Seven Spanish Angels

today...i cheated death.

let me explain.

several years back, i decided that i wanted the song Seven Spanish Angels by ray charles and willie nelson played at my funeral (whenever that may be), and i still feel the same way today. there's something about that song...the music, the voices, the words that all for some reason connect with me. call me old, or weird, or both...but the amazing voices of ray charles and willie nelson, coupled with a soulful melody on piano and lyrics that spark emotions of love and loss...what a combination! so, needles to say, that song will one day be played after i'm gone.

which was almost today.

see, i was driving by myself on i-10 this afternoon near leon springs. any of you who have been near there lately know that the driving conditions are not quite what you'd call "optimal". with construction seeming to be neverending and the amount of cars traveling on that 2-lane highway, i'm suprised more accidents don't occur.

anyway, i was driving, listening the new cd i had just purchased (pete yorn - nightcrawler)...but more that that, i was having a little time with God. see, several things happened today that really made me step back and think, collect my thoughts, assess situations, give thanks to God, wonder what all it meant and envision what's to come from it.

as i was traveling, thinking, thanking and praying along this 2-lane highway with temporary concrete barriers on each side of the road, a car proceeded to cut-off a semi-truck traveling in the lane next to me. in order for this semi-truck to miss the vehicle that had swerved in front of it, the semi-truck had to swerve into my lane. in "optimal" conditions on a normal highway, this would have presented me with a need to make a rather quick decision in order to avoid collision...but, given the fact that this was a construction area and there were concrete barriers on each side of the road, a "rather" instant decision would have been too late.

so, without even thinking, i hit the brakes and criss-crossed just inches behind the truck in order to avoid a potentially fatal mishap of my car; and more importantly, myself; becoming crushed between the concrete barrier and the semi. luckily, there were no vehicles immedately behind the truck...because, if there had been, i would have collided with them at a rather high rate of speed. now, i'm not amping up the story for dramatic effect, it really was a matter of an inch or two between collision and safety.

after brakes screached, horns blew and hearts dropped, everyone realized that travesty had been adverted and continued on to their destinations. i immediately took the next exit; which wasn't but a couple hundred yards ahead; pulled onto the grassy shoulder of the access road and tried to catch my breath.

and that's when i noticed it...

somehow, during the confusion and thoughtless reactions of the road, i had hit the mode button on my steering wheel while trying to escape the incident. the cd that i had just purchased minutes earlier was no longer playing. now, the radio was tuned to 107.9, a station i had never listened to in my life...and playing for me was Seven Spanish Angels by ray charles and willie nelson. i just sat there, listening in disbelief. only seconds after i had just nearly died, the song i have always wanted playing at my funeral was singing out to me. my immediate thought was, "am i dead?".

i gathered my emotions, check for cars and pulled back onto the road to head home. as i drove home, what had just occured made me step back and think, collect my thoughts, assess situations, give thanks to God, wonder what all it meant and envision what's to come from it... all over again...



(click here for a better video)

he looked down into her brown eyes,
said, " say a prayer for me."
she threw her arms around him,
whispered, "God will keep us free."
and they could hear the riders comin,
he said, "this is my last fight.
if they take me back to texas,
they won't take me back alive."

and there were seven spanish angels,
at the alter of the sun.
they were prayin' for the lovers,
in the valley of the gun.
and when the battle stopped,
and the smoke cleared.
there was thunder from the throne.
and seven spanish angels,
took another angel home.

she reached down and picked the gun up,
that lay smokin in his hand.
said, "Father please forgive me,
i can't make it without my man."
and she knew the gun was empty,
and she knew she couldn't win.
but her final prayer was answered,
when the rifles fired again.

and there were seven spanish angels,
at the alter of the sun.
they were prayin' for the lovers,
in the valley of the gun.
and when the battle stopped,
and the smoke cleared.
there was thunder from the throne.
and seven spanish angels,
took another angel home.