Existentialism Raw
Did you ever read about a frog
Who dreamed of bein’ a king
And then became one
Well except for the names
And a few other changes
If you talk about me
The story’s the same one…
Heard this song played today and I knew that I had to write about it. It is a Neil Diamond classic. The song was written in March of 1971 and rose to no 4 on the charts by May. Diamond said that the composition required four months of work and is one of the most intensely personal songs that he has written. If you choose to mindfully view the video you will palpably feel with the lyricist his quest to find himself, to “come home” as it were.
Finding one’s way home is a complicated matter. The speaker looks back at years spent in NY city, but that was a long time ago, and he is no longer a part of that scene. Time passes, and everything changes, including the subject speaking. Moreover he is not satisfied that L.A. is home either. Not that his experience there has been unpleasant as he mentions. The essential you, the self that seeking connection,– looks for the grounding that the journey promises. Self definition is elusive. There is uncertainty, hard work to resolve a life-time of experience.
There are times when one just cries out, knowing that others would not and could not understand. One understands the essential self of another, about as effectively as would a chair. Some things cannot be communicated and all that one can manage is to cry out, “I am.”
Have you not been that frog who dreamed, and then woke to find the dream was true? Except that nothing essentially was changed? I have.
If you happen to read this post feel free to share your version of the story as a comment.
2 thoughts on “Existentialism Raw”
Good song good good lyrics.
I don’t know what I am myself.
I am persuaded that the inability to easily label oneself is a good thing, a mark of growth, and of openness to life. As a young adult I desired to be known as a “Christian.” From the vantage point of many years later, I think that was conventional, and not nearly as difficult as becoming more human. A label is a container. A label has it’s uses, but they are limited and inapt to describe a person.