["Alina's Place" by Fredrik]
- Eddie: My daddy was elected mayor twice,
and I used to walk down the streets holding his hand.
Everybody'd stop and pat me on the head and say,
"How you doing, little mayor?" [chuckles]
Yeah, I had a wonderful daddy.
And when I was about 14, he says, "Son, look.
"You come from a long line of chronic alcoholics.
"I'm an alcoholic just waiting for the first drink
and I refuse to take it."
He said, "If you do, you'll get away with it for a while,
but it'll destroy your life and probably kill you."
He said, "I want you to remember that."
And I said, "Okay, Daddy, I'll give it serious thought."
I gave it enough thought that that Halloween,
I went trick-or-treating with my buddy
and we passed a horseshoe of frat houses.
Those kids knew who I was.
Everybody knew who my daddy was.
And one of them frat boys said, "Hey, you ever had a drink?"
And I said, "No, I hadn't."
He said, "Now, you drink this.
"It's gonna burn.
You're gonna like this."
I never felt so good in my life.
As long as I had alcohol in my system,
I was what I always wanted to be,
a self-confident, good-looking, witty human being.
And it worked very well for 40-some more years of my life.
- David: Must take a lot of self-discipline to turn around.
- Eddie: Well, it took more than that.
I had just been released for my 28th treatment for alcoholism.
The doctor told me when I left, said, "I'll give you two weeks
and I'll read your name in the obituaries."
So I went to the cemetery where my mother and daddy were buried
and let 'em know that I'm sober.
Ain't gonna die this way.
So then I came on down to a place I knew
where there's an exit ramp where cars come around.
I held a sign there; that's where I met you.
Every time you came by,
you'd stick out a $2.00 bill and a can of tuna fish.
And it was New Year's Eve and I had nowhere to go.
Couldn't drink, everybody's partying.
And you walked on over and said, "Remember me?"
I said, "Yeah, you're the $2.00 bill man."
He said, "I'm gonna take you home with me
"for a New Year's Eve party.
How would you like that?"
I said, "I don't think that would work, sir.
"You got a wife?
"She's gonna have a lot to say to you
about bringing a homeless, smelly, old man home with you."
You said, "My wife will receive you well."
I went to your home and had a shower
and you gave me some clean clothes,
and we sit down at the table and I told you some stories
about who I really was and who my daddy was.
There was a lot more to me than you might imagine.
- David: I hope I was a little bit of a help along your path.
- Eddie: Well, you know, David,
without your kindness, and of your family and all,
I don't know if I would say I'd have gone back drinking again,
but I say, it would've been rough.
["Den Sista Fabriken" by Fredrik]