A few more musings, and the song lyrics
[See Part One for more details. Same llama category, same llama headline title!]
5.24.2004 // Paper in Fire (Part Two)
Posted at 12:51 AM
Ambition...this has been rolling about in my head for a little bit. Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how big will your silly dreams grow?
Ambition can be a matter of rebellion. "I refuse the tiny role you have laid before me. I will be something bigger, something greater, even if I have to carve my own way through bedrock." Or..."I will prove to you (myself) that I am more than you (I) think I am."
It can be procrastination. "If I'm always dreaming the next big dream, I won't have to face the fact that I'm not making any progress. And maybe no one else will notice!"
As a positive, it is a motivation factor in and of itself, the counterpart to laziness, lethargy, and mediocrity.
But why does the desire to do great things come so often, and so quickly, then depart a day later, only to be replaced by something new? And why only the biggest, grandest, most difficult-to-achieve dreams?
Perhaps in the preceding paragraphs I've already answered my questions. And perhaps not.
--M.
For those who pay attention, it's easy to notice when I've been using song lyrics in my entries. Sometimes a song will inspire a particular entry, and sometimes an entry will remind me of a song. For your enjoyment, here are the lyrics to another favorite of mine, from which these entries take their title. (Courtesy www.lyrics.com)
Paper In Fire
John Mellencamp
She had a dream
And boy it was a good one
So she chased after her dream
With much desire
But when she got too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire
Paper in fire
Stinkin' up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smokin' up the alleyways
Who's to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire
He wanted love
With no invovlement
So he chased the wind
That's all his silly life required
And the days of vanity
Went on forever
And he saw his days burn up
Like paper in fire
Chorus
There is a good life
Right across the green field
And each generation
Stares at it from afar
But we keep no check
On our appetites
So the green fields turn to brown
Like paper in fire
Chorus
Oh, yeah--you know that awesome little violin part in this song? I wanted to be able to play it for myself. I could just envision doing that...picking up the violin, rosining the bow, tightening it up, tuning the strings, and then...myself making the sounds of the different songs I love most. Maybe for requests, maybe just for me. But that's what triggered it. I'm blessed and cursed with visions. "Dream on..." --M.