Saturday, February 15, 2014

"That Window You Never Fixed"

Before I retired in 2009 I frequently took CDs to the office so John, my boss and good friend, and David, another attorney in the office, also a good friend, could listen to one song or another I thought they mght like. They did the same thing sometimes. Later, with the advent of YouTube, we graduated to music videos. John wasn't much into computers, but even before he learned how to send an email, he mastered accessing his favorite tunes on YouTube.

Sometime in the last few months of work I heard a bittersweet Ryan Adams song that strongly reminded me of John, but I never played that one for him. The "Dear John" of the song title was deceased. Even though I loved the poignancy of the lyrics, John was going through major health issues at the time, and putting the thoughts and feelings of a widow in his head wouldn't have been kind.

John had excellent skills as an attorney and as a sportsman but readily admitted that household repairs were beyond his capabilities. I'm not sure he could have hung a picture on the wall by himself if his life had depended on it. Like many of us, I imagine, he excelled at the things that interested him and chose not to bother with those that didn't. More even than the fact of his name in the title, it was this verse of the song that brought him instantly to mind:

"Ten years pass
And I ended up with a house full of cats,
But most of them went missing
Through that window you never fixed,
The door you never latched."

Some parts of the lyrics don't apply at all (is art ever perfect?), but isn't it interesting how our brains can override the non-applicable parts and focus like a laser on the words that matter to us?

After the sad events of this week, this one was destined to be today's Saturday Song Selection:


The song is "Dear John" by Ryan Adams.
Thanks to Macfae for posting the video on YouTube.
Click here to read the lyrics.

6 comments:

  1. What a beautiful song. Thanks for sharing it. And again, I'm sorry for the loss of your friend...

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  2. So sad and full of longing. Well done.

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    1. Annette, I've listened to that song time and time again, and I agree: it IS sad and full of longing. But now that I've posted it and listened to it a few more times, one line of the lyrics has started to stand out: "... you were on your way out the last time... ." Also, the printed lyrics read "...a little pain was overdue," but in this video, he's clearly saying, "...a little PAYMENT was overdue." So now I'm wondering: do you think she may have killed him?

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  3. so love your comments from patsy to the first blog i ever read.VELVET you and that gentle soul who has passed away i think she lived in NEW MEXICO.were my first two blogs.
    you know i think you have new dogs since we started blogging you had the blind dog and one other when i started reading your blog..

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    1. Patsy, I remember how happy I was to find your blog, one that was written by someone in my own age group. And yes, I remember Carmon, and "gentle soul" is a perfect description of her. I do have new dogs; Butch (the blind one) and Kadi have passed on. Our lives go on, the joys and the sorrows, and we continue to chronicle them in the blogosphere. What a gift this technology has given us.

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