Saturday, April 26, 2003

A Song to Ponder

I was making a mix cd setlist for my group. Odd topics we have over there at times. The topic was songs about Death. It's funny that this song ~ The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics wasn't the first song to crop into my head. I was in my teens when it came out, and it depressed me. It still does, but I can really appreciate the message the song is trying to convey now.

Here are the lyrics:

Living Years - Mike + the Mechanics
Every generation
Blames the one before
And all of their frustrations
Come beating on your door

I know that I'm a prisoner
To all my Father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage
To all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Crumpled bits of paper
Filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations
I'm afraid that's all we've got

You say you just don't see it
He says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement
In this present tense
We all talk a different language
Talking in defence

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

So we open up a quarrel
Between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future
It's the bitterness that lasts

So Don't yield to the fortunes
You sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective
On a different day
And if you don't give up, and don't give in
You may just be O.K.

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

I wasn't there that morning
When my Father passed away
I didn't get to tell him
All the things I had to say

I think I caught his spirit
Later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo
In my baby's new born tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years

Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye

There is no arguement large enough to keep a parent and child from talking. I'm fortunate to have the greatest parents in the world, but still this song makes me think.

Even when it's not an arguement there is so much that you never tell the people you love. I'd hate to think that my parents or my grandmother didn't know how much I love them. I realize that I'm not always a talker, preferring to hide away up here with this computer rather than have a discussion. Hmmm, this song makes me think.

It's worse when your parents are older too. I was born when both of my parents were in their forties. I was the the third of three children. All my life I've worried about what would happen if something happened to either of them. Ah, the insecurities have really crept into my life.

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