I swear to God, a couple of years ago this phrase kept repeating in my mind: "But it's the wear and the tear on my mind. It's the wear and the tear on my mind. . . " I thought, OK, I'll google it and the song will come up. NOTHING. I mean nothing. I tried searching YouTube. Nothing there either. I tried every permutation of the line, wear, tear, mind, blind. . . not a thing. It was as if I'd imagined the whole thing. Then - just now, just a minute ago, as Bob Dylan says in his song - voila - it pops out at me, and it has been there on YouTube for a couple of years now. It's by a Canadian named Domenic Troiano, and it's one of those names buried at the back of my brain since about age 16, which is, let me tell you, a very long time. But here it is, and yes, it's exactly the way I remember it! But it's the wear and the tear on my mind. The wear and the tear on my mind. Oh yes!
To get my fortune told
She said, I don't see much in the future for you
You won't be gettin' old
That got me worried
So I went to see my doctor
He said, son, you're gonna die
Ain't nothin' I can do, ain't nothin' I can say
All that's left for you to do is cry
Lord, it's the wear and the tear on my mind
It's the wear and the tear on my mind, on my mind
Why is this world so unkind?
So I went out to see a lawyer
I asked him to write my will
He looked at me with a real straight face
And said, to whom do I send the bill?
I couldn't believe that, so I called up my old lady
And said, mama don't you start to cry
It seems I've been here too long now
And it's time for me to say goodbye
Lord it's the wear and the tear on my mind
It's the wear and the tear on my mind, on my mind
Why is this world so unkind?
It's the wear and the tear on my mind (on my mind)
It's the wear and the tear on my mind (on my mind)
Why is this world so unkind?
Why is this world so unkind?
Wear and the tear on my mind (on my mind)
Wear and the tear on my mind (help me out Lord)
Wear and the tear on my mind
Wear and the tear on my mi-mi-mi-mind
Wear and the tear on my mind (on my mind Lord)
Wear and the tear on my mind
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. Domenic Troiano died of prostate cancer at the age of 59.
