1.31.2008

Thinking about the same thing tonight...

...as in June. This time the lyrics were from a They Might Be Giants song, Lucky Ball and Chain that I've been listening to for 18 (yikes!) years now. The line is this:


Sure as you can steer a train/
You can change your fate


Sad to say I never gave that much thought to the train in the lyric, and the verb "to steer." But actually I think I missed the meaning in that line because I was fixated on my own mis-interpretation of the last word, "fate" --- I always thought it was "faith," and after singing it aloud, my voice would trail off as I contemplated the notion of changing one's faith; everything prior to "faith" was lost.

I've always appreciated the decisiveness of TMBG's quirky lyrics (they may be strange, but they know what they are and proclaim it without a hint of question in their delivery), and so this "faith" fate mix-up always bothered me. I feel better now, knowing trains cannot be steered without derailing disaster, so sit back and enjoy the ride. Good advice on a rainy weather day wherein all I want to do is just sit and breathe.

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