Equality Time

Song of the Week: Trapped

I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the American Airlines Center in Dallas the other night.  Fantastic show with many great performances.  One of the highlights for me was the song "Trapped."  I dedicate it here to the many doubters, skeptics, nonbelievers, and disaffected Mormons who feel trapped in the LDS church because of social or family pressure to maintain a facade of testimony.

Well it seems like I'm caught up in your trap again
And it seems like I'll be wearin' the same ol' chains
Good will conquer evil and the truth will set you free
Then I know someday I'll find the key
Then I know somewhere I'll find the key
Well it seem like I've been playin' the game way too long
And it seems the game I played has made you strong
Well when the game is over, I won't walk out a loser
And I know that I'll walk out of here again
And I know that someday I'll walk out of here again

But now I'm trapped...Oh yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah!

Now it seems like I've been sleepin' in your bed too long
And it seems like you've been meanin' to do me harm
But I'll teach my eyes to see beyond these walls in front of me
And someday I'll walk out of here again
Yeah I know someday I'll walk out of here again

(Chorus)

Well it seem like I've been playin' the game way too long
And it seems the game I played has made you strong

Because I'm trapped...Oh yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah!

I'm trapped...Oh yeah yeah!
Trapped...Oh yeah yeah
Trapped...Oh yeahhhhhh
Trapped....oh yeahhhh
I'm trapped.

Song of the Week 2: Run

Was just spinning some Pat Green in my iPod and stumbled on this song that made me think of some of my peeps in the DAMU, so I dedicate it to them. It's called "Run."

Finally free
Finally gone
Finally breathing again
Finally back out on my own

Finally here
In an otherwise empty room
Where there's no one here to tear me all apart

Yeah tonight I'm gonna go out
I'm gonna get a little wasted.
Yeah I'm one of those guys
I'm one of those guys

I gotta run
Gotta be free
Don't hold me down
No baby

Yeah and speakin of faith
I finally found me a song
I'm in the same old place
But there's a lot less screamin and carryin on
Too much pain
Too much hate
Not enough fire
Now its way too late

Yeah tonight I'm gonna go out
I'm gonna get a little wasted.
I'm one of those guys
I'm one of those guys

You're looking back at me with your pretty little eyes
And you want so bad for me to try and change
You tried that one before
Win the battle lose the war
Just count your losses baby, and go
Just count you losses baby, and go

Well I gotta run, gotta be free
Don't hold me down
No baby
Yeah, I gotta run, I gotta be free
Don't hold me down
No baby

Yeah, I gotta run, I gotta be free
Don't hold me down
No baby

Song of the Week: Sundays

Over the weekend, I downloaded from iTunes the new album from Counting Crows, called Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings.  It's been six years and well worth the wait for this wonderful new mix of songs.  One of my favorites is a song called Sundays:

Coloured rubbers and a bedroom set
I wouldn't know it if it hit me
You take a little step and then it feels like love
I think I better get a little of it in me
Give me a kiss
I think it feels like love
Give me a kiss
I think it feels like sunshine
C'mon baby, light me up
I wanna look into your eyes until I go blind and...

You think that you can do without me
I can't do anything at all
You think that you can do without me
But I don't believe in Sundays
And I don't believe in anything at all

Your mother make you in a parking lot
My mother made me out of flesh and wire
Try to remember what you might forget
I try to remember everything
Try to remember so you don't disappear
Try to remember so you don't fade away
Your mother made you out of smoke and rain
Your mother made you in a fire that's faded

You think that you can do without me
I can't do anything at all
You think that you can do without me
But I don't believe in Sundays
And I don't believe in anything at all

I wanna touch you for the things I'm losing
I wanna touch you for my self-respect
Give me a reason or I might stop breathing
Give me a reason why I'm soaking wet
Gotta stop breathing cuz the sky is falling
I might go out and watch the moon explode
Give me directions to the highway crossing
I'll go lie down in the middle of the road

You think that you can do without me
I can't do anything at all
You think that you can do without me
But I don't believe in Sundays
And I don't believe in anything at all

I don't believe in Sundays
And I don't believe in anything at all
I don't believe in anything at all

Song of the Week: Dream Away

Dream Away by Babyface:
 

When this world
The real life world you're living in
Just gets too much for you to take
When you find
Too many troubles on your mind
And feel just like there's no escape

And it seems your heart's forgotten how to believe
Turn a page in your soul
There's a place you can go
Close your eyes and let your heart fly free

Dream away, dream away
Let imagination light your way
Take you as far as your heart can see
Dream away, dream away
To a place where hope is shining
Find your silver lining
Everything you need is just a dream away

Remember when
A dream could take you anywhere
Just a wish anything could be
When the farthest star was one more star you could reach
Take a look in your heart
'Cause that's where dreams are where it starts
Anything is real if you just believe

All it takes is faith to make your dreams come true
And somewhere in this world there'll be somebody
To share your dreams with you

Song of the Week: Yellow Brick Road

I just discovered this song and artist, Kris Delmhorst.  What do you know, she has four albums.  Loved these lyrics and the song:

I'm off to see the wizard in his castle on the hill
And I never once have known him and I do not know him still
Because his face it is magnificent but you'll never see his hands
And the way he throws his voice around I don't know where he stands

I'm off to see the wizard with his curtain and his crowd
But my hands are not trembling and my head it is not bowed
Cause I'm not looking for any answers, no truths to be revealed
All that I am asking is to show me something real

I'm not on no yellow brick road, got a mind and a heart and guts of my own
I'm not looking for a one to set me free
I'm not on no yellow brick road, I'll find my own way home
I'm just looking for someone to walk with me

Hey you behind the curtain tell me what is it you see:
From where you sit does it appear that everyone is on their knees?
Their eyes are wide and hopeful and the line grows at the door
Do you sit up there and wonder how you'll ever give them more?

Well I'm not on no yellow brick road, got a mind and a heart and guts of my own
I'm not looking for a one to set me free
I'm not on no yellow brick road, I'll find my own way home
I'm just looking for someone

Don't say that it's not lonely up above the crowd
Don't tell me you don't find yourself longing for the ground
And when I asked him one more time won't you tear the curtain down,
He said don't you know there's nothing here but me,
And I said baby who'd you think I came to see?

I'm not on no yellow brick road, got a mind and a heart and guts of my own
I'm not looking for a one to set me free
I'm not on no yellow brick road, I'll find my own way home
I'm just looking for someone to walk with me

Song of the Week: Unwell

Over the last two years since I started cutting back my participation in the LDS Church, occasionally those still fully connected with the church have questioned my sanity.  "Are you crazy?," they'll say. "How can you give up the blessings of the gospel?" Etc.  At the same time, I have seen some of my fellows in the disaffected Mormon community question whether "true-believing Mormons" have a few toys in the attic.  It's a curious thing to me, having been an ardent believer in Mormonism and now being called a "persistent" critic of the same, that folks on both sides question the sanity of those on the other.  I don't think I was crazy when I was a devout Mormon, and I don't think I am mad now.  I simply view the world (and religion) differently than before.  I don't think my devout Mormon friends are nuts--they just view the world differently than I do.  So, this week's song is dedicated to all who have ever had their grip on reality questioned.  It's "Unwell" by Matchbox Twenty.

Song of the Week: Disarray

This week's selection is from Lifehouse and is called "Disarray."  It describes well the feelings many have upon having their spiritual foundations uprooted.

I face my demons wrestling these angels to the ground
And all that I could find was a thin line between all the saints
And villains it was crossed
In my own mind

Some day I'm gonna find it wish I knew what I was looking for
inside the disarray
I woke up this morning don't know where I'm going but it's
Alright I wouldn't have it any other way

Struggling between the facts and fiction I'm alone
But I'm alive
Everyone around me is trying to make a statement
Then there's me
I'm just trying to survive

Some day I'm gonna find it wish I knew what I was looking for
inside the disarray
I woke up this morning don't know where I'm going but it's
Alright I wouldn't have it any other way

If this was any other day I'd pretend to know where I stand
I just don't know

Song of the Week: I'll Work for Your Love

It's a curious thing to me that few artistic geniuses (in any field) are able to produce truly imaginative, groundbreaking work later in life.  Creative genius appears, for whatever reason, to be the domain of the young.  But every once in a while, an artist comes along who breaks that rule, who is able to produce in the sunset of life  works with as much verve and originality as in the days of youth.  Bruce Springsteen is such an artist, as evidenced by his latest album with the E Street Band, Magic.  I had a spiritual experience listening to this week's featured song, called "I'll Work for Your Love."  It's just one of an album full of great songs:

Pour me a drink Theresa in one of those glasses you dust off
And I'll watch the bones in your back like the stations of the cross
'Round your hair the sun lifts a halo, at your lips a crown of thorns
Whatever the deal's going down, to this one I'm sworn

I'll work for your love dear
I'll work for your love
What others may want for free
I'll work for your love

The dust of civilizations and love's sweet remains
Slip off of your fingers and come drifting down like rain
The pages of Revelation lie open in your empty eyes of blue
I watch you slip that comb through your hair and this I promise you

I'll work for your love dear
I'll work for your love
What others may want for free
I'll work for your love

Well tears they fill the rosary, at your feet my temple of bones
Here in this perdition we go on and on
Now I see your pieces crumbled and our book of faith's been tossed
And I'm just down here searching for my own piece of the cross
In the late afternoon sun fills the room with a mist in the garden before the fall
I watch your hands smooth the front of your blouse and seven drops of blood fall

I'll work for your love dear
I'll work for your love
What others may want for free
I'll work for your love
What others may want for free
I'll work for your love
What others may want for free
I'll work for your love

Song of the Week: One Fine Wire

I just started listening this morning to the "newly added" songs on my iPod when this song hit me like a Darien Hatcher cross-check.  It's from an artist I've not heard before, but who my wife found on iTunes.  The singer's name is Colbie Caillat and the song is called One Fine Wire.

I try so many times
but it's not taking me
and it seems so long ago
that I used to believe
and I'm so lost inside of my head
and crazy
but I cant get out of it
I'm just stumbling

And I'm juggling all the thoughts in my head
I'm juggling and my fears on fire
but I'm listening as it evolves in my head
I'm balancing on one fine wire

And I remember the time my balance was fine
and I was just walking on one fine wire
I remember the time my balance was fine
and I was just walking on one fine wire
but It's frayed at both the ends
and I'm slow unraveling

Life plays so many games inside of me
and I've had some distant cries, following
and their entwined between the night and sun beams
I wish I were free from this pain in me

And I'm juggling all the thoughts in my head
I'm juggling and my fears on fire
but I'm listening as it evolves in my head
I'm balancing on one fine wire

And I remember the time my balance was fine
and I was just walking on one fine wire
I remember the time my balance was fine
and I was just walking on one fine wire
but it's frayed at both the ends
and I'm slow unraveling

And I'm juggling all the thoughts in my head
I'm juggling and my fears on fire
but I'm listening as it evolves in my head
I'm balancing on one fine wire....

Song of the Week: Faithless

Since I am going to the Rush concert tomorrow night, I thought I'd choose another Rush tune for the Song of the Week.  Although they are doing 9 of the 13 songs from their latest album on this tour, unfortunately this is not one of them.  It's called Faithless.

I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels of dreams so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and market place

Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist

Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist
 
I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me

I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place

Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist

Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist