Well folks, we're nearing the end. Not long now until the final entry on February 19th, 2025. The last major theme to close us out revolves around the Passing of Time. If the first few months of this project were tough, they're actually a cakewalk compared to what we're about to go through. We're getting old and life perspectives are changing as they should - AKA we're closer to dying than when we were born. Some of these songs represent the heaviest weights that we've carried since knowing them. Some are as recent as 2023 and 2024, but I know in my heart of hearts that even if they came out in 1989 they would have made this list - they are that profound to me.
So if you're an artist that made this project from here on out you should feel humble and proud...you achieved what you set out to do...make music that people feel and love...thank you.
Shannon’s Perspective:
All the highlights of that headlong flight
Holding on with all my might
Holding on with all my might indeed. To me that lyric fits perfectly with this project. It has been like a highlight reel of life so far for sure and there have been moments where holding on is all you have. But I consider myself lucky to have someone to hold onto.
I have always loved this song and I can actually use it as a barometer of my emotional health because on the good days I most definitely would live it ALL again. Yes, even the dark days. But on the days where it seems like dark days are the only days that's when I know I need to refocus my thoughts and energies on the bright nights.
Life will always have its ups and downs. It will always find a way to challenge you in ways you weren't sure you could handle. But if you can look at your life as a whole and be mostly satisfied with it then consider yourself one of the truly fortunate ones. Because if given the chance not everyone would choose to live it all again.
In the lyrics below, I'm going to leave the prelude quote alone - it's a Rush fans inside joke per se. IYKYN.
For this song, you only need to reflect on your very first memories of life up until the very moment that you read this entry. Hey, I'm not asking for much!
Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again
That about sums it up.
We've talked about (and will talk about) some pretty dark days on this journey. The deaths of Joey, Shane, Helen. Saying goodbye to our beloved Akitas. Our own mental struggles. Our own health struggles. The close friends we've lost over the years. Writing this damn blog!
We've talked about some pretty bright nights. Finding each other. Our wedding. The births of our sons. The wedding that brought a wonderful daughter-in-law into the family. The close friends we've made over the years. Writing this damn blog!
All the journeys
Of this great adventure
It didn't always feel that way
During the dark days those are the most powerful emotions you can feel. It never felt like it was a great adventure; it felt like the world was collapsing and in reality it has never been the same since.
But that has turned into bright nights. The memories we've made on this Ghost of a Chance great adventure will see us through for a long, long time.
I've referenced my string of fate theory a few times and there is an entry coming that I'll dub "Deviation Zero"; kind of like "Suspect Zero" or "Patient Zero"; that is, had this event happened I'm not sure Shannon and I would have ever met. I know that's contradictory to the string of fate, but in my mind, it could have thrown a huge wrench into how and when and if we might have found each other.
I wouldn't trade them
Because I made them
The best I could
And that's enough to say
Yes, I'm looking in the rearview mirror right now, but so is the song. And that's what life is like when you reach this age. Per Chris Rock, "you start reflectin'" - though his reflectin' was for a completely different, inappropriate, comical reason...LOL...
I hope that you and yours take the time to do the same. I hope that you take time to remember the dark days that I know can turn into bright nights.
I would rarely ever change a Rush lyric or suggest a change to a Rush lyric, but in this song I might suggest the following:
I learned to fight, I learned to love and learned to feel heal...
I'll share that as we built this project list in Excel and the corresponding "Slow Dancing" playlist, once we moved past a song I moved that song onto another playlist that we would have forever, called
I wish that I could live it all again
P.S. Clockwork Angels was released in 2012, making Geddy Lee probably 58 or 59 years old when it was recorded. I say that because his voice and holding notes is absolutely incredible in this song. Plus it's also Rush just jamming...
Headlong Flight
Music by Lee & Lifeson, Lyrics by Peart
Thinking Back Over My Life, And Telling Stories About My "Great Adventures" - they didn't always feel that grand at the time. But on balance, I wouldn't change anything. In the words of one of our great alchemists, Friedrich Gruber, "I wish I could do it all again."
All the journeys
Of this great adventure
It didn't always feel that way
I wouldn't trade them
Because I made them
The best I could
And that's enough to say
Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again
All the highlights of that headlong flight
Holding on with all my might
To what I felt back then
I wish that I could live it all again
I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels
Steered the airship right across the stars
I learned to fight, I learned to love and learned to feel
Oh, I wish that I could live it all again
All the treasures
The gold and glory
It didn't always feel that way
I don't regret it
I'll never forget it
I wouldn't trade tomorrow for today
Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again
I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels
Steered the airship right across the stars
I learned to fight, I learned to love and learned to feel
Oh, I wish that I could live it all again
(Ah, the days were dark)
(And the nights were bright)
(Hey, man, I would never trade tomorrow for today)
(Yeah)
All the highlights of that headlong flight
Holding on with all my might
Some days were dark
I wish that I could live it all again
Some nights were bright
I wish that I could live it all again
I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels
Steered the airship right across the stars
I learned to fight, I learned to love and learned to feel
Oh, I wish that I could live it all again
I have stoked the fire on the big steel wheels
Steered the airship right across the stars
I learned to fight, I learned to love and learned to steal
Oh, I wish that I could
Oh, I wish that I could live it all again
Rest In Peace, Neil Peart - 09/12/1952 - 01/07/2020
30th Anniversary
Our Story - Shannon's Perspective
Our Story - Larry's Perspective
Ghost of a Chance (Rush) and why?
Ghost of a Chance 