Reckoning

"Only the good die young," sang Billy Joel. That was back in 1977. At the time, Billy was twenty-eight years old. I have no idea if, as he rounds the sun on his sixtieth trip, he still preforms this song. I wonder if he has any any qualms about being referred to as "Billy". His good friend Johnny Cougar has been John Mellencamp for the past twenty-five years.
But it got me to thinking: Is he right? If only the good die young, then the older I get, the less good I become. If this is true for all of us, then our choice for president is clear, since the youngest of the bunch has to be the best. Age may bring wisdom, but it would seem that it doesn't include a certificate of goodness.
Then I thought of Mother Theresa, humanitarian and advocate for the poor and helpless, who lived to be eighty-seven. Surely even Billy Joel would have to include her on the "good list", wouldn't he? Maybe it's not a world-view at all. Maybe it's more of a rock 'n' roll thing. Neil Young, who has spent most of his life looking like a crazy old man before actually becoming one, wrote that it was "better to burn out than to fade away." And Roger Daltrey used to sing, "Hope I die before I get old." I'm guessing now that there are only two member of The Who, that sentiment has fallen by the wayside in favor of vitamins and herbal tea.
Or maybe it's hyperbole. It's a reckoning with the inevitability of your own demise, and making peace with the curious imperfections of life. Maybe we should remember Mister Joel still likes to think of himself as "An Angry Young Man", but he also wrote these words:

"So before we end and then begin
We'll drink a toast to how it's been
A few more hours to be complete
A few more nights on satin sheets
A few more times that I can say
I've loved these days"

Me too, Billy.