Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Wednesday Words

Climbing up on Solsbury Hill
I could see the city light
Wind was blowing, time stood still
Eagle flew out of the night
He was something to observe
Came in close, I heard a voice
Standing stretching every nerve
Had to listen had no choice
I did not believe the information
[I] just had to trust imagination
My heart going boom boom boom
"Son," he said "Grab your things,
I've come to take you home."

To keepin' silence I resigned
My friends would think I was a nut
Turning water into wine
Open doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to day
Tho' my life was in a rut
"Till I thought of what I'd say
Which connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the scenery
I walked right out of the machinery
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" he said "Grab your things
I've come to take you home."

When illusion spin her net
I'm never where I want to be
And liberty she pirouette
When I think that I am free
Watched by empty silhouettes
Who close their eyes but still can see
No one taught them etiquette
I will show another me
Today I don't need a replacement
I'll tell them what the smile on my face meant
My heart going boom boom boom
"Hey" I said "You can keep my things,
they've come to take me home."
-Solsbury Hill, Peter Gabriel

As a writer, I always want to be the one to perfectly describe a situation or a feeling. But sometimes it's just best to acknowledge that someone else has done it perfectly. And Mr. Gabriel has done so. This song has been my go-to going home song since my sophomore year of college. (Even before "Carolina in my Mind" since "Carolina" was always Chapel Hill until I left the state entirely.) I've bolded my favorite lines but all I really need is that line at the end. Throughout the song it's someone else saying, "Get your things, I'll take you home," and at the end it's the narrator saying, "I don't need my things, I'm going home." And that just says it perfectly.

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