Closer to fine
Another turning point, a fork in the road/
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go/
So make the best of this test, and don’t ask why/
It’s not a question, but a lesson learned in time
(Green Day)
At various times in my life I felt that I was living the lyrics of the songs I loved:
Sometimes the light’s all shinin’ on me/
Other times I can barely see
(The Dead)
When you open up your life to the living
All things come spilling in on you
And you're flowing like a river
(Cris Williamson)
And so many days when I am privileged to feel this one in my bones:
When it's not always raining/
There'll be days like this/
When there's no one complaining/
There'll be days like this/
Everything falls into place/
Like the flick of a switch/
Well my mama told me/
There'll be days like this
(Van)
I have loved a lot of music in my life. But I have never loved musicians the way I love Amy and Emily. If you don’t require the last names, then you know.
For those who don’t, I am referring to Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, The Indigo Girls, who have made extraordinary music together since 1985. And are still doing it, both on the road and in the studio. They are raucous and raw, lilting and poetic, dreamy, angry, Us. Their lyrics give shape to what we feel, what we live.
Darkness has a hunger that's insatiable/
And lightness has a call that's hard to hear
How long 'til my soul gets it right/
Can any human being ever reach that kind of light
I'm gonna clear my head/
I'm gonna drink that sun/
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young.
But this is not why I love them. I love them because they are humble and vulnerable and generous. They are activists who have listened and learned and evolved and are in it for the long haul. And they allow us inside. They allow us—in an extraordinary documentary I saw a few nights ago—to really see them: how they have navigated their 35-year collaboration, how they have embraced who they are, how they have aged. Their humor. Their open-heartedness. Their resilience, dedication, resolve, persistence, energy. Them.
See this documentary. You will be closer to fine.