Kenny Roger's The Gambler just came on and I just can't get past the excellent advice of:
You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
As someone who has folded and run away from a couple positions, I cannot strongly enough give that advice.
What else is good advice in song form?
The Eagles' Hotel California:
You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
Applies in vastly more situations than it ought to.
Dar Williams had a lot of songs that were important to me when I was younger.
In Love, but not at Peace has a line that goes 'you don't mind the wrinkles cause you know how they got there'. I heard that when I was in my young twenties, and it gave me a very healthy mindset on aging before I had any wrinkles to speak of.
Her song You're Aging Well also resonated at an important age. The chorus is some variant on the following:
I'm so glad that you finally made it here
With the things you know now, that only time could tell
Looking back, seeing far, landing right where we are,
And oh, you're aging well.
Quite a lot of her songs have very good things to say about society. 'The Babysitter's Here' is all about clashes between social expectations and career ambitions, told from the perspective of a very young child who doesn't understand much of anything. She also has a song called 'The Buzzer' that's all about why the Milgram experiments worked the way they did.
Also, Vienna Teng, who is brilliant, has a chilling song about climate change. Some relevant lyrics:
While you argue it over
I am not waiting.
While you retreat to your comforts
I am not fading.
...
I've done this many times before you
Watch the pattern take form
Children your time is done
If you say it's done together
Once in awhile you get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Scarlet Begonias by the Grateful Dead
Sung by Glen Campbell, and others;
originally by Edgar A. Guest:
A Creed
Let me be a little kinder,
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those around me,
Let me praise a little more;
Let me be, when I am weary
Just a little bit more cheery,
Let me serve a little better
Those that I am striving for.
Let me be a little braver
When temptation bids me waver,
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be;
Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker,
Let me think more of my neighbor
And a little less of me.
Let me be a little sweeter,
Make my life a bit completer
By doing what I should do
Every minute of the day;
Let me toil, without complaining,
Not a humble task disdaining,
Let me face the summons calmly
When death beckons me away.
M.
The Rolling Stones: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need"
The Eagles: "So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we had the key"
"Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose ..."
Written by Kris Kristofferson, immortalized by Janis Joplin.
Around the time my husband died, there was a pop song getting a lot of air time that contained the line "I'm not sure if I'll make it, but watch how good I'll fake it."
I didn't care much about the rest of the song, but that line was my mantra for awhile.
Love's not just something that were in, it's something that we do.
We help to make each other all that we can be
Though we find our strength and inspiration independently
The way we work together is what sets our love apart
"Something that we do", Clint Black
The Gambler, definitely.
Once in a Lifetime, Talking Heads
You may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
Dumb Things, Paul Kelly
And I get all your good advice
It doesn't stop me from going through these things twice
I see the knives out, I turn my back
I hear the train coming, I stay right on that track
In the middle, in the middle, in the middle of a dream
I lost my shirt, I pawned my rings
I've done all the dumb things
I melted wax to fix my wings
I've done all the dumb things
I threw my hat into the ring
I've done all the dumb things
I thought that I just had to sing
I've done all the dumb things.
It's a Great Day to be Alive, Travis Tritt
I got rice cooking in the microwave
I got a three day beard I don't plan to shave
It's a goofy thing but I just gotta say, hey,
I'm doing alright
It's been fifteen years since I left home
I said good luck to every seed I'd sown
Gave it my best and then I left it alone
I hope they're doing alright
And it's a great day to be alive
I know the sun's still shining
When I close my eyes
There's some hard times in the neighborhood
But why can't every day be just this good
Closer to Fine, Indigo Girls
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind
Got my paper and I was free
Upside Down, Tori Amos
I'm okay when everthing
Is not okay
WEAR SUNSCREEN
Essay By Mary Schmich; Song version by Baz Luhrmann; Narrated by Lee Perry
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97
Wear sunscreen
If I could offer you only one tip for the future
Sunscreen would be it
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists
Whereas the rest of my advice
Has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience
I will dispense this advice now
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth
Oh, never mind
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded
But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself
And recall in a way you can't grasp now
How much possibility lay before you
And how fabulous you really looked
You are not as fat as you imagine
Don't worry about the future
Or worry
But know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind
The kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don't be reckless with other people's hearts
Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours
Floss
Don't waste your time on jealousy
Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind
The race is long
And in the end, it's only with yourself
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults
If you succeed in doing this, tell me how
Keep your old love letters
Throw away your old bank statements
Stretch
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life
The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives
Some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't
Get plenty of calcium
Be kind to your knees
You'll miss them when they're gone
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't
Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't
Maybe you'll divorce at 40
Maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary
Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's
Enjoy your body
Use it every way you can
Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own
Dance
Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room
Read the directions, even if you don't follow them
Do not read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly
Get to know your parents
You never know when they'll be gone for good
Be nice to your siblings
They are the best link to your past
And the people most likely to stick with you in the future
Understand that friends come and go
But for the precious few you should hold on
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle
Because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young
Live in New York City once
But leave before it makes you hard
Live in Northern California once
But leave before it makes you soft
Travel
Accept certain inalienable truths
Prices will rise
Politicians will philander
You too will get old
And when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young
Prices were reasonable
Politicians were noble
And children respected their elders
Respect your elders
Don't expect anyone else to support you
Maybe you have a trust fund
Maybe you have a wealthy spouse
But you never know when either one might run out
Don't mess too much with your hair
Or by the time you're 40, it will look 85
Be careful whose advice you buy
But be patient with those who supply it
Advice is a form of nostalgia
Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off
Painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth
But trust me on the sunscreen.
Dire Straits' Walk of Life:
And after all the violence and double talk
There's just a song in all the trouble and the strife
You do the walk, you do the walk of life
John Mellencamp, "Jack and Diane":
So let it rock, let roll,
Let the Bible Belt come and save my soul.
Hold onto sixteen as long as you can.
Changes come around real soon, make us women and men.
Does this count?
Meatloaf, "praying for the end of time"
Bobby McFarren (had to look that up)
"In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now"
QuoteBobby McFarren (had to look that up)
"In every life we have some trouble
But when you worry you make it double
Don't worry, be happy
Don't worry, be happy now"
That's a good one. I'm not an Elton John fan, but lately his song "I'm Still Standing" keeps going through my head.
"It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all."
~ "Let It Go" from Frozen
"Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today
To get through this thing called life."
~ Prince, "Let's Go Crazy"
"I've had all that I wanted of a lot of things I've had
And a lot more than I needed of some things that turned out bad."
~ Johnny Cash, "Wanted Man"
"Who do you want?
Who you be today?
And who is it really
Makin' up your mind?"
~ Kenny Loggins, "I'm All Right"
"Hold on tight, shake, and pump venom
Some haters don't learn til you leave lead in 'em."
~ Ice Cube, "F*ck Dying"
Paul Simon always has good advice:
"Kid, you better look around
How long you think that you can
Run that body down?
How many nights you think you can
Do what you been doin'?
Who, now who you foolin'?
Who you foolin'?
Who you foolin'?"
Two from Nirvana:
With the lights out it's less dangerous (I suspect that it is.)
You're in a laundry room! You're in a laundry room! (Which is where I should be right now.)
"Stick around while the clown who is sick does a trick of disaster"
(the 60's band, Buffalo Springfield, from song "Hello, Mr. Soul" written by Neil Young)
Not necessarily "advice", but I was thinking about it the day before I go in front of a class again!
Not exactly "advice," but "Warrior" by Steve Earle is pretty good.
This is the best time of the day, the dawn
The final cleansing breath unsullied yet
By acrid fume or death's cacophony
The rank refuse of unchained ambition
And pray, deny me not but know me now,
Your faithful retainer stands resolute
To serve his liege lord without recompense
Perchance to fall and perish namelessly
No flag-draped bier or muffled drum to set
The cadence for a final dress parade
But it was not always thus remember
Once you worshiped me and named me a god
In many tongues and made offering lest
I exact too terrible a tribute
Take heed for I am weary, ancient
And decrepit now and my time grows short
There are no honorable frays to join
Only mean death dealt out in dibs and dabs
Or horror unleashed from across oceans
Assail me not with noble policy
For I care not at all for platitude
And surrender such tedious detail
To greater minds than mine and nimbler tongues
Singular in their purpose and resolve
And presuming to speak for everyman
Oh, for another time, a distant field
And there a mortal warrior's lonely grave
But duty charges me remain until
The end the last battle of the last war
Until that morrow render unto me
That which is mine my stipend well deserved
The fairest flower of your progeny
Your sons, your daughters your hopes and your dreams
The cruel consequence of your conceit
"Begin, my friend
for you cannot,
you may be sure,
take your song,
which drives all things out of mind,
with you to the other world."
(from: Theocritus: Idyl I – A version from the Greek) - a loose translation from William Carlos Williams
Sung on the first track of Steve Reich, Desert Music.
Not sure if it's very useful life advice but I find it motivating, especially the way it slowly unfolds in the piece.