Saturday 9 June 2018

An Important Number*

"Sweet Old World," by Lucinda Williams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWJCu3d6EX0

Lately, a couple of famous people have committed suicide.** One of them I'd never heard of (fashion), the other I had (food, travel). Everyone is asking why (me included), but the only people with the answers are the dead ones, and they're not talking. It's quite a fix for the rest of us since that kind of information could be useful some day -- not as a reason to do it, but as a reason not to.

It's a strange thing, being alive, and I think there's science enough to prove how unlikely it all is. There's probably also science enough to explain how songs soothe us the way they do as we walk along the edge of all that randomness without falling off. But I don't understand all that science very well.

What I do get is that in this song, Lucinda Williams is a clairvoyant messenger who understands the whys and the why-nots of being alive. If there's a sadder, wiser, happier (listen to the last little riff), more stunningly beautiful song sung in a more angelic voice that reveals more of the truth, I'd like to hear it. (And the band had better be perfect too.) Meanwhile, I'll keep listening to this one.

* ** 1-833-456-4566 (It's a suicide hotline available across Canada.)