Brother Billy

Written/Posted by georgeireton

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- Play count: 125

Size: 1,699kb, uploaded 7/17/2015 12:31:21 PM
Genre: Bluegrass / Playing Style: Backing Track

This is a story about my big brother Billy, and why I was moved to write a song about him. Today I am feeling plaintive. Years, then decades pass so quickly between far away family. In your mind, you see their faces as you last remember them. It is sometimes shocking to witness the changes life brings to the body, mind and spirit of a long lost loved one. This is the case between my older brother Billy and myself. I was only about 5 years old when Billy dropped out of high school and jumped on the bus headed east. That was about 60 years ago! I have seen him twice in all that time. No particular reason. Life happens. Time passes. Some people travel and visit family all the time. We just never did. Billy ended up in eastern Kentucky. He went to Harlan County to work in the coal mines. I came to understand the significance of that hard life years later. There was a TV documentary titled “Bloody Harlan”. It was all about the mine worker’s union and how they fought the company for a better life. It was called Harlan County War. My big brother was a coal miner and a safety man. Years ago I visited him while attending a bluegrass music trade show in Louisville. He squired me around the county and introduced me to all his “old friends”. Some were quite colorful! There was one man they called “Rabbit”. He was an older gentleman who drove around town in a beat up pickup, but he had a brand new F-150 parked in the garage. Odd I thought. Rabbit was the retired secretary of the coal miner’s union. A very important person in the town. He seemed to like my brother. There were others who gave me insight into Billy’s life in those parts. He was clearly well respected. Recently, I got word that Billy has been moved into a memory care center. He always managed to come out from under ground before, but this appears to be a different kind of cave-in. In the song, I ask “Where are you tonight brother Billy?… Are you way down in the mine?”, a reference now it seems to Alzheimer’s. Perhaps God will make it possible for me to go back and see him one more time. I hope so. Here is the song I recorded in my home studio with The Big Blue Dogs. If I had the money for a professional audio engineer, I would probably buy a plane ticket for Kentucky! December 5, 2014… Just got the word that my brother passed away. I am filled with regret that I only made one visit in all that time. If you have someone you have been missing, please consider re-connecting soon. We are all just passing through. Go rest high on that mountain William W. Ireton. Tell Dad I will be along in God’s time.

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