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I had a recent operation.
Never suspected it was in the future.
These sort of things happen to others.
When the subject is cancer - the Big C.
Every family in this country
has been affected by this dreadful disease
Now I find I'm a leading man.
I'm a part of the latest addition.
I was selling papers on the corner,
15 years old — 1939
I couldn't wait to graduate and light up,
like those friends of mine.
My mother and father showed how to do it,
Old Gold was their favorite brand.
You heard a match, you turned around.
They each had a cigarette in their hand.
My older brothers carried the torch,
Camels, Luckies and Wings.
We heard no one say we'd have to pay
in more than one way
for those things.
A friend I worked with at the drive-in
during the next two years
smoked as I did — we were hot.
A cigarette and a couple of beers.
Then off to the Great Lakes on the ore boats.
I felt like a grown up now,
sucking smoke into my lungs
as I stood at the front of the bow
These filthy things hook and control us.
Light up first thing everyday.
As we talk on the phone - when we finish a meal.
while your driving, puffing away
Cigarette and your morning coffee.
Don't forget one before you turn out the light.
You have an early call to the bathroom,
have a puff — make sure things feel right
And I really joined a large group of smokers,
They gave you all the tobacco you could take.
They almost ordered you to use it.
" Platoon halt - light up - take a break."
People learned there was a price to be paid
for the joy cigarettes were giving,
Emphysema heart attack, cancer and stroke
Man this is really living.
If you're lucky, they find a spot early,
take a CAT scan, see the lymph nodes are good.
Now you're engaged in a battle,
tell your family something bad is happening.
In 55 years, I smoked a million and a half.
Should I have expected NOT to have cancer?
Have you had enough?
Do you need one more puff?
Wake Up!
You know the answer.
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