True and truer

Words are powerful and may be used to mean many things. Some seem clear and easily true for everyone, while some mean different things to different people.

I ran across this quote by someone I respect. Immediately, I thought- that’s pretty good. Let me think about that for a bit. Then, “Truer words have never been spoken” came to mind. Come to find out- to my surprise- that quote has more than the first few words that I remember and use. Get this:

Truer words were never spoken -” Ah, but true words leave hearts broken! Truth is only for the wise – Lovers ought to stick to lies”

Ah ha! There are true words and then again, there are truer words. But, why should lovers stick to lies?

How many times have you wondered why people can’t just tell the truth or at least try to be straight forward and easily understood? There are those who blatantly speak in untruths and then there are those who speak in confusing half truths. The ones that take the cake are those who speak in riddles, like the one I am pondering at the moment. Can anyone figure this out?

I am to garner something, when I stop doing 6 things at once and really LISTEN to this album. What pray tell, could it possibly be except that the song writer is a bit of a cynic in response to normal life events? The songs are praised for their merit and he is a successful musician, but not one that I am particularly lulled by.

What could the message be in an album named, ” Sweet Revenge” by John Prine from 1973?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8I9obySo80Y

Rolling Stones named it in their best top 20 country revenge songs. Revenge for who? How can I understand revenge when I don’t practice it. However, there was a clue in the words of the Rolling Stones article- existential. That word is used to describe this person’s philosophy. Well, that’s a vague concept to me. “If you wrestle with big questions involving the meaning of life, you may be having an existential crisis.” The Urban Dictionary states, “Having to do with existence. More specifically, one way it is used is to mean having to do with state of being as opposed to truth or knowledge. An “existentialist” is more concerned with how to “be” than with what is true.” An example is listed below the definition: “I think your problem with God is an existential one, not a theological one.  You know all you need to know, you just don’t live it.”

I was instructed to listen to the album and then, only then, I would “understand” something important about their philosophy. Have you ever tried to put a puzzle together? I hate them. It’s such an exercise with so little gratification, if you don’t enjoy the exercise in and of itself. If my friend despises country music and then wants me to listen to something that sounds pretty country- what does that mean?

Dast if I know. First of all, it’s irreverent- who would wave as Noah’s Ark left the dock? Prine’s other songs talk about don’t bury me when I am dead- cut me up and use my parts. One song says they are going to “spite their noses right off their faces”. Too much hidden meaning for me. This was a problem when I was 18 and it hasn’t changed. I remember an English teacher gave us an assignment. We were to listen to a 3 minute song. The name of it was “At Seventeen” by Janis Ian

I wrote an essay and recall saying what the song said, pretty verbatim since I always had a really good memory and could recall the words. I thought that she might have been an unattractive girl who had a hard time in high school and expressed some sadness about “it not being all it seems at 17”.  It has a nice rhythm and a bittersweet feeling. She lost her innocence at an early age and faced some hard things. Of course, I got a bad grade because I didn’t “understand” the deeper meaning……I give up! Nothing has changed. I would have to know them better to understand what they meant. Interview them!! That would work. Ask those deep questions and let them tell you what they were thinking when they wrote a song or what they were thinking when they heard a song. It ‘s a shame you can’t interview the folks who speak in riddles. They stare and expect you to figure it all out. Exhausting. Maybe, in a few more years, I will get the hang of this…and say, “Truer words were never spoken”. Maybe not.