I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Monday, February 7, 2011

And everyday is the right day

Relistening to some Floyd thanks to Eric and his post. There are worse ways to start your day. So then I went to one of my favorite (and lesser known/played) albums (yes, damnit, albums, it's albums, get offa my lawn you kids) Meddle.

Meddle starts off with what is perhaps one my favorite "rock-out" tracks, "One of These Days."



And in an album (yes, damnit, album) full of great tracks like "San Tropez" and "A Pillow of Winds", my all time favorite is "Fearless". It always reminds me of what it means to be a creative.


Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd
Smiling.
Merciless the magistrate turns 'round
Frowning.
And who's the fool who wears the crown?
And go down, in your own way
And every day is the right day
And as you rise above the fear-lines in his brow
You look down, hearing the sound of the faces in the crowd.

That, friends, is shear genius. This song is about many things, but it's about not allowing small minded people to break you down, as they often try to do. It's about going forward and being yourself every single day. It's about facing the future, even against overwhelming odds, and daring to go beyond your comfort zone. And all the while knowing the crowd won't really appreciate what you've done. And not all hills you're meant to climb are physical mounds of earth.

You say the hill's too steep to climb.
Climb it.

2 comments:

Eric said...

Meddle really is a phenomenally good album. Glad I could remind you of it.

While I'm here (instead of mentioning it over at Giant Midgets): Relics is absolutely worth owning (it includes several of the early singles and B-sides that weren't available anywhere else, putting it above the later Floyd compilation albums), the best official version of "Careful With That Axe, Eugene" is the live one on Ummagumma. Just pointin' that out.

Before EMI/Capitol did the official re-release of Relics, the only versions you could find were foreign bootlegs. I have an Australian one that makes up for crappy sound quality by including a bunch of extra cuts from the Zabriskie Point soundtrack, including "Crumbling Land" (not a "great" song, per se, but maybe the Floydiest single the band recorded in that era) and the awesome alt-version of "Careful" they did for Zabriskie, "Come In Number 51, Your Time Is Up," which is a wicked cool take on it. I really wish the band would go into the archives and release a remastered sort of "Relics 2" with all that stuff. A man can dream.

Steve Buchheit said...

Eric, yeah, I may have to get that one.