"You are the beat of my heart & the light of my life." This is a lyric I've had running through my head the last few days. In one of his last interviews, Vic Chesnutt told NPR's Terry Gross that the song "Granny", the last song on what would become Vic Chesnutt's final album, was taken verbetem from a dream he had about his own grandmother.
Granny, oh Granny
what you doin' by the kitchen sink?
what you doin' by the kitchen sink?
she said, "i'm just makin' up some hamama cheese"
she said, "i'm just makin' up some hamama cheese"
she said, "i'm just makin' up some hamama cheese"
Granny, oh Granny
what you doin' with your false teeth
what you doin' with your false teeth
she said, "I'm just pickin' out the blackberry seeds"
she said, "I'm just pickin' out the blackberry seeds"
she said, "I'm just pickin' out the blackberry seeds"
Granny, oh Granny
where did your husband, my granddaddy go?
where did your husband, my granddaddy go?
she said "he went off to heaven just before you were born"
she said "he went off to heaven just before you were born"
she said "he went off to heaven just before you were born"
she said, "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart"
she said, "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart"
she said, "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart"
she said, "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart"
she said, "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart"
I'm no songwriter, but I'm sure many songwriters pour over lyrics that they write, & may have a tendency to over edit, when most likely, the first draft of lyrics were perhaps the most powerful, when the idea is new. What a gift it must be to have a song come to you in a dream, & it takes alot of courage to write it down & leave it be, without editing. What's great about the song is the rawness of it. To listen to it seems like your peaking in on a private conversation that wasn't meant for your ears. That doesn't necessarily come from the lyrics, but with the rawness with which Chesnutt sings it.
I just got done reading The Shack today. When "Papa" says "I'm particularly fond of..." to & about any number of people, it sounds alot like "you are the light of my life & the beat of my heart". I think that if anyone else said that phrase about that many people, it would start to sound insincere. People think that there should be a limit to the amount of people we should love, but God (& the book) shows us that we should love everyone, especially the people towards whom we have anger & hatred.
I heard a story on the news the other day about a girl who had some sort of disorder which wouldn't allow her to distrust anyone. The girl would walk up to everyone she met & told them that she loved them. The girls' mother, probably for good earthly reason, puts her through exercises to teach her to distrust people. What a sad commentary on our world that is. I think we have an opposite view of trust than what we should. I think we don't trust people until they give us reason to trust them, when I think we should trust first until we're given reason not to. This distrust we all carry along with us is not only a barrier to loving one another, it's also a barrier to us even being decent to one another. Think of road rage, how easy it is to give someone the finger or cut somebody off because it's someone you'll never have to talk to.
Another great thing about the book, is that it makes you think of the possibilities God can create in your life, if you're interested in hearing what He has to say to you. Of course, it's a story, & my cynical mind will always consider someone crazy when they tell me that God speaks to them. It's easy for me to go to church, to pray before dinner, & know all the right answers about forgiveness & salvation, but I'll admit it's not always easy to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Not that Jesus makes it hard, but my brain & all sorts of other things get in the way of talking to Jesus like I would my wife or my mother or father. Give the book a read, friends.
Five Favorite Songs of the Day
Sweetness Follows-REM, Automatic for the People
Ahead of the Curve-Monsters of Folk
But for You Who Fear My Name-The Welcome Wagon
But for you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in his wings.
And you shall go forth again,
skip about like calves
coming from their stalls at last.
You shall be my very own
on the day that I
cause you to be my special home.
I shall spare you as a man,
as compassion on his son
who does the best he can.
But for you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in his wings.
And you shall go forth again,
skip about like calves
coming from their stalls at last.
You shall be my very own
on the day that I
cause you to be my special home.
I shall spare you as a man,
as compassion on his son
who does the best he can.
(instrumental)
But for you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in his wings.
And you shall go forth again,
skip about like calves
coming from their stalls at last.
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue-Bob Dylan, 1999
Lucinda Williams-Vic Chesnutt, West of Rome
Happy Saturday, friends...
andrew
