Where The Streets Have No Name

An interesting addition by Bono to a live version of this song I have. Something about it calls to me.

Some beggars dreamt of other roads
Some beggars dreamt of other lands
Of another home
Of another home
Where the streets have no name
Take me
Take me

I hesitate to post this, because it relegates the last post to being second on the page, and despite being only a portion of the lyrics of my eighth favorite song, it goes so far beyond any other song lyrics I've ever posted in terms of meaning. Posting those lyrics was at once exhilerating, relieving, gratifying, and somber. The conflux of emotions, the sychronicities and the enigmas, were so profound I couldn't put them into words, hence I posted only the lyrics. Every time I read that post or hear the song though, I go away. Not to Carolina, but somewhere a little different. Perhaps an empty Saskatchewan highway on the way to Carolina. Between the flashing lines and the headlight beams..I feel many things, but there is one thing I do not. That is regret, and I am eternally grateful that a speck of that will never cross my mind.

Beyond My Wildest Dreams

I'd drive a thousand miles
Haul a trailer of tears
Just to see you smile
As the dawn appears

At the edge of the night
There's still a light that leads
Beyond my wildest dreams

Beyond my wildest dreams
Beyond my wildest dreams
I've been with you

Enough said.

Caradhras

I feel like I haven't written anything substantial in here in a little while. The last few posts have been riddled with meaning but they have been easy to write and gave away little, mostly song lyrics or lists or very brief bits of analysis. My last attempt to write something more concrete ended with a post called Flashes Before Your Eyes, which I thought was a good post, but was too revealing about certain things for me to throw it out there. Therefore, it went back on the shelf for a while. That may end up happening to this post as well, but i'll try my best to write something that is both meaningful and discrete.
Probably the preeminent issue on my mind lately spurs from a couple conversations I recently had about the future. I knew I was going to have to think about the issue that these conversations were concerned with, but that doesn't make it any easier to attack. I am reminded of a post I wrote last summer called The Long Road. Then, the issue was abstract. It is a little bit more multifaceted now that it is real. As opposed to my summer post, which was primarily about the perils of the Long Road and the fortitude that one requires to make that journey, this discussion is going to be a little more specific. Just for fun, I thought a little allegory would be in order.
As I see it, I have left Rivendell, and am taking the road southeast. The nature of my quest has become quite clear, but the nature of the enemy is still hidden and the road ahead is still long. I have left the valley well equipped but by no means invunerable. Following in the footsteps of the Fellowship, I have come to the foot of the Misty Mountains, and am left with a choice of two paths if I wish to continue going forward. There are other paths, but they lead away from the quest that I have undertaken, and that, for me, is not a choice I will make willingly.
To the casual observer, there seems to be only one path across the mountains. This is over the top of the great peak Caradhras, through the High Pass. This path has been taken by many travellers, and is most similar to the generic Long Road that I have previously mapped out. Scaling the peak will certainly require admirable fortitude, courage and strength of will, and it has claimed no shortage of victims. Still, it remains the common path and has been done successsfully many times. The main perils of Caradhras are three. The first is loneliness. The trek takes you through the lonely peaks, and each time you think of how far you are from home you tend to cringe, especially since looking back on a clear day you can see the green fields and quiet streams from which you came and yet the mountain blocks the view of any similar oases on the far side. The second challenge is temptation. Like the ring of power, the mountain can make you forget who you really are. High in the thin air you can see things that arn't really there, and the memories of the past tend to fade amidst the snow. The third challenge is commitment. There are times during the ascent of the mountain where one feels helpless, feels like the mountain can never be conquered. The peak does its best to thwart you, and even if you can overcome the first two challenges, sometimes the sheer veracity of the task can cause your resolve to wither away, and even if you do conquer the mountain, once on the other side you have nothing left to give.
Facing these challenges, there is certainly incentive to find another way. But only one more acceptable path is open, and it may be fraught with even fiercer perils. The path taken by the fellowship is a dangerous one, deep underground through the mines of Moria. This path also has three challenges,but they are different than the ones above on Caradhras. The first is the darkness. In the mines it is difficult to see anything. The lack of light, the lack of ability to see , can wreak havoc with the mind. It is a feeling of being completely alone, similar but distinct from the loneliness of the peak. The difference lies in the inability to see off in the distance. It eases the ache at times, but at other times it is harder. It depends on the person. The second challenge is the challenge of corruption. The mines seeth evil, and there are people that have simply forsaken their old lives and let themselves be lost in the deep. The risk of never emerging from the mines is not substantial, but it is there. The final threat is that the mines change people. The long time to reflect in the dark makes them think that just because the mines black everything out, they can as well. They forget the feelings that make them human, and forget the good in their past. They think they feel nothing, when really they've only forgotten.
The two paths are both fraught with danger, and the choice in the end must be a personal one. I don't know which path is mine, but I am reminded of a quote from George Mallory, the man who in 1924 was ever so close to being the first man to summit Everest. He may have even made it to the top, but he died on the way down so barring new evidence, we will never know whether or not he made it. When Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Everest, he replied with the immortal words that will forever be associated with the mountain. "Because it is there."

Blair's Top 25 One Liners

I needed a new Top 25 playlist, so I decided to acknowledge songs that have one line in particular that either makes the song great, turns it from great into a masterpiece, or is simply a tremendous piece of wordsmithing. The list is ordered based on two factors, how much the line improves the song and how good the line is on its own. The trend seems to be toward lines that have something to do with someone's heart. So here goes:

1.Rock and Roll Dreams, Meatloaf
"You're never alone, because you can put on the phones and let the drummer tell your heart what to do"
AND
"Angels had guitars even before they had wings"

2. Love Over Gold, Dire Straits
"It takes love over gold, and mind over matter to do what you do that you must"

3. Hurtin' Albertan, Corb Lund
"Man it ain't the same, as being home at the Saddledome, for the Oilers at the Flames"

4. Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell
"You could complete me...I'd complete you"

5. Not a Day Goes By, Lonestar
"It still amazes me, that I lie here in the dark, wishin you were next to me, with your head against my heart"

6. Iris, The Goo Goo Dolls
"When everything feels like the movies, you bleed just to know you're alive"

7. Simple As That, Lonestar
"Even when we're apart, you beat around in my heart"

8. Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor
"Watch her watch the morning sun, a silver tear appearing now, I'm cryin'"

9. Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Elton John
"There's a rhyme and reason to the wild outdoors, when the heart of this star-crossed voyager beats in time with yours"

10. Your Song, Elton John
"I hope you don't mind, that I put down into words, how wonderful life is when you're in the world"

11. St. Elmo's Fire, John Parr
"Just once in his life, a man has his time..and my time is now, I'm coming alive"

12. Solace, Xavier Rudd
"Yes it is a cruel world, but there is solace amongst the sin"

13. Sweet Baby James, James Taylor
"Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose, won't you let me go down in my dreams"

14.Chatahoochie, Alan Jackson
"I learned how to swim and I learned who I was, a lot about livin' and a little bout love"

15. What Kind of Man Would I Be, Chicago
"What kind of man would I be, living a life without any meaning?"

16. What is Love?, Haddaway
Self-explanatory

17. Rock and Roll, Led Zeppelin
"I can't count the tears of a life with no love"

18. The One, Elton John
"Where sex and love no longer jest"

19. Free, Burton Cummings
"Search for a lifetime, for the meaning of one word...if you could pick one word that word should be free"

20. Call On Me, Eric Prydz
Self-explanatory

21. Take It Easy, The Eagles
"Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see..it's a girl my lord, in a flat bed Ford, slowing down to take a look at me"

22. Timeless Love, Burton Cummings
"Cry my memories away...they haunt me by night honey, and they chase me by day"

23. Already Gone, Blue Rodeo
"Walk the streets of New Orleans, shirt soaked to my skin, through the mess of yesterday's parade"

24. These Eyes, The Guess Who
"These eyes have seen a lot of love, but they're never gonna see another one like I had with you"

25. The Last Laugh, Mark Knopfler
"They had you cryin', but you came up smiling, and the last laugh, baby, is yours"

All great lines, all great songs.