Dark Songs

We don't always know it, but we mostly get to choose between being happy or sad, clear or confused, up or down.

It's just that sad, confused and down tend to be easier.

My friend, Brian, an incredibly gifted songwriter, has come out with a new cd and it's filled with dark songs and heartbreak - lyrics about loneliness and being abandoned, lost love and nights that never end. I listen and feel myself being pulled downward. Sometimes you have to write from where you are, he tells me, Put it all out there and see where it leads. I love him dearly but I put this particular cd aside in favor of something lighter and happier - something with less insight into the human condition and more emphasis on the positive - something raucous and bluesy and escapist.

We're led down wrong roads and into dark songs all the time but we choose to stay or turn around. Whenever I retrace my steps, I almost always discover I could've gone a different way or had a different mindset. I like to put the blame on circumstance - don't we all - but I'm blessed with free will and self determination and when push comes to shove, it finally falls on my own shoulders. I find that gratitude is the best defense - I make a list of all the things in my life I'm grateful for and tack it on the wall, read it every morning and remind myself to say thank you, even for the dark songs.

Shed a little light in the dark corners and blow away the cobwebs. A little dust can't hurt you and a sad song is just a sad song.