"My Life": The Musical (Wiser Time)

If you have done even just a cursory reading of my blog, you quickly realized that music is a very important part of it. I love music so much that I often annoy my family by speaking in song lyrics (I will often answer questions or make comments that are actually song lyrics when they fit the conversation or reference a song/band when something someone says is actually a song lyric, i.e. - If someone said, "Do you have the time" I would interrupt and finish their sentence, "to listen to me whine, about nothing and everything all at once", quoting Green Day's "Basket Case." This previous habit, I am told, can be very annoying, but also lots of fun). Music is always playing in our home so it stands to reason that I would write about it a lot. I have written (and will continue) to write about songs I cannot sing. I have written about songs that were stuck in my head at the moment. And now, I am going to start writing about songs that would be found on the soundtrack of my life. I tell Her all the time that I wish real life came with a soundtrack, that music you hear in the background of key scenes from television and movies. Well, it doesn't, but that doesn't mean I can't make my life a musical. Through my blog I am going to set my life story to music. Beginning with this post, and hopefully in many future posts, I will be writing about songs that, to me, identify perfectly with "where I was at" and what I was feeling at the moment. For the last few weeks I've been jotting down songs as they've come on the radio (for the under 25 generation, "radio" was where we listened to our music before the invention of iTunes, Spotify, Pandora and Grooveshark). I have compiled quite a long list, which should provide me with lots to write about (which has been a problem for awhile because I have been struggling with writer's block). Anyway, without further delay, I will "put the needle on the record" (and as M.A.R.R.S. said) "pump up the volume and "let the music play" (a nod to 80's artist Shannon). Two facts about my life: #1 - I do A LOT of traveling, and #2 - The Black Crowes is my favorite band. (Side note, although I don't really edit my work, as the run on sentences, misplaced modifiers, split infinitives and dangling participles prove, and my writing would be best described as verbal/conversational as opposed to textual/literary, I spent ten minutes debating if that last sentence should have been is or are; The Black Crowes is my favorite band or The Black Crowes are my favorite band? Although the word Crowes is plural, the band is singular, so I went with is, thanks Mrs. Long and her fifth grade English grammar class for that one). Alright, "back to the lecture at hand" (you hardcore music fans probably caught that ;). I travel, I love The Black Crowes. The Oldest asks me all the time which Black Crowes song is my favorite and I never can give a definitive answer, but I do know whenever I am traveling, the answer is "Wiser Time." The brothers Robinson wrote this song as a description of life on the road, and there are days where I feel like this song is playing in the background, and not just in my head or on my stereo as I travel down the interstate from one stop to the next. The lyrics are as follows: No time left now for shame Horizon behind me, no more pain Windswept stars blink and smile Another song, another mile You read the line every time Ask me about crime in my mind Ask me why another read song Funny but I bet you never left home Chorus: On a good day, it's not every day We can part the sea And on a bad day, it's not every day Glory beyond our reach Seconds until sunrise Tired but wiser for the time Lightning 30 miles away Three thousand more in two days So why is it that this song helps to tell my story? A few lines really connect with me powerfully. "Horizon behind me, no more pain" (my family has heard me say dozens of times concerning mistakes and pain and problems, "Breathe in, breathe out, move on). "Another song, another mile" (song after song is what passes the mindless miles that pile up traveling the interstate). "Ask me why another road song, funny but I bet you never left home" (simply put, to understand the power of "road songs" you are going to have to spend some time away from home. You can't miss a place you never leave). "30 seconds till sunrise" (I do much of my driving early in the morning to avoid traffic which allows me to watch a lot of sunsets), "tired but wiser for the time" (traveling is exhausting but I have learned so much about myself on those long trips by myself). "Lightning 30 miles away, 3,000 more in two days" (Just like a storm just keeps on passing through, and although it is slow moving it will be a long way off shortly because it never stops moving, I do the same). Perhaps my favorite part of the song is the chorus, which actually has nothing to do in my mind with traveling, but everything to do with Her. "On a good day, I know it's not everyday, we can part the sea, and on a bad day, I know it's not everyday, glory beyond our reach" (I think the songwriters, who are brothers known for their tempestuous relationship, are, I believe, writing about themselves, I couldn't have said it better about us. When we have a good day, and no it's not everyday, although it is most days, we can work miracles, there's nothing we can't do together. And when we have a bad day, and thankfully those aren't everyday, not even many days, we are still close enough to perfect to see it, even if it is slightly beyond our grasp that day). This was way longer than I intended, and perhaps more informative than you were interested, but this song has to be on the soundtrack of my life, and I hope it brings a little music to yours. In case you are interested in hearing it, here is the video.