As I came home from church today, I vowed that I would keep the Sabbath by doing something creative (i.e. re-creation), but not something that was work (a fine line when writing music is your work). The result is a song based on a line I sang into my phone a few weeks ago, “All the things that you can’t change.” It feels like there’s something still to be done with this, but for now, I’m happy to have gotten back in touch with the joy and immediacy of simply writing what’s on my mind.
There’s only silence when you wake.
You breathe the air, but it is thick.
You don’t know if you’ll ever sing again;
You don’t remember how it felt.
Because everything has changed.
Your little life came to an end.
It wasn’t much, but it was all you had
And all that’s left is sad.
Everything’s broken that could break
You took everything that you could take.
Wished you’d been good instead of trying to be great.
But you will be okay.
It will be all be all right someday.
All the things that you can’t change;
All the things you can’t forget;
All the demons that have been with you so long
That they start to feel like friends:
It will all be all right someday.
Now you think that it’s the end,
But it’s never just the end.
You don’t know what, but it’s about to begin
And it will be beautiful in its own way.
It will all be all right someday.