Music as inspiration #2

 

Told you it would always be Howard Jones!   TOLD YOU!!!! (you owe me a dollar). Speaking of, yesterday was my lucky music day.  I heard Howard Jones (Things Can Only Get Better) in the car and then at lunch I heard Erasure (A Little Respect), the Beatles (Penny Lane) and Matthew Sweet (Sick of Myself) AND THEN (yes, there's more!) I went grocery shopping and heard Howard Jones again (What I Love?)!!!  I felt so lucky that I bought a lotto ticket!  That is where my luck ran out though.  Oh well.

Here's today's song. Listen on this youtube link:

Respected


I listen to this song almost every day.  It's sort of haunting.  I usually listen to this when I go to sleep.  I have tried meditation but I am really not good at it.  I liked guided meditations.  You know like "Picture yourself on a boat on a river..."  Oh wait, that's not a meditation but you know what I mean.  Anyway, I like the positive message meditation rather than the just not thinking, empty your mind kind.  When I empty my mind, I start thinking about how much my nose itches and how I am not supposed to think about nose itches.  It gets me nowhere.  So I like to listen to reaffirming words and therefore, this song is a win for me.  It's a positive message with a tune that sticks with me and no matter how many times I hear it, or read it, it still grabs me.  Different parts of the song mean more to me on some days than others.

My interpretation of it is that while you have loved ones around you, they can support you but ultimately, it is your heart, your thoughts, your perspective that decides how your life unfolds.  Those negative thoughts and feelings that sometimes get stuck in your head, you can shed them, you can leave them behind but you have to choose to.  Maybe you can't change the events going on around you or control certain aspects of your life but you can change your world from the inside, the way that you are viewing and interpreting it.  I have a feeling that the lesson in this song takes a lifetime to learn and implement.  Sometimes I am frustrated when I'm not able to do this.  Then I remember that this is basically Howard Jones' message in his music from the 80's until now so I guess he continues to work on this as well.  It's not something to achieve and move on.  It's something to achieve and continue to achieve.


and here are the lyrics:
Respected

 

Here in the dark, the shadows, they haunt me,
Here in the shade, oh the bright lights, they blind me

Yesterday is gone, time for moving on,
Here's a brand new start, gonna base it on my heart,
It's another day, I've got to find a better way,
Won't you help me?

Failing that,
If you have to go,
It's all up to me, I know

I just wanna change my world,
But from the inside,
I just wanna live my life,
And make this place, make this time,
For all our lives to be,
Respected

Here in the cold, light of day, this vision,
Paints a different world, a world of the heart,
And I'd like to live there

I've been on the run, from all the people I've become,
I want to shed this skin, and start it all again,
I want to draw a line, in the sand for one last time,
Will you help me?

Failing that,
If you have to go,
It's all up to me I know

I just wanna change my world,
But from the inside,
I just wanna live my life,
With some hope, and to do what's right,
I just wanna change this world,
And make this place, make this time,
For all our lives to be,
Respected