Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Crossroads

Another beautiful song by Tracy Chapman called “Crossroads” defining my mood beautifully today. As the day slips quietly and I enjoy its most beautiful hour, listening to my favorite music, letting my fingers unwind my thoughts as they move on the keyboard and contemplating life.


The many signs on the crossroads just overwhelm us. The comfortable road that we have been down before becomes an easy choice. We follow the known. The fear of the road less travelled is tangible and very real. It does manifests in many ways. But at this juncture its just us and us alone. Here are the lyrics of the song :


All you folks think you own my life

But you never made any sacrifice

Demons they are on my trail

Im standing at the crossroads of the hell

I look to the left I look to the right

Therere hands that grab me on every side

All you folks think I got my price

At which Ill sell all that is mine

You think money rules when all else fails

Go sell your soul and keep your shell

Im trying to protect what I keep inside

All the reasons why I live my life

Some say the devil be a mystical thing

I say the devil he a walking man

He a fool he a liar conjurer and a thief

He try to tell you what you want

Try to tell you what you need

Standing at the point

The road it cross you down

What is at your back

Which way do you turn

Who will come to find you first

Your devils or your gods

All you folks think you run my life

Say I should be willing to compromise

I say all you demons go back to hell

Ill save my soul save myself



Our experiences and our choices in past bring us to the crossroads we face . As we discover/unearth the profound truth when we spend time with ourselves, it decides the crossroads which we will embrace.

4 comments:

Rohit said...

Reminded me of the poem by Robert Frost - last para goes like such:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference

Very poignant M. I love the last two lines of the song. Its a crossroad that all of us find ourselves at, at some point and we need to pull back and reevaluate. Beautiful and simple interpretation of the song.

Also reminds me of The Matrix -- the oracle cant prophecise (sp?) beyond choices...

blissful said...

Nice song by Tracy Chapman. MG, it is great to know how one takes a song and analyzes it to their feelings. In terms of the Blues, the crossroads was the intersection of Highways 49 & 61 where many of bluesmen allegedly "sold their souls" to the devil in exchange for extraordinary playing ability and fame. A lot of people actually believed that. Crossroads can metaphorically mean an intersection where you have to choose either one to left or right, you are neither here nor there. Now, I like Tracy's angle that she aint need a devil to trade and tell her what she needs. She'll save her soul, herself. MG, your angle makes me think that all of us have been at a "crossroad" at certain point in time and we wait for someone to tell us what we need. But that is indeed a short-term solution which would work for us and lasts only for a while. Instead, when I choose I stand where I am today and I own it up with no regrets. This works for a long-term and lasts really long, as long as you protect what you are inside. "Crossroads" are meant to overwhelm us and are indeed the places we unravel truth ourselves. It is really a powerful feeling. MG, your message: man is the maker of his destiny makes one feel strong. :)

blissful said...

Rohit,

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference"

It had less traffic and I reached earlier. As you climb up the ladder of success there aint much crowd. Sadly, world today is too congested and needs traffic management. Do you do car pooling? Or like to bike and hitch by yourself? Think about it. ;)

manvi said...

Rohit,
Thank you so much.. Those lines are really beautiful and true.So much you could think of with few lines I wrote .. is juts amazing !
Shreesha,
Thanks for summarising it in one line.. And I was not aware the concept of selling our souls that existed... interesting !