This page will reproduce the lyrics, performance info, and some thoughts about each of the music clips contained in Joe’s Celebration of Life Music Videos.  I hope you enjoy.

The day Joe died, I was alone with Michael and feeling down, and alone.  Although I knew Joe’s life was full and he fought the good fight, I was lost in my own emotions.  This was the song that brought me comfort that day and really captures my thoughts.

Nearly 10 years ago was when Joe was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.  Stacy had called me at work and I was a bit distraught.  It was lunch time and I went out for a ride.  While riding around, this song came on the radio and immediately a warmth and calmness came over me.  The lyrics are more about a guy resisting a volatile relationship but the spirit I felt was that this was not the time to mourn Joe’s life.  It was actually not the last goodbye, nor is today.

"The Last Goodbye"

Reckless Kelly

The last goodbye really had me going

Pulling my strings all the while knowing

You weren't leaving anytime soon

The last goodbye really had me runnin' hot

You turned me into something I was not

You were determined to make me your fool

This time around I won't come running

No matter how hard you try

This time around I won't come crawling back to you

This is the last goodbye

The last goodbye was tougher than the one before

Hard to believe you could hurt me any more

But you did it, here we go again

The last goodbye was nothing but a toy

You were crying wolf like the lonesome little boy in the story

But here's how it ends

This time around I won't come running

No matter how hard you try

This time around I won't come crawling back to you

This is the last goodbye

This is the last goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

Goodbye

This song, and video, are truly moving.  They capture the impact that people have on others and how our lives, our struggles, our joys are all divine.  The moments are gifts.  The sadness we feel is balanced by the comfort we had previously felt.  The meaning of our lives goes way beyond our time on earth.   I believe.

"Believe"

Brooks and Dunn

Old man Wrigley lived in that white house

Down the street where I grew up

Momma used to send me over with things

We struck a friendship up

I spent a few long summers out on his old porch swing

Says he was in the war when in the navy

Lost his wife, lost his baby

Broke down and asked him one time

How ya keep from going crazy

He said I'll see my wife and son in just a little while

I asked him what he meant

He looked at me and smiled, said

I raise my hands, bow my head

I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red

They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see

Oh I believe

Few years later I was off at college

Talkin' to mom on the phone one night

Getting all caught up on the gossip

The ins and outs of the small town life

She said oh by the way son, old man Wrigley's died

Later on that night, I laid there thinkin' back

Thought 'bout a couple long-lost summers

I didn't know whether to cry or laugh

If there was ever anybody deserved a ticket to the other side

It'd be that sweet old man who looked me in the eye, said

I raise my hands, bow my head

I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red

They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see

I can't quote the book

The chapter or the verse

You can't tell me it all ends

In a slow ride in a hearse

You know I'm more and more convinced

The longer that I live

Yeah, this can't be

No, this can't be

No, this can't be all there is

When I raise my hands, bow my head

I'm finding more and more truth in the words written in red

They tell me that there's more to life than just what I can see

I believe

Oh, I

I believe

I believe

I believe

I believe

I believe

A very sweet song about Love and Life.  Love is always there, waiting to be watered, never dying.  Memories on a shelf, always ready to be unwrapped.  Where does love go?  No one knows.

"Rose Of Jericho"

Drew Kennedy

He sits still legs crossed at the kitchen table only lost

In his gin and tonic and the smell of afternoon cigarettes

She's mastering the way she dances in between sideway glances

Words that would come in vivid colors if she let them slip off her lips

Generations handed down, blame the pain on times they live in

A modern version of his father now wasting all the chances life will give him

But in her way she's done one better, coats are made for winter weather

Neighbor kids play in the street, the sun sinks down below the back yard trees

There's a cross on the side of the road reflecting itself in a car window

Where does love really go, maybe no one knows, no one knows

But somewhere stuck inside it's too proud to die, the Rose of Jericho

Falling into old routines that history deems worth repeating

Prayers that seem to say themselves, self help books on dusty shelves

If everything is temporary why should they care how it shines

The simple truth in looks deceiving are the blessing in disguise

There's a picture they took long ago in a white dress, black tuxedo

Where does love really go, maybe no one knows, maybe no one knows

But somewhere stuck inside it's too proud to die, the Rose of Jericho

The Rose of Jericho sits on a shelf waiting to be watered by somebody else

But it can't love you without a little help 'cause it don't know how to love itself

Moonlight reaches bedroom windows high above the town below

You can't always count on rain to water what you need to grow

This is one of my favorite songs that Willie Nelson sings.  It’s a song of reflection.  Of how quick life passes, of how we live our youth oblivious to being mortal.

This is a song about devotion, commitment, and dedication that were always the power of Joe.  I’ve never seen him walk away.  I’ve never seen him give up.  Even through his physical pain, Joe remained strong.  If you ever needed someone, Joe was there.

It’s too easy to take love for granted.  Yet it’s love that makes life worth living.  There is no better song that captures our vulnerabilities and our needs.  Let Joe remind us that love is divine.  Embrace it, and share it.

"Have I Told You Lately"

Van Morrison

Have I told you lately that I love you

Have I told you there's no one above you

Fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Oh the morning sun in all its glory

Greets the day with hope and comfort too

And you fill my life with laughter

You can make it better

Ease my troubles that's what you do

There's a love that's divine

And it's yours and it's mine

Like the sun at the end of the day

We should give thanks and pray to the One

Have I told you lately that I love you

Have I told you there's no one above you

Fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

There's a love that's divine

And it's yours and it's mine

And it shines like the sun

At the end of the day we will give thanks

And pray to the One

Have I told you lately that I love you

Have I told you there's no one above you

Fill my heart with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Take away my sadness

Fill my life with gladness

Ease my troubles that's what you do

Fill my life with gladness

Take away my sadness

Ease my troubles that's what you do.

If only our wishes could be granted.  A perfect song that captures one of my greatest wishes.  Of course there are many wishes, but grandpas being around to share their wisdom, and love, and hope is one of the biggest.  I wish Joe could have been around to watch his three grandsons grow and bloom into men.

"I Wish Grandpas Never Died"

Riley Green

I wish girls you love never gave back diamond rings

I wish every porch had a swing

Wish kids still learn to say "sir" and "ma'am"

How to shake a hand

I wish every state had a Birmingham

I wish everybody knew all the words to Mama Tried

I wish Monday mornings felt just like Friday nights

And I wish even cars had truck beds

And every road was named Copperhead

And coolers never ran out of cold Bud Light

And I wish high school home teams never lost

And back road drinking kids never got caught

I wish the price of gas was low and cotton was high

I wish honkytonks didn't have no closing time

And I wish grandpas never died

I wish Sundays on a creek bank would never end

Wish I could learn to drive again

I wish the first time, seventeen, she was my everything

Kiss in a Chevrolet could happen every day

I wish everybody overseas was gonna make it home

I wish Country music still got played on Country radio

And I wish even cars had truck beds

And every road was named Copperhead

And coolers never run out of cold Bud Light

And I wish high school home teams never lost

And back road drinking kids never got caught

I wish the price of gas was low and cotton was high

I wish honkytonks didn't have no closing time

And I wish grandpas never died

Never died

And I wish good dogs never got grey and old

I wish farms never got sold

And I wish even cars had truck beds

And every road was named Copperhead

And coolers never run out of cold Bud Light

I wish high school home teams never lost

And back road drinking kids never got caught

I wish the price of gas was low and cotton was high

I wish honkytonks didn't have no closing time

And I wish grandpas never died

I wish grandpas never died

“Rain”, a song lamenting the pain of being alone.  I can imagine Joe singing this song to Jane every night as she falls asleep.  You are not alone.

"Rain"

The Teskey Brothers

Mm-mm, mm-mm-mm-mm, mm-mm

Yeah, is that rain

Or are you crying again?

Would it be the same

If I could hold you, my friend?

I know it's hard to be alone

A soul with no face

Is a lonely embrace

But I know it's hard

I know it's hard

To be alone

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Now there's clouds

Between us all

And the road ain't so clear

But we can still walk or crawl

But I know it's hard

To be alone

A soul with no face

Is a lonely embrace

And I know it's hard

And I know it's hard

To be alone

To be alone

To be alone

Yeah, yeah

Oh, so little, oh

Come to me now

I wanna hold ya

In any way I know how

Oh, we're flying now

With the powerful owl, oh

I'm gonna hold ya

In any way I know how, yeah

But is that rain

Or am I crying again?

A soul with no face

Is a lonely embrace

But I know it's hard

I know it's hard

To be alone

To be alone

To be alone, yeah

Oh, 'cause I know it's hard

Yeah, I know it's hard

But you ain't gonna be

Ain't gonna be alone

This is arguably the best song written and performed by the best guitarist of all time.   The lyrics  to this song are perhaps the most poignant words ever sung in memory of a loved one.

"Life Without You"

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Well hello baby, Tell me, How have you been?

We all have missed you, And the way you grin

The day is necessary, Every now and then

For souls to move on, Given life back again

Fly on, Fly on, Fly on my friend

Go on, Go on and live again, Love again

Cause day after day, Night after night

Sittin' here singin', every, every minute

As the years go passin' by, by, by, by

A long look in the mirror, We come face to face

Wishin' our love we took for granted

A love we had yesterday, Cause Life Without You

All the love, you've passed our way

Angels have waited, for so long

Now they have their way

Take your place....

If only Joe could sing.

"I Won't Let Go"

Rascal Flatts

It's like a storm

That cuts a path

It breaks your will

It feels like that

You think you're lost

But you're not lost on your own

You're not alone

I will stand by you

I will help you through

When you've done all you can do

And you can't cope

I will dry your eyes

I will fight your fight

I will hold you tight

And I won't let go

It hurts my heart

To see you cry

I know it's dark

This part of life

Oh it finds us all

And we're too small

To stop the rain

Oh but when it rains

I will stand by you

I will help you through

When you've done all you can do

And you can't cope

I will dry your eyes

I will fight your fight

I will hold you tight

And I won't let you fall

Don't be afraid to fall

I'm right here to catch you

I won't let you down

It won't get you down

You're gonna make it

Yeah I know you can make it

Cause I will stand by you

I will help you through

When you've done all you can do

And you can't cope

And I will dry your eyes

I will fight your fight

I will hold you tight

And I won't let go

Oh I'm gonna hold you

And I won't let go

Won't let you go

No I won't

These lyrics speak for themselves.  Life can lead us astray.  We often times need that lighthouse that guides us home

"Guiding Light"

Foy Vance

Well the road is wide,

And waters run on either side,

And my shadow went with fading light,

Stretching out towards the night.

'Cause the Sun is low,

And I yet have still so far to go,

My lonely heart is beating so,

Tired of the wonder.

But there's a sign ahead,

Though I think it's the same one again,

And I'm thinking 'bout my only friend,

And so I find my way home.

When I need to get home

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

Well the air is cold,

And yonder lies my sleeping soul,

By the branches broke like bones,

This weakened tree no longer holds.

But the night is still,

And I have not yet lost my will,

Oh and I will keep on moving 'till,

'till I find my way home.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,

You're my guiding light,

You're my guiding light.

This is what I was asking of God over the years but unfortunately Joe couldn’t wait any longer.  But for many years, my prayers were answered.

"Don't Let The Old Man In"

(from "The Mule" soundtrack)

Toby Keith and Frank Wells

Don't let the old man in

I want to live me some more

Can't leave it up to him

He's knocking on my door

And I knew all of my life

That someday it would end

Get up and go outside

Don't let the old man in

Many moons I have lived

My body's weathered and worn

Ask yourself how old you'd be

If you didn't know the day you were born

Try to love on your wife

And stay close to your friends

Toast each sundown with wine

Don't let the old man in

Many moons I have lived

My body's weathered and worn

Ask yourself how old you'd be

If you didn't know the day you were born

When he rides up on his horse

And you feel that cold bitter wind

Look out your window and smile

Don't let the old man in

Look out your window and smile

Don't let the old man in

This song is made even sadder knowing that this song by Joey and Rory was written and performed by Joe , the wife of the duo Joey and Rory, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She died four years later in 2016.

"When I'm Gone"

Joey and Rory

A bright sunrise will contradict the heavy fault that weighs you down

In spite of all the funeral songs the birds will make their joyful sounds

You wonder why the earth still moves, you wonder how you'll carry on

But you'll be okay on that first day when I'm gone

Dusk will come with fireflies and whippoorwill and crickets call

And every star will take its place and silvery gown and purple shawl

You'll lie down in our big bed, dread the dark and dread the dawn

But you'll be alright on that first night when I'm gone

You will reach for me in vain

You'll be whispering my name

As if sorrow were your friend

And this world so alien

But life will call with daffodils and morning glorious blue skies

You'll think of me some memory and softly smile to your surprise

And even though you love me still you will know where you belong

Just give it time we'll both be fine when I'm gone