Simon to Art Garfunkel, and Steve Stills to David Crosby and Graham Nash. I was in the Apollo 13 capsule. I spent a horrible winter at Valley Forge. I went to the crossroads with Robert Johnson. I was in the "Metracal for Lunch Bunch", was squeezing the Charmin, and asked "Where's the beef?". I fixed the 1919 World Series. I went to Speakeasys during prohibition. I lived in Mayberry, loved Lucy, and went to the Twilight Zone where Alice went bang-zoom to the moon. I handed Truman the newspaper that proclaimed Dewey the winner. I told Berry Gordy to change the name to Motown. I was in a bar with Charles Bukowski. I told Miles Davis he looked kind of blue. I told Dylan to go electric. McCarthy blacklisted me. I danced on American Bandstand. I was a Mouseketeer. I convinced Jimmy Stewart it's a wonderful life. I told Harper Lee it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. I stood on the corner of Haight-Ashbury in 1967. I was in the water with Natalie Wood. I was with Neil Armstrong when he took one small step and one giant leap. I saw the first Saturday Night Live live. I was Amelia Earhart's co-pilot. I took Springsteen to Thunder Road, and showed Dylan Desolation Row. I watched the market crash in '29. I saw the first mushroom cloud. I was in the limo with Kennedy and in the book depository with Oswald. I was in the World Trade Center on 9/11. I was on Yasgar's farm in August of 1969 - Woodstock. I held the stop watch at Kitty Hawk. I told Dave Brubeck to take five. I hung out with Elvis in the Jungle Room. And through it all, I thought of you.