So there I was, 1AM in the morning driving home from a ten hour shift, listening to a news/talk show on the radio. I was tired and beat up. The news was depressing, the way that it was presented was angry, and at that moment it seemed the whole world was simply descending into a madness of its own creation.
In pure frustration, I poked at the radio buttons to stop this media assault on my already frayed nerves. It randomly stopped on a local country station. I recognized the song, a catchy old ballad about mom, trucks, family, and love. I leaned back in the seat, comforted by this simple but familiar tune. The anger faded away..
My thoughts settled on my memories surrounding this old country ballad. The lyrics were ridiculously simple, even corny, but I found myself solidly singing along. I thought of being a child, frolicking around in the back seat, no seatbelt even available, the rolled down windows buffering me with constant wind, and me, happily singing along to the song.
My mind moved to another memory, another time when this song played in the background. I sat at the table. A bottle of whiskey and a torn picture. Alone. Hurting. That god awful ache. The sadness played from the speakers, driving on the pain some moments, an inspiration of hope the next. I played that song over twenty times, crying, feeling sorry for myself, angry, I wanted to feel completely miserable. And that song played in the background.
And yet another thought, this time recalling a very dark dance floor, me and her, this song, a heart so filled with emotions that I honestly thought it might burst in contentment. Slow flowing magic vibrated as we danced in time to that song. The entirety of the universe shrunk that night to fill the space between our slow dancing bodies as angels smiled from some heavenly perch.
Nostalgically, I remembered my son singing the song in the car, secured in his car seat, sippy cup in hand, happily bellowing out words that he thought were the lyrics. His passionate giggling and his triumphant rendition of that old song had me in tears every time it played. And you know, the joy I feel when I watch him now, an adult, still triumphantly singing, my heart still soars.
All of this, because of an old country song. Pretty nice. We need things like that old songs. They define us, help us through hard times, and remind us all that the mind has the trickiest ways of painting our past.
All from a country song at 1am…
Lee
