Why Not Me- The Judds

Listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjjv_EemeEY

You've been lookin' for love all around the world
Baby, don't you know this country girl's still free?
Why not me?
Well, you've finally come down to your old hometown
Your kentucky girl's been waiting patiently
Why not me?

Why not me on a rainy day?
Why not me to love your cares away?
Why not me?
Why not me when the nights get cold?
Why not me when you're growin' old?
Why not me?

You've been searchin' from here to singapore
Ain't it time that you notice the girl next door, baby
Why not me?
You had to see if the world was round
It's time that you learned how good settlin' down could be
Why not me?

Why not me on a rainy day?
Why not me to love your cares away?
Why
not me?
Why not me when the nights get cold?
Why not me when you're
growin' old?
Why not me?

You've been lookin' for love all around the world
Baby, don't you know this country girl's still free?
Baby, why not me?

So, I guess this one pretty much speaks for itself. I get compliments from friends and family and coworkers, "You're so smart!" "You're so pretty!" "You don't have anything to worry about!" "You'd be a catch for any man!" "You're so talented!"

And I'm still single. Not for lack of trying... or looking... and I even stopped looking for a long time under the pretense that when you least expect it, the thing you're looking for will present itself. I say, PROVE IT! Even the "potentials" give me the sweet compliments and subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) flatteries... followed by my LEAST favorite three letter word, "but." From the potentials, I get, "You're beautiful and talented and funny and smart and everything any man should be proud of... BUT..."

BUT WHAT????

Ugh... I just don't get it.

Further the Sky - Gabe Dixon Band

Listen to the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHZtbBawQSE

I wish I could give you the answers and paper and ink
I wish I could stop all the tears before they start falling
But we're feeling our way and we're always beginners
We're all cuts and no scars

The higher you reach -The further the sky
The more miles you walk -The longer the road
The steeper you climb -The harder you stand to fall
The stronger you get -The heavier the load
The bigger the dream -The rougher the ride
The truer the love -The deeper the ache
The blinder the faith -The tougher the go

Please, bear with me as I work through my Gabe Dixon Band obsession. This is another song of his. It, like And the World Turned, has a great melody but the lyrics really made me think. It's almost like God is trying to hit me upside the head because I was watching South Park the other night and Butters gives this soliloquy about how he likes loving life and that you can't appreciate life without experiencing the bad. And then there is this song...

I'm not sure it's exactly the same concept but correlated at least. I think the line I relate best to is the truer the love -the deeper the ache. I so often give my heart away too easily. In the words of Jane Austen, "Oh, you are a great deal too apt, you know, to like people in general." It's always been like this too. For as long as I can remember, I've been the one loving and being left. It is a nasty position to be in, and one I haven't been in for a long time but the familar feelings are all too present these days.

But a great friend told me recently that I should be greatful for my ability to love so freely because for some, love and loving someone is something they can only dream about. So I suppose the loss of love puts the value of loving into perspective. Another friend told me that being the lover isn't necessarily a bad thing, even when the feelings are not reciprocated. That it's ok to love someone despite them not loving you back. Because love in any form is still the greatest of all emotions.

Moral of the story? Love on!

And The World Turned -Gabe Dixon Band

Hear the song here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eRhOA8Z2HE

Girl stood on the rocks with the water at her feet
the sun on her skin and a tear on her cheek
With her hand on her chest and the wind in her hair
Underneath her breath like a beggar's prayer, she said
"I miss you, come back to me
I wish you'd come back to me."
But nobody heard
And the world turned and the world turned and the world turned

And thats when the girl reached in her pocket
pulled out a silver heart-shaped locket
Opened it up and stared for a while at her faded boy
with a lazy smile, oh how
I miss you, come back to me
I wish you'd come back to me
But nobody heard
And the world turned and the world turned and the world turned

And she walked to the deepest part of the river
And she thought about diving in
She imagined how the current would overtake her
How easy it would be to disappear
But instead she tossed the locket
In the cool, blue, water

That night in her bed, she let herself weep
She let herself cry herself to sleep
And there in a dream somewhere in the night
Saw the boy and the locket by the riverside, saying
"I miss you, come back to me
I wish you'd come back to me."
But nobody heard
And the world turned and the world turned and the world turned

I was recently introduced to the Gabe Dixon Band by my friend J.R. and have been hooked ever since. The music is fantastic and the lyrics are even better. It was hard picking which song I really wanted to use because there are about three right now that I feel really connected to.

I'm still not sure why this one is sticking out in my mind. But lately, I've felt like I was losing someone I really care about -maybe two someones- and I have that aching I wish you'd come back to me feeling.

And you can see this girl, trying so desperately to let the boy go, as she throws the locket with his picture into the river. But even after her grand gesture, the boy returns to her in a dream.

It makes me wonder if we can ever really let something go, or if a part of it stays with us forever. I tend to lean towards the latter because chances are, we've grown in the experience and that growth stays with us.

The world turning is an interesting notion too. Because I feel like the girl is timeless, standing in the middle of the river, mourning her loss and yet the world around her doesn't hear her pleas; it just keeps spinning on around her. Grief has a funny way of altering our perception.

Nevertheless, it's been really hard grasping the fact that sometimes you just have to let people go, even if your heart aches with love for them...

An Explanation

I've been a musical being for as long as I can remember. And at some point, probably during high school, I discovered words and the power that the two combined could have over my soul. That being said, I relate to song lyrics in a way that I cannot fully relate to anything else. I frequently hear a song and think to myself, "I know exactly what you mean." And when situations arise in my life, I can usually attach a song to the feeling associated with that situation. So they catalyst for this blog, and the feature that will ever be a part of it, is song lyrics. They'll lead each post and characterize, much better than I could myself, the way I'm feeling.

Numero Uno

Lyrical sociology is characterized by an engaged, nonironic stance toward its object of analysis. Lyrical sociology typically uses strong figuration and personification, and aims to communicate its author's emotional stance toward his or her object of study, rather than to "explain" that object. The analysis considers many examples and draws on literary criticism, the philosophy of time, and the theory of emotion.