Shannon’s Perspective:
"And you can swallow or you can spit
You can throw it up, or choke on it
And you can dream, so dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down"
I have always thought of this song as a rally cry of sorts, as someone telling someone else things that maybe they don't want to hear but need to hear. When I hear it I can hear Larry speaking to me. In Larry's Take it Back writeup he mentions that he "gave" me permission to be myself. Which is an interesting way to tell the story, I know he was being sarcastic about it but I do think more of the story needs to be told to understand why I hear Larry speaking when I hear this song. The following is the way I remember that particular moment.
Larry and I had not been dating very long when he pulled me aside one night at work to see if he could find out what was wrong with me. I hadn't been myself and he wasn't sure why. He was right I wasn't acting like the same person I was when we had just been friends. Turns out that in many of my previous relationships the guy wasn't always as amused by my fast-witted sarcasm after we started dating as he was before we started dating. So I just fell into a pattern of toning that side of myself down. Well, Larry was having none of that and told me very directly that he wanted to date the girl he hung out with not the one I had become. He said that if I couldn't be her again he didn't think this would work out.
"When I first met you, girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened to your face
Of melting snow?"
I had never felt so seen and so appreciated, for me. So, much to Larry's regret, all these years later, I did go back to that smart-mouthed fireball. I also knew I had someone who would be honest with me, even if it hurt a little. I also knew I had someone who included themselves in not letting the bastards grind you down and was perfectly content with me standing up for myself, even if it was a stand against him.
Just know that whatever the world throws at you, you decide how to handle it....
And you can dream, so dream out loud
And you can find your own way out
And you can build, and I can will
And you can call, I can't wait until
You can stash and you can seize
In dreams begin responsibilities
And I can love, and I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down..
P.S. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before but I used to keep quotes/music lyrics posted on my cubicle wall at work. I had the one at the top of this write-up, hanging up for a while but had to remove it due to complaints about the sexual nature of the quote, to which I say get your mind out of the fucking gutter.
This song to me has always been a mixed bag. That isn't to say I don't love it, because I do. Part of the reason is because it's a mixed bag.
I've preached in the past about Be Good To Yourself, but sometimes you have to look in the mirror and say "stop being an asshole and go fuck yourself". So the first lines in the song say that to me:
Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
Unless you have that one truly trusted individual that will tell you to your face that sentiment ("stop being an asshole and go fuck yourself"), everyone else is lying - or as they say in Entre Nous:
We are strangers to each other
Full of sliding panels
An illusion show
Acting well rehearsed routines
Or playing from the heart?
It's hard for one to know
It's never an easy thing to truly reflect on how horrible a person you might be, but it's a necessary part of life to foster growth.
The next mixed bag are these very quiet lines that are hard to hear, for some, I'm sure - sort of like "Punch a higher floor" in Let's Go Crazy:
What are we going to do now it's all been said?
No new ideas in the house, and every book has been read
I know life can feel like that sometimes and it's easy to believe it. That sentiment is exactly why I did not want to know the sex of our sons (see In Your Eyes and Mystic Rhythms)
The last part of the mixed bag, which I'm sure Shannon is using as her lyrics:
So don't let the bastards grind you down
"If you're going through hell, just keep going..." not Winston Churchill.
So here's to you, "F" yourself!, "F" the man! and "F" religion!
Acrobat
U2
Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you, girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened to your face
Of melting snow?
Now it looks like this!
And you can swallow or you can spit
You can throw it up, or choke on it
And you can dream, so dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down
No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah, I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'Cause I need it now
To take the cup, to fill it up
To drink it slow, I can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this and act like that
And you can dream, so dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down (Oh, save me)
What are we going to do now it's all been said?
No new ideas in the house, and every book has been read
And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this and act like that
And you can dream, so dream out loud
And you can find your own way out
And you can build, and I can will
And you can call, I can't wait until
You can stash and you can seize
In dreams begin responsibilities
And I can love, and I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down...
30th Anniversary
Our Story - Shannon's Perspective
Our Story - Larry's Perspective
Ghost of a Chance (Rush) and why?
Ghost of a Chance 