(Originally 4/10/07)
... go get your wife and bring her to the computer. Stand her right here, looking at the screen. Then stand behind her and enfold her with your arms. Rest your chin on her shoulder so that your breath tickles her ear. Then click on the following YouTube embed, then the both of you close your eyes as the music starts (because the voice sync stinks and the dancing is cheeeesy).
AFTER ALL (Al Jarreau)
There,
there was a time I knew
That no matter, come what may,
love would prevail
And then
inside the dreams I knew
Came the question lovers fear
"Can true love fail?"
Then I would miss the childhood wish
And haven't I sung to you
Of the knight in armor, bright
Faithful and true
to you
Darling,
After all
I will be the one to hold you in my arms
After all
I will be the one to hold you
I will be the one to hold you in my arms
In my arms
I know in my heart and mind
That no matter, come what may, love will survive
And Love,
the Author of space and time
Keeps the galaxies and each
sparrow alive
And the love that heals the wound
After the war is through
Is the knight in armor bright
Faithful and true
to you
Darling,
After all
I will be the one to hold you in my arms
After all
I will be the one to hold you
I will be the one to hold you in my arms
In my arms
I need some vicarious romance, Scott, and you're my brother in mid-age-hood, successful in the pursuit of marriage and fatherdom. Plus you're going to be a published author soon, when you finish the novel about the football player, and I'd like to say I knew you when. And you'll look good on the back on the book.
So do this one little favor for me? Enjoy the woman you love? Do it for all us misfitted pariahs of society, whose inner voice is deafening us with their cries of "Leper! Outcast! Unclean!"
This song made me stay in my car this morning and drive an extra hour around the lakes of West Milford and Ringwood. I hit the repeat and let Mr. Jarreau sing it with me. I envisioned the woman I need to someday sing those words to, when I become The Knight to her, faithful and true. Faithful and true to her. I will become that knight when I have slain the dragon of doubt and fear. The dragon who has haunted me with the question "Can true love fail?" for all of my life. The dragon who destroyed my parents and claws after My Friend The Doctor and My Hero and My Other Hero and Childhood Bud's relationships. After I have slain that dragon, I will then know in my heart and mind that no matter come what may, love will survive. That the Author of space and time, who keeps the galaxies and each sparrow alive, has given her and I the love that heals the wounds when the war is done. And after all that ... after all that ... I will be the one to hold her. I will be the one. In my arms.
But for now Scott, in the absence of my happily ever after, would you please do it for me?
1 comment:
Scott said...
I totally understand the feeling of getting emotional about a song, and the pang of not having someone to love. I used to listen (I'm was a country music fan) a Mark Chesnutt song called I Love You Wherever You Are. At least that's the tag line. He's singing to a woman he's never met, the one out there somewhere looking for him too. I guess both of us are hopeful romantics, as Joan Wilder once said.
Thanks for your confidence, by the way.
And just so you know, there is no way you'll be alone with that much love to share. Eventually, and it seems an eternity when you're waiting for it, someone will come along that will appreciate it.
10:06 AM
Alan said...
8`)
Also I envision slow dancing on my honeymoon night to the song "Kiss of Life", on a balcony overlooking Manhattan.
The romance part I'll be good at. It's the everday muddle, the smelly wake in a used bathroom, the "that-time-of-the-month" syndrome, and the (hopefully) occasional invective such as "You idiot!", and "I should have listened to my mother!" that I'm afraid of. Petrified of, actually. Literally petrified, as in, frozen in time and cannot utter words past "Hello, I'm fine," to the available ladies out there.
I'm about to post something risky, because it involves another regular reader, so lets buckle up for the ride ...
2:30 PM
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