And you know you’re never sure,
But you’re sure you could be right, if you held yourself up to the light.
And your embers never fade in your city by the lake,
The place where you were born…
In the resolute urgency of now,
And if you believe there’s not a chance, tonight…
when I was in the eighth grade I wrote the lyrics to this song [as well as one or two others from this album] on the cover of my binder. my English teacher saw and, for some reason, thought it was poetry and “suggested” I see a counselor at school. it probably didn’t help that I was in a weird “ghetto goth” phase and my final thematic writing assignment was largely focused on death and the afterlife. it wasn’t too far off-base; I was a serious emo kid back then. middle school was a total bitch to me.
so I guess, then, it isn’t too far off course that these days, lyrics still drive me at my best and most often at my worst. life is hard; in some ways, it doesn’t get any better after you pass the eighth grade. the hard parts - the moments that drive us toward the edge - are simply wrapped differently. one must learn to cope, derive strength from the hard times, and express themselves through it. even if it’s just moody song lyrics on a binder cover.
