Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard
Spent a fair amount of time today just listening to music. [BTW, I've been subscribed to a service called Rhapsody it costs $9.95 a month, but you have access to virtually every song written. Saves a lot of money compared to buying CDs and lets me explore new music without much risk.]
And the plan tonight is to go out and eat some Indian food, swig a little Chai, grab some white wine, come back and run around as an elf poking people with sharp pointy things and then watch Pirates of the Caribbean on the couch with Bright-Eyes while the thunder rolls outside.
But anyway, I was listening to a song that I've always liked called "Mother Child Reunion" by Paul Simon. It has the kind of lyrics that defy easy interpretation. And I finally decided to chase down what they actually meant. They certainly invoke a rich tapestry of feeling. So first I looked up the specific lyrics, as I've been known (on certain rare occassions?) to get some key words wrong to songs, sometimes for years. The lyrics are beautiful ... and pretty much what I was hearing. So no clues there:
No I would not give you false hopeDigging a little deeper, I found some interviews with Paul back in the 70s about this song (along with alot of speculation about the meanings); but aside from where he got the title, he doesn't really know what it means either. Which I was actually glad to discover! I kind of like these little gems from art, dreams, stories, poetry that evoke very specific feelings like the tastes of those weird fusion fruit drinks, which are distinct, but not really any fruit I'd ever tasted off the bush or tree.
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I can't for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don't work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I just can't believe it's so,
and though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again
But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away,
Oh, oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a moment away
This could just be me being cynical or ignorant, but IIRC services like Rhapsody are all fine and cool until you stop paying the montly fees. After which they decide you don't need to listen to your music anymore.
ReplyDelete-Jac
Extremely moving lyrics, what is your opinion of what they mean? Mine is the mother is dying and how quickly times goes so the child will follow soon. Laid low means the grave to me and mysterious is about death.
ReplyDeleteYeah, thats what image it paints in my mind...a mother passed away giving birth to the child...the child lives but is born without much hope...struggles on a few weeks but the grief stricken father, so grateful to have this little girl who reminds him so much of his departed beloved, departs the doctors office carrying his baby close, there is nothing they can do, death is imminent but thankfully painless, as he lays her in the crib in the nursery his wife had decorated with such excitement for life...and he picks up a picture off the dresser of he and his wife together, her very pregnant and happy...he kneels in the floor holding his daughters fingers thru the slats of the crib, and looks into her seemingly hopefilled eyes, and sings her this song.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thats the music video I see. And its got me eyes full of tears so I gotta quit watching it for awhile.
Jac, that's true. I do know people who are into collections of music, even dating back to the days of vinyl.
ReplyDeleteIt's just owning the media has never been as important to me as access to the contents. So I'm happy with "renting" access to a larger collection than any sane person would ever own and being able to tap this at any time of the day or night from work or home. (And there are ways to capture this if one wants a more permanent copy, even from Rhapsody, just haven't had the need ;-)
Hmmm, I had a different image, but those seem just as appropriate.
ReplyDeleteMine was of a father who had lost his wife a few years ago and now their young child is dying. He is sitting beside her bed at the hospital where she's not expected to make it through the night, holding her hand, and his eyes keep moving from her sleeping face to the pulse of the EKG monitors.