This song is based on true events. I didn't need to dramatize anything, because things happened exactly as described here. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 1983, a summer on the Rhine, The weather was warm, and the days were fine. Two boys in the garden, a campfire bright. A bottle filled with water, the cork pushed in tight, I dropped it in the fire, hoping it would take flight. We ran behind the tree, but kept the bottle in sight. Feeling in my gut, this might not end well. As Moritz walked over, ignoring my yell. I shouted, “Stay back! Don't go near that flame!” But he was leaning down to see what came. Then a deafening blast tore through the air, At first I cheered, then I saw him stand there. His T-shirt was sliced like a razor had passed, with a clean, sharp wound across his chest. He pointed at me: “Look what you have done!” And the joy in my heart was suddenly gone. He was just lucky the shard bounced away, Leaving a lesson I carry today. Small sins and instant payback, That’s what a frightened child believes. You light a fire, you lose control, And somehow someone pays the toll. Small sins and instant payback Is Heaven watching from above? Or is the universe just cold, Without a sign of grace or love? On the way home grandpa came into my mind, Seventy-eight years old and nearly blind. His heart was weak, but his spirit was bright. I worried my sin turned his day into night. I asked my mother in a whisper low: “How long do you think Grandpa has to go?” She looked at me strangely: “Well, who can say? He might live for years; he should be okay..” She told me much later what scared her then: She’d felt the same shadow, again and again. We stepped through the door, the phone started to ring, My mother ran to it, fearing everything. “Mother? Is it Father? Tell me, is he dead?” And the fearful question running through my head. Small sins and instant payback, That’s what a guilty mind believes. You hurt a soul, a life is claimed, And someone pays for what it leaves. Small sins and instant payback - Is Heaven keeping every score? Or was he simply bound to go, And walking through an open door? A week later, coffee at my grandma’s place, The family gathered, black clothes and lace. My two aunts were angry, bitter and mean, Fighting over inheritance, making a scene. They complained Mom got a bigger share, Shouting at the table that it wasn't fair. They forgot that Grandpa paid for their degrees, He tried to balance things by counting the fees. Then right behind them, with a deafening sound, The shelf in the cabinet came crashing down! Porcelain plates and lead crystal crashed to the floor, The two aunts sat frozen, not speaking anymore. Is the Almighty keeping score from above? Or the angry ghost of a father’s love? Small sins and instant payback, That’s what a human heart believes. A bottle, a shelf, a shattered plate – A pattern that the mind just weaves. Small sins and instant payback – Is Heaven keeping every score? Or do we build a whole design From broken pieces on the floor?
