This is a bit of a departure from my usual glib mental masturbations. I've been doing a little soul searching lately..as in trying to formulate a workable definition of a soul/mindforce thingamabob that can peacefully co-exist with my empirical cosmology...which as some of you may know, is all tickety-boo up until that split second before the Big Bang. I'm fine with WHEN, WHERE & HOW you and I made it here, even the WHAT we are, but the WHY needs a little tweaking.
Now I'm going to use lyrics from songs (which I shamelessly nicked) that have resonated with my search. Some mysteriously arrive through Christian Crossover Pop songs???? but most others are from popular songs..I'll spare you the bizarre oddities..this time. Why these words...I don't know? But most of these lyrics have stuck and have mercilessly rattled around in my cranium for decades.
Here we go...
STACIE ORRICO/More To Life"I’ve got it all still I feel so deprived
I go up, I come down and I'm emptier inside
Tell me what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing
And why can't I let go
There's gotta be more to life...
Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me
Cause the more that I'm...Tripping out thinking there must be more to life
Well it's life, but I'm sure... there's gotta be more
Than wanting more"
LEAHY/Down That Road"Had all the things I thought I wanted
Then I wanted more
And in my mind this all was fine
No need to check the score
And then one day I lost it all
That's when I realized
Might never have known about it
Might never have known
All that I'd been missin' in my life
I know that what I touch and see
I know that what I touch and see
Can't fill me up
So if I want to wake this soul
It's about love
Oh when you go down that road
Oh when you go down that road
There's no turning back
And when you go down that road
It's plain to see that From out of this bleeding world
There's nowhere else I'd rather Go than down that road"
STING/Lose My Faith In You "You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There'd be nothing left for me to do
Some would say I was a lost man in a lost world
You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I'd lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me"
SARAH MCLAUGHLIN/Sweet Surrender"It doesn't mean much
It doesn't mean anything at all
The life I've left behind me
Is a cold room
I've crossed the last line
From where I can't return
Where every step I took in faith
Betrayed me
And led me from my home"
PETER GABRIEL/Love To Be Loved"This old familiar craving
I've been here before, this way of behaving
Don't know who the hell I'm saving anymore
Let it pass let it go let it leave
From the deepest place I grieve
This time I believe
And I let go I can let go of it
Though it takes all the strength in me
And all the world can see
I'm losing such a central part of me
I can let go of it
You know I mean it
You know I mean it
You know that I mean it
I recognize how much I've lost
But I cannot face the cost
'Cause I love to be loved"
SUZANNE VEGA/In My Book Of Dreams"Number every page in silver
Underline in magic marker
Take the name of every prisoner
Yours is there my word of honor
I took your urgent whisper
Stole the arc of a white wing
Rode like foam on the river of pity
Healed the hole that ripped in living"
MAE MOORE/Bohemia"I go places inside my head
With an eye on tomorrow to keep my soul fed
I came here of my own accord
I came to witness the unexplored
Green valleys and a fertile sea
I came to rediscover the real me
I like it here at least so far
I've got no plans of saying au revoir
Elevated visions when I close my eyes
Elevated visions when I close my eyes
Stretched out underneath these amaranth skies
Make me feel...
Closer than I've ever been to being alive
Since I've arrived in Bohemia"
MADONNA/Frozen"Now there's no point in placing the blame
And you should know I suffer the same
If I lose you
My heart will be broken
Love is a bird, she needs to fly
Let all the hurt inside of you die
You're frozen,
When your heart's not open"
BOWIE/Moonage Daydream"Keep your mouth shut, but listen to the world inside
Keep your head on, but open up your eyes real wide
Keep the change strong, let the things you torn aside
You messing any road to high
Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Keep your 'lectric eye on me babe
Put your ray gun to my head
Press your space face close to mine, love
Freak out in a moonage daydream oh yeah!"
OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS/Within Without
OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS/Within Without"Now I'm runnin' from my house
'cause my house
doesn't please me
people comin' in, goin' out,they don't see me
now I'm flyin' through the air
I'm not scared of people all underneath,
in a heap, askin' how'd we get to here from there
where our lives had some meaning
and all the days weren't the same
we played no games and we knew ourselves within, without"
Would you be so kind as to add some lyrics that resonate with your search for your inner self?
Compared with your mental masturbations, I have only mental aberations.
ReplyDeleteThinking of lyrics
is for freaks
Gautami here seeks
for you a few kicks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I stop my rhyming here now
I will go and have some chow!
The Incredible String Band : October Song
ReplyDeleteI used to search for happiness,
And I used to follow pleasure,
But I found a door behind my mind,
And that's the greatest treasure.
Kabir: (Ok, this one was never on "Top of the Pops"
Where do you search me?
I am with you
Not in pilgrimage, nor in icons
Neither in solitudes
Not in temples, nor in mosques
Neither in Kaba nor in Kailash
I am with you O man
I am with you
Not in prayers, nor in meditation
Neither in fasting
Not in yogic exercises
Neither in renunciation
Neither in the vital force nor in the body
Not even in the ethereal space
Neither in the womb of Nature
Not in the breath of the breath
Seek earnestly and discover
In but a moment of search.
Joni Mitchell : Woodstock
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
I have these too! The one that first comes to mind and strikes a chord every time I hear it is from Pink Floyd's 'Comfortably Numb':
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
Have no fear
ReplyDeleteFor giving in
Have no fear
For giving over
You know that in the end
It's better to say too much
Than to never say what you need to say again
Even as your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open... wide
Say what you need to say
Say what you need to say
John Mayer "Say"
Midnight is where the day begins
ReplyDeleteLemon by U2
I'm growing old and don't wanna know
Black-eyed dog by Nick Drake
We were born before the wind
also younger than the sun
Into the mystic by Van the Man
x
"And you wanted to dance so I asked you to dance
ReplyDeleteBut fear is in your soul
Some people call it a one night stand
But we can call it paradise."
It's late, and this popped into my head. Tsk. I must be pissed.
Sx
The first one that sprung to mind:
ReplyDelete"And heartache is the best teacher.
Don’t I get a gold star every time?
In the need to cool this fever,
in the need to feel alive.
But when my blood starts moving,
all the lost years crush me from within.
I’ve done enough sleepwalking for one lifetime,
I’ve had enough of giving in.
But I can only blame myself tonight,
No one’s gonna save me,
buried under twenty years of uncertainty.
Can I confess my shame tonight? Looks are so deceiving,
but buried somewhere deep inside is the real me.” (Louise Mosrie)
'I like to move it move it I like to move it.'
ReplyDeleteOld souls and so many lifetimes trying to figure it all out, not quite from scratch but not remembering how far along the search you got before.
I always say, "I'm looking for something"
I don't know what but I'll know it when I find it. I just hope I find it this time around before its too late.
I think the capacity for questions like that is the biggest curse of humanity! And the biggest blessing. Combined. Because, as far as I can tell, when you get right down to the nitty gritty, we're here to breed. But something in us doesn't want to believe that, so we keep searching... and finding... nothing, or God, or inner peace, or something. The eternal dissatisfaction of mankind.
ReplyDeleteIll have to think about it...
ReplyDeleteBut that Stacey Orrico one is always in myhead! Its a stupid pop song but man it means a lot!!
Pacing the Cage (Bruce Cockburn)
ReplyDeleteSunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint I cannot
Make out what it's pointing toward
Sometimes you feel like you live too long
Days drip slowly on the page
You catch yourself
Pacing the cage
I've proven who I am so many times
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And every one was taken in
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust of rage
Set me to pacing the cage
I never knew what you all wanted
So I gave you everything
All that I could pillage
All the spells that I could sing
It's as if the thing were written
In the constitution of the age
Sooner or later you'll wind up
Pacing the cage
Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage
Pacing the cage
(Sometimes, Donnie Boy, it's just all about depth. It's like you know too much and there's so much there, it gets all clogged. Try some Draino).
We're here for a good time
ReplyDeleteNot a long time
-- Trooper
Old Knudsen, are you looking for your cap?
*waves Knudsie's cloth cap above head triumphantally*
and like a bridge over troubled water,
ReplyDeletei will lay me down.
like a bridge over troubled water,
i will lay me down.
shine on silver bird...
just popped in first, so here it is.
i enjoyed this post alot! i'm coming back to read it again.
:)
David Bowie
ReplyDeleteThe Man Who Sold the World
We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago
Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world
I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions here
We must have died along, a long long time ago
Who knows? not me
We never lost control
You're face to face
With the man who sold the world
Lean on Me
ReplyDeleteby Bill Withers
Sometimes in our lives
We all have pain
We all have sorrow
But if we are wise
We know that there's always tomorrow
Lean on me, when you're not strong
And I'll be your friend
I'll help you carry on
For it won't be long
'Til I'm gonna need
Somebody to lean on
And of course,
Proud
by Heather Smalls
Still so many answers I don't know (there are so many answers)
Realise that to question is how we grow (to question is to grow)
So I step out of the ordinary
I can feel my soul ascending
I'm on my way
Can't stop me now
And you can do the same (yeah)
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
It's never too late to try
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
You could be so many people
If you make that break for freedom
What have you done today to make you feel proud?
the long and winding road
ReplyDelete(and I'm so glad that one of the doors it led me to was yours)
Damn you, sir, you've made me think. AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteI'm at the stage
Where everything I thought meant something seems so unappealing
I'm ready for the real thing
But nobody's selling
Except you and yours
Saying open up your eyes and ears
And let me in
You must be out of your brilliant mind.
(Furniture)
I think I better leave right now
ReplyDelete(Will Young)
When the day is long and the night
ReplyDeleteThe night is yours alone...
When you're sure you've had enough of this life...
Well hang on
Don't let yourself go...
'Cause everybody cries
And everybody hurts
Sometimes
Keshi.
Haha
ReplyDeleteHoho
Hehe
Haha
-The Chink...from "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" by Tom Robbins (no, not a song, but the answer to all my questions...FYI: AKA "Lila")
(oooooh! one of my all time favourite books - great music and literature all in one place. . . fabulous. . . can we cover some art soon too, please?)
ReplyDeleteBarry McGuires's "Eve of Destruction" still rattles around.
ReplyDelete"You're old enough for killin'
But you're too young for votin'
You say you don't believe in war
But what's that you're totin'?"
Thank You all so much these are great!
ReplyDeletecrappers... why is it that when someone says "think of a song" i have absolutely nothing, even though i am singing an dancing almost constantly!
ReplyDeleteGood idea Donn. I'll have to think about it because there are so many I love - will post and hat tip to you.
ReplyDeleteAll the world to me's a stage
ReplyDeleteAnd we are merely Players
Performers and Portrayers
Each another's audience
Outside the gilded cage.