Palm Springs (July 6, 2004) --- Curators at the Sonny Bono Library in Palm Springs have discovered a rewrite of the 1965 hit, "I Got You Babe" tucked inside a menu from Bono's Restaurant, which he opened in the early 80s. Entitled "I Hit A Tree", the handwritten lyrics eerily seem to foreshadow his own death in 1998 in a skiing accident, only a week after a similar accident claimed the life of Michael Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy. Curators believe that the song was written sometime after 1994, when he was first elected to Congress.
When I was young
I sang with Cher
Had some hits
Played them on the air
I made some bucks
Learned to ski
Saw success
Didn't see the tree
Tree
I hit a tree
I hit a tree
One day Cher left
She's done OK
I wish her well
What else can I say?
I went off
To DC
Saw the prez
Didn't see the tree
Tree
I hit a tree
I hit a tree
[Chorus]
There'll be flowers
In the spring
To my graveside
Someone will bring
And you'll still smile
After I'm gone
Each time you hear
"The Beat Goes On"
Don't let them say
I stayed too long
I don't care
I wrote some damn good songs
I went out like
A Kennedy
I see Mike now
I didn't see the tree
Tree
I hit a tree
I hit a tree
I hit a tree
I HIT
A
TREE
Do do
Do do do do
I hit a tree
[Fade]