My daughters like this song. As do I. Yet another song we agree on. Now if I could only get then to like independent music...
Taylor Swift - I Knew You Were Trouble
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y
This song spawned a little discussion with my daughters. Let's take a look at the lyrics first. From AZLyricscom:
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/taylorswift/iknewyouweretrouble.html
TAYLOR SWIFT LYRICS
"I Knew You Were Trouble"
I think--I think when it's all over,
It just comes back in flashes, you know?
It's like a kaleidoscope of memories.
It just all comes back. But he never does.
I think part of me knew the second I saw him that this would happen.
It's not really anything he said or anything he did,
It was the feeling that came along with it.
And the crazy thing is I don't know if I'm ever gonna feel that way again.
But I don't know if I should.
I knew his world moved too fast and burned too bright.
But I just thought, how can the devil be pulling you toward someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you?
Maybe he knew that when he saw me.
I guess I just lost my balance.
I think that the worst part of it all wasn't losing him.
It was losing me.
Once upon a time a few mistakes ago
I was in your sights, you got me alone
You found me, you found me, you found me
I guess you didn't care, and I guess I liked that
And when I fell hard you took a step back
Without me, without me, without me
And he's long gone when he's next to me
And I realize the blame is on me
'Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
No apologies, he'll never see you cry
Pretend he doesn't know that he's the reason why
You're drowning, you're drowning, you're drowning
Now I heard you moved on from whispers on the street
A new notch in your belt is all I'll ever be
And now I see, now I see, now I see
He was long gone when he met me
And I realize the joke is on me, yeah!
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
And the saddest fear comes creeping in
That you never loved me or her, or anyone, or anything, yeah
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
'Til you put me down, oh
I knew you were trouble when you walked in (you were right there, you were right there)
So shame on me now
Flew me to places I'd never been
Now I'm lying on the cold hard ground
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
Oh, oh, trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
I knew you were trouble when you walked in
Trouble, trouble, trouble
[Music video spoken part:]
I don't know if you know who you are until you lose who you are.
One of my daughters said two things. She said, why can't she (Swift) keep a boyfriend, why can't she stay in a relationship? "All those songs about breaking up and stuff..." in her words. Wow, kids are perceptive! Anyway, she wondered why life seems so hard for her when she has everything, plenty of money would seem to take a lot of life's pressures off of a person.
Then, referencing this song in particular, in response to the "Flew me to places I'd never been" line, she asked how someone could possibly take Swift to places she's never been, after all Taylor Swift is rich and can go wherever she wants to!
So I told her, "Imma let you finish, but..." :) Then I told her that I disagreed with her on both counts. First of all, regardless of how much money you have, relationships are tough. Money does NOT help with that. Either you believe me or you don't, not sure how I'd prove that case other than to show that the rich seem to have just as many break-ups as anyone else.
More importantly, I tried to explain the "Flew me to places I'd never been" line, as I understand it. First of all, life is about EXPERIENCES, not about THINGS. You can have all the things money can buy, the ability to go wherever you want, but you need other people to have experiences. Doesn't help going to a new city and just wandering around. You need to dig in and have experiences. Check out a great singer at a local club. Get on a motorcycle and have an adventure in a new land. Climb to the top of a mountain in a rain forest with your kids. Just to name a few things that have touched me deeply.
Having another person to show you those things or to share them with makes a huge differences. So this explains, to me at least, how, even though Swift has many resources at her disposal, someone else could easily "fly her to places she's never been," to paraphrase.
On a broader note, I tried to point out that our world is one of abundance, not one of scarcity. Money is not the most important variable. Yes, I'll admit that there are people stuck in tough situations where they are barely getting by; I get that. But I would still argue that we are far more limited by our time and our imagination than by money and other resources. Save up enough money and you can fly across the ocean or take some exotic vacation that even kings couldn't take a couple hundred years ago. Buy a car that performs better than any in the world mere decades ago.
But you know what? I've found precious little that compares to some of the experiences that I've found close to home, for much less money. The satisfaction that comes from crossing the finish line after a 100-mile skate. The tightness of a group of guys in a locker room after we've battled together and won a championship. The feeling of being "in the zone" or "in the Now" when I'm utterly focused on bending one of my motorcycles through a tricky series of bends when riding in the mountains, and getting it just right (by my standards, anyway!). The feeling of pride in my daughters when they learn some new concept I've been trying to teach them. Know what I mean? I sure hope so, because a life without such experiences doesn't quite seem fully-lived.
And then, to knock me down a peg, that same daughter, after my long-winded comments, told me, "Now I know where I get my tendency to lecture from." To which I replied, "What, is your mother lecturing you again?" :) I think I'm raising some crazy dangerous smart kids. Seriously.
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