Last night a few of us conversed about music.  I do not know anyone who does not depend upon music as a lifeline to emotional stability.  Of course many do not, but I do not move in those circles.

Music is the analog to life, life which is a river, a movement of always changing relationships.  Nothing is outside of the flow, including the things which we use without a second thought.  The cup before me, filled with Starbucks coffee is a dance of vibrating atoms; the coffee within, flavorful, is slowly and certainly cooling as the heat energy infused into the molecules of liquid is transferred to the cooler air that surrounds the cup in this room.  Sam Cooke is playing on the sound speakers by the way.  Everything around me, and everything within my body and mind is in flux.  As T. S. Eliot wrote: There is only the dance.

Music is about emotion and movement.  I offer for your appreciation and consideration another song by the great Annie Lennox.  The tune entitled “Why” is about a relationship which is failing, and will terminally fail.  The lyrics are heart wrenching.  I’ll add the lyrics after the video.  I like, really like the point that silence is often the best tactic when one is in the midst of a troubled relationship.  Some things are best unsaid, given the circumstances.

Have not we all experienced a troubled relationship?  No relationship is immune from trouble, except maybe the ones in a romance novel.  Life is change and issues are brought to the surface that lay hidden.  One chooses fight or flight.  Flight can take many forms.  The compulsion to “speak one’s mind” without regard for consequences is a defense measure.  Better to face up to what the other has to say, to take one’s lumps, to suffer damage …….

Enough of my words.  Annie Lennox sings it better.

Why

by Annie Lennox

How many times do I have to try to tell you
That I’m sorry for the things I’ve done
But when I start to try to tell you
That’s when you have to tell me
“Hey… this kind of trouble’s only just begun”
I tell myself too many times
Why don’t you ever learn to keep your big mouth shut
That’s why it hurts so bad to hear the words
That keep on falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Falling from your mouth
Tell me…
Why?
Why?

I may be mad
I may be blind
I may be viciously unkind
But I can still read what you’re thinking
And I’ve heard it said too many times
That you’d be better off
Besides…
Why can’t you see this boat is sinking
(This boat is sinking this boat is sinking)
Let’s go down to the water’s edge
And we can cast away those doubts
Some things are better left unsaid
But they still turn me inside out
Turning inside out turning inside out

Tell me
Why?

Tell me
Why?

This is the book I never read
These are the words I never said
This is the path I’ll never tread
These are the dreams I’ll dream instead
This is the joy that’s seldom spread
These are the tears…
The tears we shed
This is the fear
This is the dread
These are the contents of my head
And these are the years that we have spent
And this is what they represent
And this is how I feel
Do you know how I feel?
‘Cause I don’t think you know how I feel
I don’t think you know what I feel
I don’t think you know what I feel
You don’t know what I feel

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This was the first single Annie Lennox released after the 1990 breakup of Eurythmics, her duo with Dave Stewart. Unlike Stewart, Lennox is rather introverted and often questioned herself. And while Stewart was always very encouraging, she wasn’t sure she could make music without him.

Annie Lennox blogged regarding this song, when promoting her 2009 greatest hits album: “I think this song expresses something of a sense of ‘I need to take a stand, and say this.’ It’s almost testifying, like ‘My Way,’ or something. The world can be so baffling at times, so you find yourself constantly trying to figure it out… It’s also about looking at the aftermath of things. After all this darkness and disappointment with the personal battles you’ve gone through… Contemplating the ashes of experience, and questioning what it was ever all about. It’s like the remains of a building that’s crashed and burned to the ground.”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/annie-lennox/why