i broke free on a saturday morning i put the pedal to the floor i headed off on mills avenue and listen to the engine roar my broken house behind me and good things ahead a girl named cathy wants a little of my time six cylinders underneath the hood crashing and kicking i listen to that engine whine i am going to make it through this year if it kills me i am going to make it through this year if it kills me i played video games in a drunken haze i was seventeen years young when my knuckles punching the machines taste of scotch rich on my tongue and then cathy showed up we hung out trading swigs from the bottle of bitter and clean locking eyes holding hands twin high maintenance machines and i am going to make it through this year if it kills me i am going to make it through this year if it kills me i drove home in the california dusk i could feel the alcohol inside me hum pictured the look on my stepfathers face i was ready for the bad things to come i down shifted as i pulled into the driveway the motor screaming out stuck in second gear the scene ends badly as you might imagine in a cavalcade of anger and fear  and there will be feasting and dancing in jerusalem next year and i am going to make it through this year if it kills me i am going to make it through this year if it kills me if it kills me