My Favourite Colour

So much sadness on this earth

We get weary, we get hurt

What we need is not for sale

So set your heart down on the rail

Leaving's just another way

To say the things we never say

From Harbour Boys by Joel Plaskett. I first heard this song when he was the musical guest for Stuart McLean a few years back and I loved it instantly. Light and airy yet, as you might guess, a great message...especially right then in my life.

I came here to bring the noise

To the island girls and the harbour boys

Am I the noise maker or the wallflower? Instigator or observer? You can make your own judgements but it should come as no surprise that I feel that I am all of the above. This journey, as a former lover explained, is what it's all about. It's my journey and it has to matter to me. For far too long it seemed that simply being was my best hope. Sure, I had a decently good life and my kids are the very best of me, but there was a certain thing lacking. Passion was absent. In the interest of harmony and stability, there was an acquiescence to the life that unfolded before me. Until that day when there wasn't going to be another day of it. Not one more step.

Whatever the outcome of my life, at the end of it all I want to be able to look back and say without equivocation that it had passion. As the Greeks demanded. The scales will tip on that side if I have anything to say about it.

Walking in the autumn leaves

Let's get lost in record sleeves

Sun goes down upon the bay

Looking for somewhere to play

Racing to the finish line

We've been running, we've been flying

Faster as the years go by

Clouds are scrolling cross our sky

I read a little opinion piece by Neil MacDonald from the CBC this morning which led to this confluence of thoughts. It put what has been swirling around in my mind into perspective. Read it here if you wish Entropy I don't totally agree with his take on the fading of time but then again, I'm only 49 now, who knows what will come to be in 20 years. What does it matter though? The here and now is what matters and this desire to say things out loud, sans filter, to go out and see the world, at least the parts I want to see, seems to be getting stronger. Where will I go?

If we get held by higher powers

It's only in the final hours

After that we'll get some rest

Until then let's make a mess

I can't imagine taking notice of religion in my later years but maybe, like Neal opines, it will happen. Who knows? And again, what does it matter? The journey that we are all on has to matter to us today and we hope it matters tomorrow. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is simply a wish to be made real. Who we go with and what we do is a matter of choice. Not being afraid to walk alone is the first step to take, being not afraid to make the leap with someone alongside is the hardest step. I've said this a few times I think, and to quote that kid in Love Actually "Okay, Dad. Let's do it. Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love." Stupid kid knows it...why don't we all?

Sun goes down upon the bay

Looking for somewhere to play

I came here to bring the noise

To the island girls and the harbour boys

Soaking in a summer night

Let me rage against the dying light

Before the by and by

I stand beneath a devastating sky above me

High above, I'll lose myself in everything I love

Until the night is through

My friends, I sing it now for you

Sun goes down upon the bay

Looking for somewhere to play

I came here to bring the noise

To the island girls and the harbour boys?

What's my favourite colour? Red of course....haven't you been paying attention? The red of sunsets and sunrises. The red of the flaming fall colours as the season fades away. The colour of passion and of love. The colour of fire. strength and danger. I almost want to apologize if I sound too preachy or what have you, and then I stop myself and say, fuck that shit. I'm here to bring the noise and quite possibly it is time to turn the volume up.

What's your favourite colour?

Ciao
D