Murphy and Me #2 — First Contact [Spoken Intro] I was fifteen years old, closing a takeout pizza place on Main Street in a little western New York town. Warm summer night. Almost closing time. Then California walked up to the window. [Verse 1] Two drunk middle-aged men came weaving Up beneath the neon light, Fresh in from the California coast At the end of a long hard ride. They ordered up two pizzas— One all the way, one veggie pie. I had to ask what “veggie” meant. That tells you something of the time. It was Murph and his brother Steve, New faces just arrived. Steve had hauled an eighteen-wheeler With Murph’s whole former life. His furniture, his boxes, Everything he owned inside, Bringing Murph and Gail back east To start another life. [Pre-Chorus] They looked like weary travelers, Half worn out and half lit up. I said, “I’ll keep the ovens going. You boys go finish up.” [Chorus] That was the beginning Of Murphy and me— Two pizzas, California gold And quarter drafts till three. No plan, no grand occasion, No sign of what would be. Just a warm night on Main Street— The beginning of Murphy and me. [Verse 2] The Brick Hotel was down the road, A hundred yards or so. I boxed the pies and walked them over Before I locked and closed. They were drinking in the front room, Where the pool-table lights burned low. Murph thanked me for the trouble, Then looked closer at my eyes. He said, “Kid, do you get high?” I said, “You bet your ass I do.” He smiled like I had passed a test I never even knew. Then he tipped me with a quarter ounce Of California gold, And said, “There’ll be more tomorrow If you help us unload.” [Chorus] That was the beginning Of Murphy and me— Two pizzas, California gold And quarter drafts till three. No plan, no grand occasion, No sign of what would be. Just a bloodshot kid and a stranger— The beginning of Murphy and me. [Verse 3] We stepped outside behind the Brick And smoked beneath the stars. That western gold was nothing like The local roadside jars. Then back inside we took a table, Racked the balls and let them fly, Drinking twenty-five-cent draughts While the summer slipped on by. I was fifteen, closing pizza, He was fresh from far away. Neither one of us could know then What began that summer day. He would teach me how to drive, How to laugh and how to stand, How a mentor sometimes finds you Without either one having planned. [Bridge] Some friendships start with family. Some start in school or war. Some begin with one small kindness At a closing takeout store. One man needed supper. One kid stayed late to help. One question about bloodshot eyes Changed everything that followed next. At three a.m. he drove me home In that brand-new two-forty Z, I was fifteen, wrecked and grinning, Fucked up as a kid could be. Streetlights streaked across the windshield, Summer air came rushing free— That was the start of Murphy and me And that two-forty Z. [Series Hook] That was the start of Murphy and me, And that two-forty Z. One wild night, one open road, And a friendship yet to be. I was fifteen, he was Murph, And neither one could see— That was the start of Murphy and me, And that two-forty Z. [Verse 4] Morning came with boxes waiting, Heavy furniture and sweat. I showed up like I promised. Murph remembered every bet. We unloaded Steve’s big eighteen-wheeler, Piece by piece and room by room. California emptied into western New York Under summer’s morning blue. There would be jokes and arguments, Old cassettes and driving roads, Allegheny indica, And payback years untold. But every story has a doorway, Every road begins somewhere— Ours began with two hot pizzas And that gold smoke in the air. [Final Chorus] That was the beginning Of Murphy and me— Two pizzas, California gold And quarter drafts till three. A truckload full of history, A friendship yet to be. Just a warm night on Main Street— The beginning of Murphy and me. That was the beginning, Though we never saw the sign. He had traveled from California. I was fifteen, killing time. One small favor at closing Became a lifelong memory. That was first contact— Murphy and me. [Outro] One all the way. One veggie. A quarter ounce tip. And a friendship that outlived the night.
