I was at a strip mall one day. Terrible place. Half the stores were vacant. I think I had stopped into the bar that was there for a drink...it was a hot day...but that's not important. What is important is that there was a laundromat in that strip mall. Dirty, nothing fancy. And sitting just inside, in the shade (it WAS a hot day) was this girl. She had about five or six laundry baskets, and she looked like she was about 25 going on 45. She was wearing what looked like pajama bottoms and a tank top. This girl just looked miserable. Disheveled. Hair half out of her ponytail, and a cigarette in one hand. In the other hand was a paper bag. Obviously a can inside...obviously not soda. She did not care. I watched her, and she did not care. Not a damn was given here. And she was singing something like this. I will never forget her...

My life is a drag - my man cheats me
My life is a drag - he comes home & beats me
My life is a drag - I don't know what to do
My life is a drag - I'm so lonesome and blue

In her own little world. What the hell. How do you deal with that? I went home and I wrote a song...not only about her, but about some other people I had come across in my life who were just getting by. Just playing the hand that life had dealt them. Coping. Surviving. And realizing that there are so many out there who are deep in the struggle to just make it till the next day. 

Sometimes, things get so bad that you think just going to a new place will fix it. But they call it baggage for a reason...you carry it with you when you go. And you may think you're strong...but things in life take their toll on you.  More often than not, there is a price to pay...even for things that don't make it better.

So, what do you do? You didn't pick the negative in your life. You have to stand and fight to get to a better place. That's where "Play It On Through" came from. This is a sad song about sad people...but the message is ultimately this: do not give up on your life. No matter how hard things get.

(Note: No prerecorded instruments or multiple instrumental or vocal tracks were used in the making of this video.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTxJViaSjQA

PLAY IT ON THROUGH
words and music by DINO ROMANELLI

She was a singer in a laundromat
Holding up a bottle of beer in a bag
Singing about a tainted picture of life
And the way it ends up being a drag

Oh, and they hurt you
Put you down on your knees and they hurt you
Kick you 'round like a dog then desert you
And don't it make you feel so bad
And don't it make you feel so sad
It seems as though this world's gone mad
I learned a lesson or two from you
It's not what we've chosen to do
We just play it on through

A bum in blue jeans at the corner store
His pockets empty with diminishing pride
He said, "My troubles will fade if I can just get away"
But you could tell they'd be along for the ride

And they hurt you
Put you down on your knees and they hurt you
Kick you 'round like a dog then desert you
And don't it make you feel so bad
And don't it make you feel so sad
It seems as though this world's gone mad
I learned a lesson or two from you
It's not what we've chosen to do
We just play it on through

A tattered old man down in Central Park
He'd fought the battle all of his life and he lost
He said it don't matter how much they put you down
It only matter how much it's gonna cost

Oh, and they hurt you
Put you down on your knees and they hurt you
Kick you 'round like a dog then desert you
And don't it make you feel so bad
And don't it make you feel so sad
It seems as though this world's gone mad
I learned a lesson or two from you
It's not what we've chosen to do
We just play it on through

© Affordable Music, BMI

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Thanks to the judges and those who make this fine contest possible:

@pfunk @luzcypher @krystle @soundlegion @passion-ground @verbal-d @meno

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