The Thought That Life Could Be Better Is Woven Indelibly Into Our Hearts And Our Brains (782 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.8 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by John Galt <UberJohnGalt.at.gmail.com> (View user info) at 2005-03-30 05:34:09 EST
I love music. For a while I was starting to think song writing was a lost art, but I've been looking, or listening rather, around recently, and I've found some really good stuff. Right now I'm really enjoying Jack Johnson. I've been listening to his latest album constantly over the last few weeks. I can't get enough of it. There's no answer to world peace in there, but at the same time I think there may be. There's no overt explanation of how love works and what to do to be happy, but once again, I think it's in there. You just have to not look for it.
Let me explain. You see, there are some people out there, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Jack Johnson, Fiona Apple and Tori Amos to name a few, who can really tell a story in a song. They create such elaborate imagery with just a few simple words. You don't have to work to see it, they put it there with no effort required on your part. And it's honest imagery. They paint the beauty and the pain with the same simple stroke. I like that. It's more real to me that way. Art, in my opinion, should imitate life, not the other way around.
Too much music is contrived. It just seems dishonest, and I get annoyed. I think in love, and in a lot of things in life, the same thing happens. That's a shame to me, and I don't know why we aren't outraged. The ideals we have, wherever they came from, just don't fit with the reality we live in. We should be making our own, not letting them make us, or break us as the case usually is. It just seems like somewhere along the way, someone else fed us their ideals, which they probably didn't even live up to themselves, and we ate it up and asked for more. How did we lose touch with reality that much without noticing it, and while hardly even seeming to care when we do notice?
I think in love, and a lot of things in life, you have to lose focus in order to get it. If you get too caught up in the grand scheme of things, you lose touch with the parts that actually matter. Yet, we all try so hard to find happiness, to find "the one", and to do all these things we've been told since we were little kids that we need to accomplish to be complete. When really, we need to keep it simple, keep it honest. If you work too hard at it, it just ends up seeming contrived, whether you meant for it to or not. I'd rather live the most painful song in the world if I can really feel it, than live in a disingenuous ode to love that was probably fleeting for the person who wrote it in the first place.
We should look for the same simplicity and honesty in love that we look for in music. But it should never be more work than looking. You can't make happiness, you just have to find it. Saying, "I'm happy right now. I like you. I like sharing my time and my thoughts with you", is more beautiful to me than a thousand cheesy lines about roses and dancing and getting lost in each other's eyes. Disney, TV networks, Hallmark, mainstream radio, and Harlequin have ruined love for most people.
Yet, the appeal of the typical love story is undeniable. We've all been there. I know I have. And everytime you try it, it feels like you can really promise forever. Everytime you fall in love like that, the lines aren't cheesy anymore. You really mean it. And you really want it to mean something. But that just sets you up for even more pain and disappointment when it's gone. So how do we fix it? My suggestion: 2 people at a time. Maybe 3 or 4 or even 5. Whatever floats your boat.
I met this girl recently. Well, I've known her for a while now, but I feel like I didn't really meet her until the past few weeks. Yet at the same time, it feels like I've known her for a really long time. It's kind of odd, but either way, I love her. And even though I've loved people before, something is different this time. But not the way people usually mean that. At least, not the way I think they mean it.
The expectations of it, if you can even call them that, are pure. Maybe "intentions" is a bit less demanding of it than "expectations", but I've been told I overuse "intend" and all its variations. I wonder what that says about me. OK, enough digressing.
The point is that I like her, I care about her, I enjoy her companionship, and I love her. And she feels the same about me. We talk, we laugh, and we spend our time making each other's time better. I don't need anything from her, and she doesn't need anything from me. It's about wants and happiness, not needs. I like it that way.
We don't make promises that we'll both just end up breaking later. We've got no plan for forever. She's not the only girl I've ever loved, or ever will love. She's not the only person I'm attracted to. And I'm under no delusion that I'm the only person for her. But we love each other, nonetheless, and that's all we want right now. It's simple, and it's honest. To me, that's beautiful.
So what's the point? I don't really know. I think the point is that maybe there shouldn't be a point. I don't think da Vinci was really trying for greatness when he painted the Mona Lisa. He just wanted to paint a picture.
----------
Giving credit where it's due: The title is the ending to "Train In The Distance" by Paul Simon.
User Reviews
Submitted by ih8u2man (user info) at 2006-05-24 17:30:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice.
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2006-05-24 17:12:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You expressed what I've always hated about most music but could never quite put into words.
Submitted by mystiamoon (user info) at 2005-04-11 22:09:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
You're a good guy, Johnson.
Quit selling yourself short and stand up and demand to be treated the way you deserve.
I'm still kicking your ass at the flagpole after school, bitchface!
My kitties are better than your kitties!
Submitted by Squijee (user info) at 2005-04-05 04:32:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
One of the best posts I've read.
Submitted by Durae (user info) at 2005-04-05 04:16:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Tori, hell yeah. :)
You know I agree with every word of this, except maybe your obsession with Jackson Browne, so there isn't much left to say.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2005-03-30 15:34:36 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:52:21 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by carolrichards (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:37:05 (#)
Ranking: -2
Grade A plagiarism from a grade A moron.
*********************************************************
Oh snap! Carol Richards just got all rude and crude and insulted somone! Could it be that someone forgot they were in alter form? Either way someone is busted.
DUREL!
Submitted by TigerLilly (user info) at 2005-03-30 13:40:59 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Very Good.
Submitted by lojope (user info) at 2005-03-30 13:20:19 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well, Jesus, at least I was slightly more ambiguous than this.
+2 for good writing, -2 for being a little hypocritical in posting this, +1 and -1 for a sentiment I agree with and disagree with at the same time, and finally, +2 because I always give you a +2. The end.
Ps~ Apollo, gimme a call sometime. :o)
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-03-30 13:06:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This was excellent!
Submitted by cowstastegood (user info) at 2005-03-30 12:34:04 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well written and I agree with the sentiment completely. I'm always asking myself "Why does it HAVE to be this way? Why can't I look at it this way, knowing that this different set of ideals is what works for me?"
Good job, and congratulations on finding someone to be happy with.
Submitted by Josephine (user info) at 2005-03-30 10:34:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Giving credit where it's due: The title is the ending to "Train In The Distance" by Paul Simon.
---
That's the whole reason I read it, and I'm glad I did.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-03-30 09:30:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I really want to have something to add to this. I also really want to plug Over the Rhine, a folky sort of "lit-pop" band out of Cincinatti. You might like them. Maybe not.
Submitted by Pentameter (user info) at 2005-03-30 08:55:49 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I agree with you completely. There are so many cliches when it comes to love that it's ridiculous. Peorple try to live them, and it's nearly impossible. Life isn't all sunshine and flowers, and people don't understand this. Love is difficult and takes a lot of work if you want it to survive.
I have found that there is no accurate way to describe it. I have found that the words we have are not enough to express it.
Submitted by indoninja (user info) at 2005-03-30 08:33:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Would have been a plus 2, but fionna apple? Come on her lyrics are up there with ashlee simpson.
Submitted by stardamage (user info) at 2005-03-30 07:28:39 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Aww, yay!
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-03-30 07:20:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
kind of jumping-aroundish, but i got the point.
hit home.
Submitted by Siren (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:59:12 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ok, now that I've read it, here's your real +2. It made me think of "The Rainbow Connection." I love Kermit the Frog.
Die Carol Richards!!! I want to run barbed wire through your inside parts!
Submitted by Siren (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:55:53 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
This 2's for counteraction of the cunt bag down there...
Jesus titty fucking Christ, why isn't this Ms. Richards banned yet?!?!!! Hey, Carol, we all know you suck your mom's asshole.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:55:24 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Another +2 because this page title comes up as:
Ubersite - The Thought That Life Could Be Better Is Woven Indelibly Into Our Hearts And Our Bra
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:53:17 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by carolrichards (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:37:05 (#)
Ranking: -2
Grade A plagiarism from a grade A moron.
-------------------------------------
Shit like this is the only real reason I support her/him being banned.
Haven't read this, but +2 to semi-balance that out.
Submitted by whiskey_jack (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:52:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by carolrichards (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:37:05 (#)
Ranking: -2
Grade A plagiarism from a grade A moron.
*********************************************************
Oh snap! Carol Richards just got all rude and crude and insulted somone! Could it be that someone forgot they were in alter form? Either way someone is busted.
Submitted by FunnyAsCancer (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:51:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
John Galt does not plagiarize. Carol, you, without all due respect, are an evil person. There's nothing even to plagiarize. Unless you've somehow copyrighted feelings.
Submitted by apollo88 (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:45:52 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Disney, TV networks, Hallmark, mainstream radio, and Harlequin have ruined love for most people. """
Amen.
So you not banging lojope anymore?
Woo hoo!
Submitted by carolrichards (user info) at 2005-03-30 05:37:05 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
Grade A plagiarism from a grade A moron.