Sunday, January 3, 2021.  A new year begins tomorrow, Monday is the first work-day of the week, — the beginning of ordinary time.  We are exhausted psychologically by the severing of social exchange imposed by the pandemic.  The worst is yet to come.  Many have been ambivalent to the required measures necessary to slowing the spread of the virus.  Hospitals in some parts of the country are overwhelmed. 

Added to the medical impairment suffered by many is the political and social division roiling our country.  A faction of the Republican Party refuses to accept the result of the election of November 3rd.  Some Republican members of the Senate have announced their intention to block certification of the election results later this week.  This is a treasonous activity.  Consequences to our republic are unforeseen.

Aware of all of this, a participant at a remove, I do my best to preserve my health, eager to receive immunization in due time.  There is much that I intend to read, and write.  The books and authors that I currently am engaging are:  The Communism of Love by Richard Gilman-Opalsky, The Art of thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli, and Believing Bullshit, How Not to Get Sucked Into a Black Hole by Stephen Law.  Books that await a revisit are old friends:  Philosophical Investigations, by Wittgenstein, and any of the books authored by Nietzsche.

I read somewhere that “life is short and death is long.”  The pandemic and current conditions around me are proof enough that the bonds of friendship, the comity that we shared in pre-pandemic times of normal contact in the course of ordinary buying and selling, of relationships between neighbors, between those who join with us in pursuit of a similar passion —  is the heart and soul of life itself.  When physical contact and exchange is stripped from our activities, we are consigned to loneliness, threatened with emotional solitude and instability. 

This tune seemed appropriate for these times.  This is a “love song” a reflection upon everything that is missed when the circle of reciprocal affection cannot be closed, be made complete.  The lyric of this anthem was penned by Prince and is masterfully performed by Sinéad O’Connor.

And yes, I listen, the residue of tears stain my reading glasses.

Nothing Compares 2 U

It’s been seven hours and fifteen days
Since you took your love away
I go out every night and sleep all day
Since you took your love away

Since you’ve been gone I can do whatever I want
I can see whomever I choose
I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant
But nothing
I said nothing can take away these blues

‘Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

It’s been so lonely without you here
Like a bird without a song
Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling
Tell me, baby, where did I go wrong

I could put my arms around every boy I see
But they’d only remind me of you
I went to the doctor and guess what he told me?
Guess what he told me?
He said, “Girl, you better try to have fun no matter what you do,”
But he’s a fool

‘Cause nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

All the flowers that you planted, mama, in the back yard
All died when you went away
I know that living with you, baby, was sometimes hard
But I’m willing to give it another try

Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you
Nothing compares
Nothing compares to you

Lyrics written by Prince

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“Nothing Compares 2 U” is a song written and composed by Prince. The song’s lyrics explore feelings of longing from the point of view of an abandoned lover.

In 1990 a cover version by Sinéad O’Connor, released as the second single from her second studio album, I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got, became a worldwide hit.

Jodi Cleesattle from American Eagle wrote that “there is pain in Sinead O’Connor’s voice, and there probably always will be.” She noted that “loneliness and longing” are highlighted on the song, adding that O’Connor’s voice “fits the song perfectly. Her vocals soar and leap unexpectedly but gracefully, making, the ballad, the loveliest of love songs

The Network Forty wrote that “when Sinead sang “Nothing Compares 2 U”, seas calmed, angels wept and Top 40 radio stood still to listen to this powerful expression of unrequited love.”

O’Connor has said that her tears were real. She did not intend to cry but then thought, “I should let this happen.”  She explained that the tears were triggered by thoughts of her mother, who died in a car accident in 1985…

— Wikipedia