I must explain that title. Back in 1983 the Police had just released what would be their final album together, Syncronicity. The songs all had very dark lyrics. In an interview, Sting was asked about that. His response for whatever reason is one of those crystal clear memories I have – obviously it struck a chord in me at the time. You must imagine this of course, with is veddy veddy British accent:
“Well I supposed I could write about TREES and FLOWERS and BIRDS, but then that would be far less interesting and real.”
I realized last night that I have never written anything about the music I love. It could be because I don’t really listen all that much. I spend very little time in the car really, and when I do I am listening to sports talk, or Padres games, or Air America, or else a fun morning show. On the weekends I will tune in to a music station – there is one that plays 80s weekends which is a hoot. I don’t have an ipod. I do have a CD player in my car with a 5 disc changer in there. Currently it has Andrea Bocelli, Alanis Morissette, AC/DC, Aerosmith and just to throw in another letter of the alphabet – Jimmy Buffet :->
However, there are times in my life when music kept me sane, or helped me turn a corner. Particularly Alanis. Much like Sting, she does not waste time writing about Trees & Flowers & Birds! She somehow rips thoughts out of my head and puts them to music, I swear. There are so many examples, but I think the one which came at just the right time in my life and which hit so so deep into my soul is These are the Thoughts. I don’t want to get hit with a copyright notice from Blogger, so I will just pull out these particular lines from that song rather than post the full lyrics.
“can blindly continued fear-induced regurgitated life-denying tradition be overcome?”
—–
“why do you say you are spiritual, yet you treat people like shit?”
—
“why do I say I am fine when it’s obvious I am not?”
—
“why’s it so hard to tell you what I want? Why can’t you just read my mind?”
—
“why do I care whether you like me or not?”
—
“why is it such work to stay conscious and so easy to get stuck, and not the other way around?”
—
(and the closing lines)
“can I be with a lover with whom I am a student and a master? why am I encouraged to shut my mouth when it gets to close to home? why cannot I live in the moment?”
Those lines about living in the moment and not getting stuck mentally were so so so true for me about 8 or 9 years ago. Which is about when this song showed up on her MTV Unplugged CD and I think I played it repeatedly hundreds of times until all the lyrics were embedded in my brain. I remember going for walks alone and just singing this song to myself in my head. It went a long way to bringing me out of a fog that I felt I was in from about 1988 until then. Going through the motions, doing all The Right Things, but not letting myself really FEEL or SEE what was around me. I am very glad to be out of that! I am also very glad that there are people who write songs that are not just about Trees & Flowers & Birds :->>
Trees & Flowers & Birds! 
I’m sorry — I HAVE TO do this ….
Let me tell you ’bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees ….
Okay — now that I’ve got that over with. I will say that sometimes a song speaks a certain way to your soul — and for me, those have never been the ones about the trees & flowers.
OH — first date with Spouse we went to a Barry Manilow concert. So Barry Manilow is introducing himself … “you know when you’ve just broken up with someone and you’re heartbroken and then a song comes on the radio that makes it feel like your heart is being ripped out?” “I’m that guy”
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Hey Bina!
I had Synchronicity back then too. I had been on Planet Georgia (and thus on my own) for a bit over a year. I loved that piece of vinyl, because it let pieces of me speak that had been gagged all my life up to then… “Mother” was especially good, since my mom was *still* trying to control me every now and then (“the telephone is SCREAMING!”)… and there was the bitter breakup with my college GF that required a catharsis which not even Synchronicity or Black Sabbath’s Paranoid could provide. But at least they tried.
A few years later, married & with The Boy on the way, some scumbags broke into our place and cleaned out the goodies (including most of the albums, and the stereo I’d just finished paying for). Thus did the album leave my possession.
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