We're Alright

Even with all evidence to the contrary

Saturday evening, waiting in line at the Hamilton Live, I decided to text a request to Sunny Trippel, my good friend, who sings in “Psycho Killer” - a Talking Heads cover band. To my great delight, it opened the set. Doing a little research, I find that Mavis Staples also covered it:

Love from the bottom to the top, my friends. Love is all that is real. As the subtitle suggests, all evidence to the contrary, love is real. We are here now. Our artists are working. We, as a species, can transcend the things that we are perceiving in the world.

Will we? Time will tell. We are all responsbile for the world that we are co-creating.

Co-creation was the theme of a conversation that I had with Keith Garde on Friday:

We do what we can to make this world a better place and it takes all of us working together. This brings me to promotion of Keith’s company’s latest offerings:

There’s some really good stuff here. Looking forward to Episode 3. We are reaching for each other through these kinds of productions. Let it reach you and impast your “Heartset” - onward!

Bringing in some of my more popular podcasts now:

…and then there’s this - set itself on replay in my pocket, and I’m forced to conclude that this is more than a coincidence:

So what? Well, it’s prophetic and presently appropriate. Allow me to explain. Here are the lyrics:

Forefather pointed to kingdom come
Sadly told his only son
Just be careful what you do
It all comes back on you.
False witness spread the news
Somebody's gonna lose
Either she or me or you,
Nothing we can do.
(Chorus)
Don't you say a word
Or reveal a thing you've learned
Time will tell you well
If you truly, truly fell
Tarred and feathered, yea!
Thistles and thorns,
One or the other
He kindly warns.
Now you look out the window tell me
What do you see?
I see a golden calf pointing
Back at me.
I been sitting in here for so darn long
Waitin' for the end to come along.
Holy roaster on the brink
Take a chance, swim or sink.
False witness, cast an evil eye
said I cannot tell a lie,
Haints and saints don't bother me
I'm not alone you see.

I’m not alone. You are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. One might say that legitimately, no? I don’t know. I just know how it seems to me. I might receive new information that might mean that I could revise my perspective on the world.

Not saying a word, though? Not too likely, even though the band has admonished me to not say a word. I’m apt to write. In writing, I’m apt to reveal my ignorance.

I was wondering if I’ve ever had an original thought. It seems to me that what I have is synthetic knowledge; mashed up from that which has gone on in the minds of others. After all, isn’t thought simply tapping into a field of consciousness that is flowing ever onward? I’m thinking now of how certain ideas appear to come in dreams.

My dreams tend to find me living other lives in other places. They are very familiar and are often populated by individuals who have been a part of my life in the past. It seems we are linked at a psychic level.

What’s your experience?

Whatever we experience, we are alright. We are simply in the grip of the tides of history. We reaping as we have sown, so to speak. Every move we’ve made, every thought we have had, every action we have taken - all of this has led to the present moment. If we had done differently, we would be seeing different outcomes.

This means, of course, that we are A) responsible and B) empowered to change the future by making different choices. It’s not too late. It’s exactly now.

So, what’s it going to be? What kind of future are we going to leave to our progeny.

We can talk about it now:

We can talk about it now
It’s that same old riddle, only starting from the middle
I’d fix it but I don’t know how
Well, we could try to reason, but you might think it treason
One voice for all, echoing along the hall (echoing along the hall)
Don’t give up on Father Clock
We can talk about it now

Come, let me show you how
To keep the wheels turning, you’ve got to keep the engines churning
Well, did you ever milk a cow?
I had the chance one day, but I was all dressed up for Sunday
Everybody, everywhere, do you really care?
Well then, pick up your heads and walk
We can talk about it now

It seems to me, we’ve been holding something
Underneath our tongues
I’m afraid if you ever got a pat on the back
It would likely burst your lungs, oh
Stop me if I should sound kinda down in the mouth
But I’d rather be burned in Canada than to freeze here in the South

Pulling that eternal plough
We’ve got to find a sharper blade, or have a new one made
Rest a while and cool your brow
Don’t you see there’s no need to slave, the whip is in the grave
No salt, no trance, you know it’s safe now to take a backward glance
Because the flames have turned to char
We can talk about it now
We can talk about it now

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Richard Manuel

We Can Talk lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Regardless, gratitude for all that has been, all that’s to be, and all that is - that’s a good starting point:

Onward!

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