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:
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.
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.
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!]
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