I'm having a rough week. Not rough as in, things are going wrong. Rough as in, I need a break. I've been admittedly taking on too much, while still trying to have time for myself. I've worked a couple weekends, and have another weekend business trip coming up, and I just want a wee break.
So last night, I tried to fabricate one. I turned off the television, I neglected housework and ignored my phone ringing. I made some tea, and I grabbed my headphones and a book. I listened to a fantastic playlist I made on myTunes called 'Write'. It's a collection of mellow, unobtrusive songs that I tend to put on if I can't find my muse or find myself getting distracted easily.
Now, they say you're not supposed to read other peoples' work if you're trying to write your own, but I bought True Believer, by Nicholas Sparks at the Edmonton Airport, and I am hooked on it. So I started reading.
Apparently, while my playlist is great for writing to, it's not so great for reading to. I found myself hearing lyrics I hadn't ever really stopped to listen to, or ones that I hadn't ever really thought about.
One struck me hard.
You know from past posts that I love Patty Griffin. I've adored her for years.
Her song Every Little Bit is an incredible one. Perhaps what I love most about it, is that it's kind of an anti-love song.
Lots of people (I'd like to think myself, included) can write sweet lyrics. Sweet things that make women swoon and men scoff. Things like, "One mile to every inch of your skin like porcelain." Or, "The city's settled down/I watch you as you sleep/There's a silent celebration for every breath you breathe."
Patty Griffin takes the sweet lyric and flips it around.
"It's funny how a morning turns the love to shame/Disguised and disfigured/And you said I tasted like rain."
Why do I love this so much? It's because she has the ability to capture that emotion so perfectly. That feeling of thinking it's a good idea, and when it's dark, it's all simple. You say things you think you mean, then you wake up and realize it's all different. She takes the words from the night before and makes them an accusation.
I love that. I don't know if I have explained it well enough, but listen to the song and that might speak better than I can.
And now, I'm going to take tomorrow off and sit around my house doing as little as possible. Probably listening to music and trying to finish that book. If you've read it, don't tell me how it ends!
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