lyrics Archives - Owl Medicine: Shamanic Healing

Blip

All week I struggled to keep track of what day it was. As I sit here this evening, I’m still wrestling with it. Is tomorrow Saturday? Or Thursday? It almost feels like it was just Tuesday a moment ago and then – blip – here we are. Friday night. Part of my struggle, I know, stems from indulging my inner sloth.

I feel constrained to admit that, no, we did not take a walk today. Both of us were engaged in our usual responsibilities throughout the day as bright sunshine tried vainly but valiantly to persuade us that it wasn’t so bad out. Once the sun went down, though, the die was cast for sure. Neither Karl nor I even tried to muster the necessary ‘evening oomph’ we needed to goad, cajole, or otherwise entice the other to ‘strap up the hound’ and walk.

In fact, when I checked my weather app and saw that the wind chill was 9 degrees that sealed the deal. I knew one thing for sure: Wolf Moon or not, I was going to take a hard pass on walking under that cold-hearted orb that rules the night. (Ht to The Moody Blues; wink wink.)

Ah Yes

Of course, in searching for a link to give you to the above-referenced Days of Future Passed album, I started playing it in the background. Now I’m transported to my days as a 17 year old exchange student in Sweden. I remember one evening in particular. It was winter – probably a January night far colder than tonight – and I had the unique chance to listen to a friend’s album collection. They were away at college and I was able to just be by myself and listen deeply, feeling the feelings.

For whatever reason, I played this one over and over again. Perhaps it reminded me of a certain person I’d left back in the States, but maybe it also was a balm to my soul just listen to English and the poetry of the lyrics that spoke to my young heart.

The Moody Blues and Super Tramp. Those two groups made an indelible impression on me that year. They still do. I’m transported, just listening right now…

“Just what you want to be, you’ll be in the end.”

(T-301)

Sunset on Fire – 5 May 2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

Timely Question

I had to go out the other day to do a grocery run to a special store I haven’t been to in almost eight weeks. It was the first time I’ve been in my car for a while, so I was enjoying just driving along listening to the songs on my iPhone, when a timely question was posed from an unexpected source.

Some Background

When I used to drive the Grey Ghost (aka Good Girl), I would listen to my iPod all the time. Remember, Good Girl was so old (2005) that she hadn’t come with a standard connection to electronic devices. She had a cassette tape deck and a CD player. So a few years later, my guys bought me an upgraded speaker system and a connection to my iPod for my birthday or Mother’s Day, I can’t remember which. But I do know I made very good use of it.

It wasn’t until Karl died, though, that I started listening to my iPod with it set on ‘random.’ I have a collection of well over 3,000 songs I’ve accumulated over the past 15 years or so, most contributed by my three sons. After losing Karl, I was so numb I couldn’t make a choice of what to listen to if my life depended on it. So I set it on random.

And that’s when I discovered his easiest – and most effective – means of communicating with me.

Quick Search

I just did a quick search of all my blog posts and I apparently have never written about this before. I’m astonished. Honestly, I thought for sure that I’d shared this cherished aspect of my life with all of you already.

Well, realizing this at this late stage of the game makes me see that I need to write about this in more depth another time.

The point of tonight’s post, though, was to share with you a song Karl brought to my attention yesterday, when I was in the car. As usual, I was sort of half listening to what was playing and then drawn up suddenly when I realized what the lyrics were actually saying.

The Question

Where do we go from here?

It’s not just the question posed by the title of the song. It’s the lyrics as a whole and their eerie applicability to the precise situation we’re facing globally. Right now.

Turns out the song was published in 1970. Huh. Who’d have thought Chicago would be so prescient?

As soon as I realized what the lyrics were saying, I knew I wanted to share the song – and the timely question – with all of you. Because I feel this is precisely what we all need to contemplate and decide.

The fate of our country, and quite possibly the world, relies on us getting this right. And I can’t help but feel Karl sees all of this from a different perspective – and is making an effort to get our attention.