rowing song

since no one decided to come in for a clinic visit today, i'm rich with blogging time.

"rowing song" by patty griffin just came on my itunes and i thought i'd share it. it's one of the most heartbreaking songs i've ever heard. but you gotta hear it, so download it. er, i mean, uh, go buy it legally somewhere. yeah, that's the ticket. legally. it's not amanda's favorite--"god, this woman really has a problem with repetition," was, i believe, her comment.

i have two vivid memories attached to it:

1. laying on the beach in myrtle beach, SC, the day before alyson's wedding, exhausted, unshaven, and by myself, as amanda naps upstairs in our grungy hotel room. the same hotel room for which i still owe her money. i'd put my ipod inside a plastic bag so that if i fell asleep and the tide came in it'd be safe. yeah, i'm that guy.
2. standing on a chair in the old apartment at waterloo, trying to get another coat of primer done before terry came home, desperate to get it done, desperate to end the three-day, heart-wrenching ordeal. i listened to the album the whole way through, and paid attention to these lyrics as i edged around the bare picture window. i got down off the chair, sat with my head in my painty hands, and let myself cry. again.
   

music's powerful stuff.

"As I row, row, row
Going so slow, slow, slow
Just down below me is the old sea
Just down below me is the old sea
Nobody knows, knows, knows
So many things, things, so
So out of range
Sometimes so strange
Sometimes so sweet
Sometimes so lonely

The further I go
More letters from home never arrive
And I'm alone
All of the way
All of the way
Alone and alive

You just have to go, go, go
Where I don't know, know, know
This is the thing
Somebody told me
A long time ago

The further I go
More letters from home never arrive
And I'm alone
All of the way
All of the way
Alone and alive"