I realized why i wrote Paul Simon and John Mayer under "Favorite Artists". The order of which only applies to whom i found first. It is funny how I came upon the realization too, because it was spurred by a question Suzie asked me, and she does not like Mr. Mayer, and i think she is indifferent about Paul Simon, but that is okay, because i still love her. She asked me something about liking music for the words, or lyrics, and if they mattered to me. It got me to thinking, and for the most part i know that i absolutely do not make good lyrics a requirement for the music i listen to. In fact, some of the artists i like write crap, and i listen to them sing that crap, and i even memorize the crap and enjoy singing the crap out-loud in my car at the top of my lungs...but the point is that i really only listen to music for the music, and even when an artist writes crap lyrics, and can't really be called a good lyricist, doesn't mean they can not put good guitar riffs with a solid bass line and great drums. Yet, when there is a musician who has what it takes to combine the best of both worlds, i find something that, as lame as it sounds, speaks to my soul. Paul Simon and John Mayer do that for me, and they do not even play pop-punk.
I was watching the video that came with John Mayer's "The Village Sessions-EP" on iTunes, and it is about how he wrote the song "In Repair", along with his highly skilled friends Charlie Hunter (on eight string guitar, which equals guitar+ bass) and Steve Jordan on drums. And what hit me the hardest, above the freaking awesome musicianship, was what the song meant. Now let me say...i can probably sing almost all of John Mayer's songs (yes, even wonderland), but i am sad to admit that i most likely have not taken the time to listen to what all the songs are about. Part of the problem being that i received all of his stuff about 2 months ago from Christopher Massad, who i am eternally indebted to for doing so, and so listened to all of them at once, on repeat, over and over again. So while my brain allowed me to memorize most of the words, it did not allow me to process them. Which also might stem from the fact that i just listen to music for the instruments and John Mayer can play a mean guitar solo (which Chris knows, for we even sing those out-loud). So, when i actually take the time to really sit and listen to the lyrics, i find they have such deep meaning (because they are not all about a girls body). But, "In Repair" was not one of the songs i had had a chance to do that with. So, when John started relating what the song meant, i must say i was interested...
"The lyric idea for 'In Repair' came from this kind of knowledge about the way people are; that we're always either on the way down, or the way up, and you never really enjoy the moment when it's all put together cause it probably never really is. Those moments when things come apart is only setting you up for that moment where you put it back together again, and you're so surprised that it's coming back together again. There's this beauty in the idea of being in repair..."
That spoke to me. Especially with the season of life i am in. And i think even Suzie can relate to this one, even if it is John Mayer. That life does have its ups and downs, and i feel like i am at the crux of it. One season ended...a season full of life and love and growth, especially growth, and great friends that i miss everyday, and especially every night before i drift off to sleep and i am left alone with my thoughts. To the point where i feel like i have lost a leg or an arm (and if David is reading this, more so than my car or phone). And i get ghost pains every now and then, and i want to reach out for that part of me that use to be there, but i can't. Yet, i have this knowledge of future things to come, and it fills me with a hope that sort of balances out the troubled feelings, and i am left with a feeling that i can't really put my finger on, one that moves inside of me, but eludes me. And it is comforting to know that most of my friends also feel this way, even if we do not really know how to say it...we are in repair, and (i was waiting for this moment) i think God gives us these times, these times where we are "coming back together again", to grow us in to the kinds of people he wants us to become.
If you are reading this, and we are separated for the time being, i just want to say that i miss you...and i look forward to seeing you again.
