When we are young

I'm having sort of a rough day, but I made it through it again, and that's good. This last weekend was awesome - some friends and I traveled to Madison, Wisconsin - we experienced the Kites on Ice festival, the UW union, bars/restaurants (had my first Afghani food), and the great company of good friends. It was quite warm out for February, but as I tend to do, I thought it was nicer than it was. The trip was awesome, but sometimes the consequences are troublesome.

Now I'm sick - a bad cold caught up with me - I haven't had a bad cold in a few years (used to get them all the time - felt like I was perpetually sick). At any rate, I'm going to take a nap now - I'm drinking warm water, and a graduate student friend is going to have me try Airborne - some new cold remedy that people are talking about and sounds like it works.

The following song is from 1991 - and it's a little bit of my musical history - this album, this song, and this band were my favorites for a while when I was a 8th/9th grader. I listened to it a lot - for some reason though, this song reminds me of being sick, laying at home in bed, trying to sleep, getting up to watch Saved by the Bell reruns, going back to bed, taking a warm bath, going back to bed - all the time I spent sick at home in bed those years I would listen to this album - Roll the Bones (my friend who listened to them with me always liked the title track better). It kind of went along with the other stuff I was listening to at that time (Queensryche's album Empire was good) - they were technical musicians with interesting lyrics - I liked the complexity sometimes (though I liked pretty simple stuff too - Bush's Sixteen Stone comes to mind). And it fills in the holes between Meatloaf (5th/6th), Guns and Roses (6th/7th), Bryan Adams (6th/7th), and all the other music I listened to during that time. Before middle school, I mostly liked 60s music - especially the Beatles, Beach Boys, Monkees (TV show reruns again), Del Shannon (Runaway was my favorite song for quite a while), Peter/Paul/Mary, Simon & Garfunkel, and many others.

And I guess it makes sense that I wasn't quite with the mainstream in middle school - I was forever changed by older brothers. The oldest loved U2, Guns and Roses, ZZ Top, and Rush. The second was listening to Moby, Green Day, and Bush way before anyone around me had heard of them, along with Testament, Ministry, and other crazy bands. My older brothers listened to Pink Floyd, Bryan Adams, Smashing Pumpkins, and so many other musicians before I did. And that's good. I'm glad.

Now I have a network of people looking for good music to introduce me to - my friends and my younger brother mostly - but others too. And every once in a while, I find something myself that I like. This song is one that still seems a good one for listening to while resting. Unfortunately, I don't have it with me right now so I'll have to listen to it later. Definitely read the lyrics though - not a bad choice for my younger days.


Dreamline by Rush

He's got a road map of Jupiter
A radar fix on the stars
All along the highway
She's got a liquid-crystal compass
A picture book of the rivers
Under the Sahara

They travel in the time of the prophets
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run

He's got a star map of Hollywood
A list of cheap motels
All along the freeway
She's got a sister out in Vegas
The promise of a decent job
Far away from her hometown

They travel on the road to redemption
A highway out of yesterday -- that tomorrow will bring
Like lovers and heroes, birds in the last days of spring
We're only at home when we're on the wing
On the wing

When we are young
Wandering the face of the Earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal
For a limited time

Time is a gypsy caravan
Steals away in the night
To leave you stranded in Dreamland
Distance is a long-range filter
Memory a flickering light
Left behind in the heartland

We travel in the dark of the new moon
A starry highway traced on the map of the sky
Like lovers and heroes, lonely as the eagle's cry
We're only at home when we're on the fly
On the fly

When we are young
Wandering the face of the Earth
Wondering what our dreams might be worth
Learning that we're only immortal
For a limited time

We travel on the road to adventure
On a desert highway straight to the heart of the sun
Like lovers and heroes, and the restless part of everyone
We're only at home when we're on the run
On the run