Friday, February 08, 2008

Just Another Thing I Should Have Done

Personally, I try not to use many pop culture references in my writing. If I do, I want there to be a point.

However, I did refer to some books and music in WHAT BURNS WITHIN… and I wish I’d kept a list so that I could talk about the background, for the people who are interested in that sort of thing.

For example, FARE THEE WELL LOVE by The Rankin Family is mentioned. You can watch the video here.

It’s a stunning song, performed by an amazing family I’ve long admired. Since they’ve done their own solo work, I’ve continued to follow Jimmy’s work in particular. Why this song?

Fare Thee Well - Music and lyrics by Jimmy Rankin

Fare thee Well, love

Fare thee Well, love

Far away, you must go.

Take your heart, love

Take your heart, love

Will we never meet again no more?

Far across, love

Far across, love.

O'er mountains and country wide

Take my heart, love

Take my heart, love

No one knows the tears I've cried.

So I'll drink today, love,

I'll sing to you, love

in pauper's glory, my time I'll bide

No home or ties, love,

A restless rover, if I can't have you

by my side.

Oh come back, love

Oh come back, love

The sun and moon

refuse to shine.

Since I've gone, love

Gone away love

this lonely girl has had no peace of mind

So I'll drink today, love,

I'll sing to you, love

in pauper's glory, my time I'll bide

No home or ties, love,

A restless rover, if I can't have you

by my side.

Fare thee well love, fare thee well love

Fare thee well, fare thee well

Far away, you must go. Far away you must go.

Take my heart, love Take my heart

Take my heart, love Take your heart

Will we never meet again no more? Will we never meet again no more?

Will we never meet again no more? Will we never meet again no more?


Is there a person drawing breath who can’t relate to the sense of loss, the heartwrenching pain? When I hear “No one knows the tears I've cried” I think of what most of us carry inside, an unresolved anguish that has formed a hole within us that can never be filled or truly mend because the person is beyond our reach.

Some people build walls around themselves to keep their pain in, to wear it like a badge. I suppose the same can be said of me. At least if you’re feeling pain, you’re feeling something.

Feelings seem to be, more than anything else, what get us into trouble. Not always rational, not always correct, they’re undeniable, because our feelings aren’t always dictated by logic. And yet they are true, in so much as nobody can deny how you feel is real, however faulty the basis for it. Things tied to our hopes and dreams counterbalanced against our fears and insecurities… a potentially devastating mix.

No matter what, feelings are honestly owned. If you care enough about people, you’ll give them that much leeway, at least, and understand that when hurt and disappointment take root in the heart, the result is not always the most rational sentiment.

On that note, I leave you with another song mentioned in both WHAT BURNS WITHIN and THE FRAILTY OF FLESH - Til I Am Myself Again.




One day it all disappeared

And I'm lying in a hotel room miles away

Voices next door in my ear


Daytime's a drag

Nighttime worse

Hope that I can get home soon

But the half-finished bottles of inspiration

Lie like ghosts in my room


I want to go

I know I can't stay

But I don't want to run

Feeling this way

Til I am myself

Til I am myself

Til I am myself again


There's a seat on the corner I keep every night

Wait til the evening begins

I feel like a stranger from another world

But at least I'm living again


There are nights full of anger

Words that are thrown

Tempers that are shattered and thin

And the moments of magic

Are just too short

They're over before they begin

3 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Having come of age with Carver and Bobbie Mason, I don't mind pop culture references. It puts me there. But if you haven't been there, it might be off-putting.

Sandra Ruttan said...

If you know the reference, it works well, I think. If not, then I just skim over it. But if they work well they can have a great impact.

Richard Cooper said...

I don't think references can be avoided in the age of mass marketing. I think I'll sell product placements in my novels, like the movies do.

[This comment was brought to you by Skittles--Taste the Rainbow!]