Sparrows chirped in the old oak tree bidding good morning to the neighbourhood. Soon life would be intruding on the quiet with dogs barking, children giggling at their bus stop and cars leaving for work. For now, at such an early hour, only Toby Tyler was riding his bike delivering the morning paper.
Further, down the street a strange car had been parked all night facing the baseball field. No one had noticed except for Mr. Baker. He always woke up at dawn and walked Bella before reading his paper along with his morning coffee. Bella stopped to sniff the back tires and started barking.
Suddenly two teens awakened from their late night rendezvous as they peered out the back window.
Songs are like time charts mapping out life’s milestones, joys and heartbreaks. The joys remembered the first bars of a song and our brain is wisked back in time with the same elation. The heartbreaks pull you back with a heavy heart but not a hopeless one, since you did manage to survive it. The hard lessons in life are marked by songs as well…so much of our lives are frozen in capsules with musical notes. Wouldn’t it be amazing writing one’s autobiography through song alone? And with technology today, the visual would be outstanding!
The first thought that came to mind when I saw the theme for this week’s SongLyricSunday was Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman. The time was February 1995. It was at that time a 28 year relationship fell apart. It was a difficult time for all…especially our children. Teens need stability in their lives and they were being served a huge bowl of chaos.
She loves this time of year. Flowers are in bloom overflowing in gardens. Four more weeks admiring the golds, lavender and magenta before leaves start their own autumn performance.
overgrown gardens
hanging on
until death befalls
overgrown gardens
boasting
with beauty
hanging on
caterpillar on a twig
transforms with wings
until death befalls
petals form an undercoat
autumn leaves
She sits in her armchair, her feline friend loyally by her side on her comfy bench. A time to think of life past and present not knowing what the future will bring. One lives a life filled with hope as a child, moments of despair as a teen filled with hope and fairy tales, somewhat like a garden. And then becomes an adult and reality settles in…
Adulthood brings puzzlement and how many seeds to plant and how to remove the weeds. Mistakes and suffering only bring more valuable life lessons.
Middle age seeks passion and discernment, finding a bigger terrain that will house the most thriving and nourishing garden. If one is fortunate, they will be rewarded with their dream garden filling all their needs especially that of compassion in helping new seedlings to flourish into beautiful flora despite broken stems or torn leaves.
Such a rich terrain makes room for a harvest filled with her first love since she was a child, to continue nurturing and healing the wounded and broken petals. Discovering such grounds has become her reward and blessing… the end of that road leading to her own fairy tale.
Another phase in the life cycle…one no longer calls the 60’s old age because women and men are usually more active and needed in appreciated in society especially for their hard-earned wisdom. They work well into their 80’s and so she is pleased to continue, still breathing the passion for such toils.
Time passes and she struggles to find the time and energy to tend to young seedlings and perennials overcome with intruders. Such nuisances we call weeds are the consequences of new tillage governed by those who do not understand the true meaning of tending to the heart of a garden, taking time to weed out the bad with care, gently and not intrusive.
Alas, this seasoned gardener is overcome with such changes and unhealthy rules; she strives to tend as best she can…loving every seedling and plant in her tillage that has become her life’s passion. She continues to feel a weight of conflicting rules, she also feels defeated at times and knows not how long her garden will continue to flourish. For now, she perseveres and follows her heart despite the bloody weeds and interference, but for how long before the flowers are overwhelmed by weeds?
tilling the soil
overcome with weeds
twilight enters
tilling the soil
remembering better times
room to grow
overcome with weeds
on her knees praying
for a miracle
twilight enters
clouds hiding harvest moon
seedlings cry in wait
when will the darkness cease
day after day
night after night
light hovers behind rain clouds
trying to rescue her
looking for relief
she reads fiction
but
the darker kind
thrillers and killers
of demented minds
still
it’s an escape
her reality is boring
drab, greyish taupe
like the colour of mud
when will the darkness cease
day after day
night after night
light hovers behind rain clouds
trying to rescue her
music tends to rise her spirits
lyrics may not always
bringing her to a darker place
long ago
perhaps unfinished business
ghosts from her past
haunting her day and night
taunting her to give up
her humble abode breathes memories
dead and alive, people who matter
exhaling
in contradictory salutations
leaving her more confused
riled with shame and blame
fills her soul with guilt
when will the darkness cease
day after day
night after night
light hovers behind rain clouds
trying to rescue her
it all started months ago
her body let her down
joint after joint
abandoning her
leaving her vulnerable
robbing her of so much joy
walking feebly with a cane
worried for another fall,
a sprain, a tear
that heals so slowly
when will the darkness cease
day after day
night after night
light hovers behind rain clouds
trying to rescue her
mind and body
work in tandem
whispering mockingly
awaiting her decline
when did it become
them and me?
when did they become her enemy?
the mind plays tricks
distorted reality
tries to fill her mind
such energy it takes
pushing it away
blocking every crevice of her soul.
They will not win!
she is too smart
and loves life
way too much to give in
she will wait, give it time
her body needs to heal
her soul needs to recuperate
patience is her weapon
compassion and self-love
her antibiotic
when will the darkness cease
day after day
night after night
light hovers behind rain clouds
trying to rescue her
she will use the power of imagery
feel the sun warm her soul
make her mind and body whole.
Sparrows chirped in the old oak tree bidding good morning to the neighbourhood. Soon life would be intruding on the quiet with dogs barking, children giggling at their bus stop and cars leaving for work. For now, at such an early hour, only Toby Tyler was riding his bike delivering the morning paper.
Further, down the street a strange car had been parked all night facing the baseball field. No one had noticed except for Mr. Baker. He always woke up at dawn and walked Bella before reading his paper along with his morning coffee. Bella stopped to sniff the back tires and started barking.
Suddenly two teens awakened from their late night rendezvous as they peered out the back window.
Songs are like time charts mapping out life’s milestones, joys and heartbreaks. The joys remembered the first bars of a song and our brain is wisked back in time with the same elation. The heartbreaks pull you back with a heavy heart but not a hopeless one, since you did manage to survive it. The hard lessons in life are marked by songs as well…so much of our lives are frozen in capsules with musical notes. Wouldn’t it be amazing writing one’s autobiography through song alone? And with technology today, the visual would be outstanding!
The first thought that came to mind when I saw the theme for this week’s SongLyricSunday was Fast Cars by Tracy Chapman. The time was February 1995. It was at that time a 28 year relationship fell apart. It was a difficult time for all…especially our children. Teens need stability in their lives and they were being served a huge bowl of chaos.
I had had Tracy Chapman’s CD for a few years even though it came out in 1988. I tend to find some singers or bands when I need “that sound” or “that song”. Good music is timeless! Tracy Chapman, for me, was like my Phoebe Snow. Their lyrics moved me every time I played them.
I always listened to music but around that time, they kept me company, wrapped me up in a comfy duvet and when it was hot and uncomfortable they felt like Egyptian cotton. I worked at two part time jobs then, and was completing my degree evenings as well. So I lived in my car a lot! Tracy Chapman carried me through some difficult passages of but also sang along with me as I drove on the highway towards my new life. Fast Cars spoke to me about me and my inner self…transforming slowly. We were a team and finally, I “…I had a feeling that I belonged, I could be someone…” Tracy helped me turn the wheel on my new route.
I hope you enjoy this song and if you do, perhaps have another listen to that entire album…each song hits the heartstrings.
[Verse 1]
You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
Me myself I got nothing to prove
[Verse 2]
You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us outta here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won’t have to drive too far
Just ‘cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
Finally see what it means to be living
[Verse 3]
See my old man’s got a problem
He lives with a bottle that’s the way it is
I say his body’s too old for working
His body’s too young to looking like his
My momma went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
Said somebody’s gotta take care of him
So I quit school and that’s what I did
[Pre-Chorus]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
[Chorus]
So I remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
[Verse 4]
You got a fast car
We go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
We’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs
[Chorus]
So I remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
[Verse 5]
You got a fast car
I’ve got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bars
See more your friends than you do your kids
I always hoped for better
That maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving
[Chorus]
So remember when we were driving
Driving in your car
Speed so fast it felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders and
I-I had a feeling that I belonged
I-I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone
[Outro]
You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way
Here is a poem AC gave the family for Easter when she was in kindergarten. On the card it reads, “Retold by AC”
The air is like a butterfly
with frail blue wings
the happy earth looks at the sky
and sings
Today, I sit and think of her with loving thoughts. It is her birthday today, on August 31st …my baby is no longer a baby but a blue butterfly that sings…
baby girl born filled with innocence air so pure
baby girl born
always a baby in eyes
of a mother
filled with innocence
shedding day by day
butterfly wings
air so pure
like the sound of her voice
when she sings
&
life’s goodies
filled with spice – and,
everything nice
Tournesol dans un Jardin 