Thursday 30 October 2008

Sleepless Nights

My Age:

What Happened:
7

Writing. Fame. Death.
Nightmares
Sleepless Nights


It was around about the time of the Third Age of Gordie that I began to have bad dreams. I would wake up afraid, unable to breathe, and unable to shout for help. (To this day, one of the weirdest and scariest things about bad dreams is the way I try to shout for help and make no sound whatever.)

I suppose it's no big deal these days... is it? As Paul Simon once said, I don't expect to sleep through the night. But I don't feel right when I wake up in the night. I question myself, more fundamentally than I do in the daytime. I feel like I've been abandoned, I feel on the wrong planet.

I don't think I understand this song; I just like it. What's the lie he's talking about? Why is the cross in the ballpark? Anybody got any thoughts, please leave a comment.


I’m accustomed to a smooth ride
Or maybe I'm a dog who's lost his bite
I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don’t expect to sleep through the night
Some people say
A lie's a lie's a lie
But I say why
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

And in remembering a road sign
I am remembering a girl when I was young
And we said these songs are true
These days are ours
These tears are free
And hey
The cross is in the ballpark
The cross is in the ballpark

We had a lot of fun
We had a lot of money
We had a little son
And we thought we'd call him sonny
Sonny gets married and moves away
Sonny has a baby and bills to pay
Sonny gets sunnier
Day by day by day by day

I've been waking up at sunrise
I've been following the light across my room
I watch the night receive the room of my day
Some people say the sky is just the sky
But I say
Why deny the obvious child?
Why deny the obvious child?

Sonny sits by his window and thinks to himself
How its strange that some rooms are like cages
Sonny's yearbook from high school
Is down from the shelf
And he idly thumbs through the pages
Some have died
Some have fled from themselves
Or struggled from here to get there
Sonny wanders beyond his interior walls
Runs his hand through his thinning brown hair

Well I'm accustomed to a smoother ride
Maybe I'm a dog that’s lost his bite
I don’t expect to be treated like a fool no more
I don’t expect to sleep through the night
Some people say a lie is just a lie
But I say the cross is in the ballpark
Why deny the obvious child?

PAUL SIMON


3 comments:

Romeo Morningwood said...

I have good news..Paul doesn't know what they mean either.
I found this review in the NY Times..

Mr. Simon said "I would come up with phrases that I thought sounded nice, although I had no idea what they meant. The phrase 'Why deny the obvious child?' is very easy to say. 'The cross is in the ballpark' I found to be a satisfying rhythmic phrase against the drums. I often found myself jumping from subject to subject in the same song."

It just sounds right...and sometimes that's good enough.

Gordie said...

I was going to say "what a twat", then I realised you were both right.

Mel said...

*chuckling*

Not everything has to make sense, eh?

Works for me!

Happy Halloween!!!!!!