If I can struggle against a fit of depression,
in the name of what vitality can I oppose an obsession
which belongs to me, which precedes me?

In good health, I take the path I prefer;
“sick,” it is no longer I who decide: it is my disease.
For the obsessed, no choice:
their obsession has already opted for them, ahead of them.

One chooses oneself when one possesses indifferent potentialities;
but the distinctness of a disease antedates
the diversity of the roads open to choice.

To wonder if one is free or not
— a trifle for a mind
swept on by the calories of its deliriums.
For such a mind, to extol freedom
is to parade a discreditable health.

Freedom? Sophistry of the fit.

— Excerpt, All Gall Is Divided by Emil Cioran

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A precise, elegant expression of what I have previously attempted to say…

This tune is apropos to our time and place.  Janis, rest in peace.

Me & Bobby McGee

by Janis Joplin

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train
I was feeling near as faded as my jeans
Bobby thumbed a diesel down just before it rained
And rode us all the way to New Orleans

I pulled my harpoon out of my dirty red bandana
I was playing soft while Bobby sang the blues
Windshield wipers slapping time, I was holding Bobby’s hand in mine
We sang every song that driver knew

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing don’t mean nothing honey if it ain’t free, now now
And feeling good was easy Lord, when he sang the blues
You know feeling good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee

From the Kentucky coal mines to the California sun
Hey, Bobby shared the secrets of my soul
Through all kinds of weather, through everything that we done
Hey Bobby baby kept me from the cold

One day up near Salinas, Lord, I let him slip away
He’s looking for that home and I hope he finds it
But I’d trade all of my tomorrows for one single yesterday
To be holding Bobby’s body next to mine

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose
Nothing, and that’s all that Bobby left me, yeah
And feeling good was easy Lord, when he sang the blues
Hey, feeling good was good enough for me, hmm hmm
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee

La la la, la la la la, la la la, la la la la
La la la la la Bobby McGee
La la la la la, la la la la la
La la la la la, Bobby McGee, la

La La la, la la la la la la
La La la la la la la la la, hey now Bobby now Bobby McGee yeah
Na na na na na na na na, na na na na na na na na na na na
Hey now Bobby now, Bobby McGee, yeah

Lord, I called him my lover, I called him my man
I said called him my lover just the best I can and come on
And and a Bobby oh, and a Bobby McGee yeah
Lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo
Hey hey hey Bobby McGee, lord
La da la la la, la da la la la la la
Hey hey hey, Bobby McGee yeah

Lyrics composed by Kris Kristofferson