I spend most of my day in my head. I think that's why music is such a part of my life. I don't physically want to go anywhere, so my wanderings are in my head and heart and the music that enters my ears informs, inspires, and sometimes creates the landscapes I see and the characters I meet.
Sometimes the journeys play as daydreams and dramas with plots and people. Other times, the movement is further inward. It's not so much a journey as a quest for knowledge or understanding. One of those contemplative quests was started by Dan Wilson's "Free Life."
"Let's fall in love again with music as our guide," begins the second verse, "Let's raise our steady hands and let go for the ride." It's an invitation and any trip guided by music is one I'm ready to take. The song isn't going to spoon feed you pop psychology or rhyme "moon" and June."
We got these lives for free
We don't know where they've been
We don't know where they'll go
When we are through with them
I've never thought about life like that! I've don't buy into the whole "reincarnation" thing, but what about the idea that the forces of life are recycled, even if our souls and identities are not? It's a fascinating thought to consider. Maybe the connection we feel with the future and past stems from a constant force that has dwelled among us from the beginning.
Maybe the life force that keeps me alive will power someone else when I'm done with it and I'll continue the journey of what comes next without it. Maybe not. It's an intriguing way of looking at the world and life and its connections and possibilities. I never left my seat, but I saw a world beyond my own and didn't have to take off my shoes in line at an airport and my luggage didn't get lost. If Karl Malden were still alive, he wouldn't be reminding us to keep an American Express handy. He'd tell you to get a copy of Dan Wilson's Free Life and to never leave home without it.
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