Style: Hip Hop / Rap — storytelling, mid tempo

[Intro — spoken]

Douglas had been driving eighteen wheelers for twenty-eight years...

He pulled over at a rest stop because he thought it was heartburn...

It wasn't heartburn...

[Verse 1]

Douglas pulled his rig into the rest stop outside of town,

Something in his chest was wrong — had to put it down,

Pressure like a fist — squeezing front and back,

Left arm going heavy — sweat running down his track.

Called his dispatcher first — said I don't feel right,

Dispatcher said call nine one one — don't fight,

Douglas sat there in the cab — pain was getting worse,

Jaw was hurting too — felt like such a curse.

[Pre-Chorus]

Douglas smoked a pack a day for thirty years straight,

Cholesterol was always high — never managed it of late,

Dad had something similar at fifty-two,

Douglas always said that wouldn't happen to him too.

[Chorus]

Douglas is in trouble — heart is losing ground,

One artery completely blocked — muscle shutting down,

Every minute matters now — time is running out,

Douglas called for help — that's what this is all about.

[Verse 2]

Paramedics got there fast — stuck the stickers on his chest,

Certain parts were rising up — different from the rest,

Rushed him to the cath lab — team was standing by,

Wire through the wrist — they had to do it — had to try.

Found the blocked vessel — opened it right up,

Tiny mesh left inside — keeping the vessel open,

Blood came rushing back — color in his face,

Douglas made it — barely — barely won the race.

[Bridge]

Woke up in the hospital — wife was crying there,

Doctor said a piece of heart muscle — damaged beyond repair,

But they caught it early enough — rest is working fine,

Douglas needs four medications — starting down that line.

No more smoking — Douglas put them down that day,

Diet has to change now — salt and fat away,

Rehab on the calendar — Mondays and Thursdays too,

Douglas has a second chance — he knows what he must do.

[Outro]

Douglas drives a pickup now — no more eighteen wheels,

Takes his medications daily — watches how he feels,

Weighs himself each morning — keeps the pressure down,

Douglas is alive today — still the talk of town.

“Douglas’s Story”