WatchingTedLasso

“Fare you well, my honey…. Fare you well, my only true one.”

The opening lines to the song Brokedown Place, originally recorded by the Grateful Dead. There are versions out there by Phil and Friends and the band Goose did an absolutely beautiful cover last night as tribute to Phil who passed away earlier in the day.

“All the birds that were singing have flown, except you alone” The very next line. I’m paraphrasing someone who said, “There are songs that fly into your heart and make a nest there.” This is one of those for me. Each listen depositing a branch, each verse weaving what has already been built with the new.

I have listened to it and swayed. I have listened and smiled. I have listened with the sunroof of the car open – song and voice rising out into the world. I have also listened and wept. Pretty powerful for a little five minute song.

What if someone new does the same thing? That nest may look nothing like what had been built previously, and that’s okay. This is a new creation all its own.

Perhaps there’s room to sway, and learn a new rhythm. Perhaps something they say or do will make you smile. Perhaps a song will come on that reminds you of them and you let it blast out of the sunroof. And, eventually you let them in enough to weep. These things can be pretty powerful. None of them mean you love or have loved the one you lost any less.

I have questioned whether there is room for multiple nests in my heart. The answer always comes back a resounding yes. Because, my heart is still beating. And, as long as it does, there is room to love and be loved. There’s also room to have loved. This song is an acknowledgment of that for me. It is old and new. It is melancholy and wistful daydreams.

“Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell. Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.”