In the midst of the craziness and chaos that will be later today’s Stanley Cup parade, rally and celebration, it is important to stop and take time to realize that as one celebrates, another may be in pain or suffering.
Life is a tricky SOB and surely the goal must not be to make as much money as you can… but to find and make as much happiness and love as you can…
Laugh every day… Find something wonderful and joyous, even in the midst of all the stress and bullshit. I need to live by my own words… Oh man, do I.
It is way too easy to get caught up in the shit and not the sunshine… Knock that off right now.
Laugh a hell of a lot and by all means make love… Make a hell of a lot of love… Give a hell of a lot of love… All you need is love.
There is a reason… a logic… a truth… a simplicity so strong, and it goes something this…
“And in the end…
The love you take is equal to the love you make.”
The Beatles – “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End”
My friend Andrew and I reconnected over this blog… Yes, it was on Facebook… but we were bonding over music and some of the albums I was writing about. That makes this whole damn thing worthwhile, right there… connecting to a human being over music.
He is always really good with a suggestion and chiming in on some of the playlist discussions, and so today’s song(s) is for him. Especially because of the story he told me and what this song means to him.
It means life… as he would sing it to his twins when they would not go to sleep… (Did Stephanie sing, too???) He said “I would be rocking them, and singing Golden Slumbers over and over and over…”
It means death, as his Father passed away around the same time…
And it means wondering and questioning and thinking about the end. What is it really and when will it come?
Sadly, I missed seeing Paul McCartney at Wrigley Field last summer by just a few days… Story of my life… My friend Andrew had offered me tickets… but I could not extend the trip.
He wrote to me that it was “a hot, humid Chicago night. Paul was looking a bit tired by the end, and I remember thinking, sadly, “I wonder if I’ll ever see him in concert again.”
“At the end of the first encore he runs through Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End.”
Everything about that time came rushing back… and Andrew told me how he sat and silently wept through the song…
First off, thanks for sharing that with me… and now with anyone reading this… (Yes, I asked him if I could repeat the story…)
Second… that’s it right there… That is why people write music… that is why people play music… and that is why people listen to music.
It is part of our souls, part of our lives. Hell, it is life.
“Music is life and life is music.” Yeah, that’s my quote. But it is true… Music moves us so deeply.
“Once there was a way,
To get back homeward.
Once there was a way
To get back home.
Sleep, pretty darling,
Dot not cry
And I will sing a lullaby.
Golden slumbers,
Fill your eyes
Smiles await you when you rise
Sleep pretty darling
Do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby.”
“Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
I never give you my pillow
I only send you my invitations
And in the middle of the celebrations
I break down
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time
Boy, you’re gonna carry that weight
Carry that weight a long time.”
“Oh yeah, all right
Are you going to be in my dreams
Tonight?
Love You, Love You…
And in the end
The love you take
Is equal to the love you make.”
I don’t need to say another word. What a song… What an utterly amazing song. Now I have tears…
