2 for Tuesday: Save It For Later

Life has a funny way of changing speeds periodically with no warning or reason. Just, boom!

Looking back, I can now pin point when those moments occurred, as well as the most impactful emotional segways that altered the course of my journey, from a whisper to a scream.

My wife and I just finished binging season 3 of The Bear. The show is emotionally intense and in my humble opinion, brilliant. One of the episodes featured a familiar song from the 80’s, Save It For Later. This particular version was covered by Eddie Vedder. I was struck by how it has taken almost 40 years to fully appreciate and understand the meaning of the song and how it relates to my own episodic life. In particular, I felt a rush of memories from that time in life when I was a young adult, moving fast, feeling the freedoms and the frustrations we all go through when we are no longer tethered to adolescence but nowhere near experienced enough to anticipate what’s coming.

God, I loved that time of my life. I was invincible. I worked hard, played hard, and somehow navigated the perils of being my own master. 70 hour work weeks at twenty-one fueled by sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll is a fair way to describe my early twenties.

Little did I know the mach speed I was moving at was driven by a chase from the demons of depression. Those same demons led to the emotional segways that defined each distinct period of my life. As I look back, I have no regrets. I am no longer burdened by the weight and guilt associated with certain episodes but it has taken all 54 years of this life to get there.

Back to the song. Save It For Later was released by The English Beat, or as they were called in England, The Beat, in 1982. I was only 11 and not familiar with the song or the band until high school. The English Beat really didn’t hit my radar until my best friend Rusty introduced them to me in 91′ or 92′.

From Songfacts.com: English Beat singer/guitarist Dave Wakeling told Songfacts about this song: “I wrote it when I was a teenager. I wrote it before The Beat started. And it was about turning from a teenager to someone in their 20s, and realizing that the effortless promise for your teenage years was not necessarily going to show that life was so simple as you started to grow up. So it was about being lost, about not really knowing your role in the world, trying to find your place in the world. So, you couldn’t find your own way in the world, and you’d have all sorts of people telling you this, that, and the other, and advising you, and it didn’t actually seem like they knew any better. So it was like keep your advice to yourself. Save it – for later.”

Hearing the song covered by Eddie Vedder, who turned 60 in December, was a perfect bookend to what the song means in relation to my own life perspective. Oh, shout out to my man, Scotty J. who also turns 60 in a week!

I pegged this song for discussion last week immediately when I heard it on The Bear, but the 2nd song on this Two For Tuesday came to me just this morning as I was combing through various Spotify suggestions. I chose it because it seemed to be a good complement to Save It For Later as it relates to the episodes of my odyssey and the whispers which led to screams that defined the breaks between each one.

Birds Fly(Whisper To A Scream) released in 1984 by The Icicle Works. This group was sort of a one hit wonder here in the U.S. but more popular in the U.K. Great song!

Life is a gift.

Life is messy. Life is better with a soundtrack, always. What does your soundtrack include? Last week I lost someone dear to me whom I have known all my life. I plan to post about him separately, later. But his loss certainly has me reflecting about life. He, Grant, certainly had a major influence on how I see the world, on who I am. All I can say now is, enjoy life. Live your life as it truly is, a gift. Live life in service of others. Let love and kindness be your legacy. Even in the darkest of days, there is light. But it is up to you to let it in.

As usual, I added a couple of extra songs to this Tuesday’s lineup. The first one (2nd) is the Eddie Vedder cover, which is fucking awesome. The 2nd (4th) is Change by Blind Melon because it is currently my mantra. If you made it this far (all three of you, lol), feel free to share your current mantra, fight song, daily musical fix.

Be love. Be kind.

We are all connected.

This week’s song choice is dedicated to my best friend Rusty and the friends I have been fortunate enough to know since Jr. High, our own little breakfast club, Andrea, Michelle, Rhonda, Roberto, Tina, et al. Don’t know how I possibly could have survived without you guys!

#kindness #purposefulkindness #drivingawaydepression #WhatAWonderfulWorld #hope #peace #joy #love #streetlights #grace #TheKindnessClub #lifeisbetterwithasoundtrack #weareallconnected #findingjoy
#AllMyEmptySpaces
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