I wrote this about the life and death of John Creighton. It's pretty much the "theme song" of The Little Wretches.

Shortly before our band NO SHELTER disintegrated, I'd written a song called "Virgin Mary." John asked permission to use the main musical theme from Virgin Mary for a composition for one of his projects. I was flattered, of course, because John was a genius.

After John died, I wrote these lyrics, reclaimed the theme from Virgin Mary and borrowed the musical bridge from John's song LAWRENCEVILLE.

Lyrics

You were born with a vision but you read it all wrong.
You were born with a gift but you misused it.
You were born to fly with wings you could never unfold.
And you spent half your life trying to pawn your heart of gold.

You were born with an instinct for recognizing the truth.
You saw everything for what it was but still you confused it.
You were a king among common folk and a saint among queens.
You were blessed with a vision but you never figured out what it means.

You couldn't find a lover who could teach you how to really make love.
So you tried to find somebody instead with the proper ideals.
And everybody tried to confuse you to seduce you.
But you were too innocent, or were you just acting dumb?

Everything you ever learned you killed with your prescriptions for drugs.
And you were coddled by acquaintances too naive to know better.
And the song you were trying to sing lost something in the translation
but everybody seemed to enjoy watching your frustration.

You were born with a gift you were afraid you had not deserved.
You were blessed with a vision and you thought it was a calling to serve.
You spent half your life trying to pawn your heart of gold.
You were blessed with a vision too beautiful to behold.