COMES A TIME
When the applause is too polite.
When the words don't quite fit the song.
When you realize you will never really know the people you've been drinking with.
When the next Love or Life Experience calls out to you.
When you know you must empty yourself and make the space.
Even trees move as they grow.
And that as they say, is that.
Artist: Tom Rush
Song: No Regrets
I know your leavin's too long overdue
For far too long I've had nothin' new to show to you
Goodbye dry eyes I watched your plane
Fade off west of the moon
And it felt so strange to walk away alone
No regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
Say goodbye, again
The hours that were yours, echo like empty rooms
The thoughts we used to share, I now keep alone
I woke last night and spoke to you,
not thinking you were gone
It felt so strange to lie awake, alone
No regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
Say goodbye, again
Our friends have tried to turn my nights to day
Strange faces in your place can't keep the ghosts away
Just beyond the darkest hour, just behind the dawn
Still feels so strange to lead my life, alone
I've no regrets, no tears goodbye
Don't want you back, we'd only cry, again
Say goodbye, again
1 comment:
Actually the song is filled with regrets, or at least with conflicting emotions that imply some regrets. The verses lay them out; the chorus denies them. Both are equally true. Such is life, right? You move forward, you look back. Hopefully you don't turn into a pillar of salt.
When I go hiking in the wilderness areas of Arizona and Utah (which I do as often as time, finances, and my aching bones allow), something called "canyon syndrome" inevitably sets in. I enter a canyon - sometimes moving upstream, sometimes downstream, it doesn't matter - and I keep going, always wanting to see what's around the next bend. "Come on" I say to my companions (or to myself), "let's go around one more bend, maybe another quarter-mile, tops." Then, once around that bend, "just one more. Another quarter-mile. I mean it this time." It's a lie, an excuse to keep moving forward. But you have to backsight occasionally. You have to measure how far you've come, see important landmarks from different perspectives, and keep your options open should you become lost or hurt or stopped by some obstacle. No regrets about moving forward, but always aware of what's behind you, and trying to learn from what you see when you look back.
THAT'S what the song is about. It's not really about regrets, or the lack of regrets; it's about moving on without forgetting, and acknowledging the past without being ruled by it. A pretty good metaphor for our journey through life, right? And for the purposes of this blog, as well.
I'll have a couple of new postings soon. And Ron, I hope you will too.
Tom
(PS - wtach for
Post a Comment