November 17, 2013

Elderly Woman Behind a Counter In A Small Town

For all the talk about change, evolution, and growth, there is something to be said about not changing at all. There is something profoundly comforting about recognizing that at our core there are some things that may never change. That despite our education or friendships, or the lasting effects of over-indulgent parenting, or the stains left upon and within us by who we meet and where we go, that ultimately we stay the same children we have been since birth. That no matter how hard we try to improve or restrict or adapt who we are--  the person driving already knows where we are headed. The best we can do is not distract him too much.

I feel this way. I have been conversing with the same voice since I was eight. And every time I hear Elderly Woman Behind a Counter In A Small Town, it feels like that voice, the one I keep buried inside, the one of the frightened yet confident child is allowed to sing. For me the lyrics are from me to me. The narrator is my present self conversing with my various past selves. This song is about wanting to hold on and move on. It is a battle of selves through time.

All these changes taking place I wish I'd seen the place, but no one's ever taken me...
Me you wouldn't recall, for I'm not my former. It's hard when, your stuck upon the shelf...

 Original image by craigccc2000

It is a perfect ballad of joy and sadness. This song does everything I need art to do. It makes me feel hopeful and nostalgic. Boastful and scared. I cannot help but sing along...I just want to scream HELLO.........

By the way I was at this show.

Not thrilled with this cover, but it is what it is. I will always love this song in ways that I can never explain with words.



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