If you will indulge me for a moment, Buddy and I were exchanging Frank Sinatra lines in another thread on this forum. It reminded me of a time back in my youth (late high school) when my friends and I would occasionally (sic) frequent a prestigious establishment on the east side of Cleveland known as "The Living Room".
In order to fully appreciate this short story, a description of the "Room" will be of benefit. It was your typical Cleveland dive bar with a long bar, crusty stools, beer-laden sticky floor, pinball machine, several naugahyde covered booths (with tears in the cushions where someones pointed comb had pierced the fine upholstery), and, of course, black and red shag carpeting.....on the walls.
The john was, as you can imagine, quite a showplace. Cracked mirror where apparently someone had decided to take our his frustrations after being rejected by one of the lovely (sic) ladies in attendance. One stall, no latch or toilet paper and a swivelly seat broken so that if you moved too fast, you would find yourself on the linoleum floor covered in multi-layers of urine (last cleaned during the Roosevelt administration). The toilet bowl contained a large brownish-black feces with several undigested corn kernels on its perimeter. The odor was not spring like.
You had your regulars .... old crusty guys, with 5 day beards, drinking PBR's with a shot of cheap bourbon chaser. The juke box featured your everyday top 40 hits with a plethora of Temptations, Four Tops, Smokey, Martha and the Vandella's tunes. In addition, there were quite a few songs by Deano, Sammy, and, of course, Frank.
Now that I have set the scene, my friends and I, armed with fake ID's, would stop in on occasion after a hard day of skipping school. For some reason, we all enjoyed a local (Detroit) beer called Stroh's. Not sure if they still make that shit, but it was cheap and we were on a high school budget. My part-time job at Thom McAnn's in Richmond Mall selling shoes, left little to be spent on luxury libations such as Schlitz or PBR.
As we congregated at the bar swapping lies about the girls we had been with, we began to notice some of the old geezers played a lot of Frank. Particularly the song "My Way". Well around 1:30 or 2:00 AM (after a few Stroh's) we got to a little play on words of the song due to our passion for Stroh's. So without further adieu, the following was our version of "My Way" or, as we called it "Strohs Way". Please note, the actual words to the song are in parentheticals.
Again, this song is most appreciated if you sing along after 6 or more Strohs beers.
STROHS (MY) WAY
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final Strohs beer(curtain)
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll drink (state) my case, of which I'm certain
I've drank (lived) a belly (life) that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it Strohs (my) way
Bud's (regrets), I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted beer (course)
Each careful sip (step) along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it Strohs (my) way
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I drank (bit off) more than they (I) could brew (chew)
But through it all, when there was doubt
I drank a Bud (ate it up) and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it Strohs (my) way
I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my fill of Bud beer (share of losing)
And now, as Strohs (tears) subsides
I find it all so amusing
To think I drank (did) all that
And may I say - not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it Strohs (my) way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not his Strohs (himself), then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I drank my Strohs (took the blows)
And did it Strohs (my) way
Yes, it was Strohs (my) way
Thank you for allowing me this little trip down memory lane. As I type this post, it reminds me of how mature and cool we were. No wonder we never got laid in high school.
Eddie
In order to fully appreciate this short story, a description of the "Room" will be of benefit. It was your typical Cleveland dive bar with a long bar, crusty stools, beer-laden sticky floor, pinball machine, several naugahyde covered booths (with tears in the cushions where someones pointed comb had pierced the fine upholstery), and, of course, black and red shag carpeting.....on the walls.
The john was, as you can imagine, quite a showplace. Cracked mirror where apparently someone had decided to take our his frustrations after being rejected by one of the lovely (sic) ladies in attendance. One stall, no latch or toilet paper and a swivelly seat broken so that if you moved too fast, you would find yourself on the linoleum floor covered in multi-layers of urine (last cleaned during the Roosevelt administration). The toilet bowl contained a large brownish-black feces with several undigested corn kernels on its perimeter. The odor was not spring like.
You had your regulars .... old crusty guys, with 5 day beards, drinking PBR's with a shot of cheap bourbon chaser. The juke box featured your everyday top 40 hits with a plethora of Temptations, Four Tops, Smokey, Martha and the Vandella's tunes. In addition, there were quite a few songs by Deano, Sammy, and, of course, Frank.
Now that I have set the scene, my friends and I, armed with fake ID's, would stop in on occasion after a hard day of skipping school. For some reason, we all enjoyed a local (Detroit) beer called Stroh's. Not sure if they still make that shit, but it was cheap and we were on a high school budget. My part-time job at Thom McAnn's in Richmond Mall selling shoes, left little to be spent on luxury libations such as Schlitz or PBR.
As we congregated at the bar swapping lies about the girls we had been with, we began to notice some of the old geezers played a lot of Frank. Particularly the song "My Way". Well around 1:30 or 2:00 AM (after a few Stroh's) we got to a little play on words of the song due to our passion for Stroh's. So without further adieu, the following was our version of "My Way" or, as we called it "Strohs Way". Please note, the actual words to the song are in parentheticals.
Again, this song is most appreciated if you sing along after 6 or more Strohs beers.
STROHS (MY) WAY
And now, the end is near
And so I face the final Strohs beer(curtain)
My friend, I'll say it clear
I'll drink (state) my case, of which I'm certain
I've drank (lived) a belly (life) that's full
I've traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it Strohs (my) way
Bud's (regrets), I've had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted beer (course)
Each careful sip (step) along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it Strohs (my) way
Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew
When I drank (bit off) more than they (I) could brew (chew)
But through it all, when there was doubt
I drank a Bud (ate it up) and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it Strohs (my) way
I've loved, I've laughed and cried
I've had my fill, my fill of Bud beer (share of losing)
And now, as Strohs (tears) subsides
I find it all so amusing
To think I drank (did) all that
And may I say - not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it Strohs (my) way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not his Strohs (himself), then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I drank my Strohs (took the blows)
And did it Strohs (my) way
Yes, it was Strohs (my) way
Thank you for allowing me this little trip down memory lane. As I type this post, it reminds me of how mature and cool we were. No wonder we never got laid in high school.
Eddie
