A Child of Countless Trees, a Child of Boundless Seas
Friday. Yeah! I've got all kinds of stuff going on today and not too much of it good, unfortunately. It seems like today has been a magnet for bad news or something. All morning long I was made aware of all kinds of different problems that I am now going to have to deal with. The positive perspective comes from the Big Boss Lady: "well, you didn't want to be bored now did you? (I swear sometimes she reads this blog). The negative spin comes from a co-worker who called to remark "if it wasn't for bad luck (I'd) have no luck at all." Gotta love it.
However, despite being buried under this gigantic pile of lameness, I am in a good mood today. First, it is Friday, so by default the day has to be good. It is also my daughter's seventh birthday today. I can't believe it. Seven years old already. Crazy. You know, seven years doesn't seem that long ago, but when I think back things were totally different then. I don't just mean not having a seven-year-old daughter, but just life in general. At least for the most part it has been progressive and positive change for me. There have been a few bumps along the way, but hopefully the past seven years haven't been too bad for her, either.
I listened to Without a Net by the Grateful Dead this morning for the drive in. I did this because faithful readers may remember that my wife and I named our daughter after the GD song Cassidy. Ok, now I'm sure some deadhead out there will split hairs and tell me that Cassidy is actually a Bob Weir song and not officially a Dead tune. However, since the Dead both recorded the song and played it live on numerous occasions, plus the fact that Bob Weir is a member of the Dead, that makes it a "Dead tune" in my book. I have several versions of this song in my collection, but today I chose the one off of Without a Net to hear. I like this one, first because the whole album is good and second because the arrangement sets it apart from other released versions. For example, this recording is much more upbeat and rocking than, say, the acoustic Reckoning version. The Brent Mydland backups add a lot to the track as well.
We chose this song not just because of who sang it, but what they were singing about. This is a song about the cycle of life, of beginnings and endings, and how everything that fades away simply makes way for something new. It is about the death of Neal Cassady and the birth of Cassidy Law. It is about renewal, and how even from the darkest ashes the world can become reborn. It is about bringing into this world a life with endless possibilities, guiding it through adulthood and then having to let it go. It is about love and loss and a celebration of them both. It is an amazing song, and I have never regretted using it as the namesake of one of our beloved girls. Happy birthday, sweetie.
I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream
A child of countless trees, a child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name
For you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy
Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac
I can tell by the way you smile he's rolling back
Come wash the nighttime clean, come grow the scorched ground green
Blow the horn, tap the tambourine
Close the gap on the dark years in between
You and me, Cassidy.
Quick beats in an icy heart, catch colt draws a coffin cart,
There he goes and now here she starts, hear her cry
Flight of the seabirds,
Scattered like lost words,
Wheel to the storm and fly
Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine
Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine
However, despite being buried under this gigantic pile of lameness, I am in a good mood today. First, it is Friday, so by default the day has to be good. It is also my daughter's seventh birthday today. I can't believe it. Seven years old already. Crazy. You know, seven years doesn't seem that long ago, but when I think back things were totally different then. I don't just mean not having a seven-year-old daughter, but just life in general. At least for the most part it has been progressive and positive change for me. There have been a few bumps along the way, but hopefully the past seven years haven't been too bad for her, either.
I listened to Without a Net by the Grateful Dead this morning for the drive in. I did this because faithful readers may remember that my wife and I named our daughter after the GD song Cassidy. Ok, now I'm sure some deadhead out there will split hairs and tell me that Cassidy is actually a Bob Weir song and not officially a Dead tune. However, since the Dead both recorded the song and played it live on numerous occasions, plus the fact that Bob Weir is a member of the Dead, that makes it a "Dead tune" in my book. I have several versions of this song in my collection, but today I chose the one off of Without a Net to hear. I like this one, first because the whole album is good and second because the arrangement sets it apart from other released versions. For example, this recording is much more upbeat and rocking than, say, the acoustic Reckoning version. The Brent Mydland backups add a lot to the track as well.
We chose this song not just because of who sang it, but what they were singing about. This is a song about the cycle of life, of beginnings and endings, and how everything that fades away simply makes way for something new. It is about the death of Neal Cassady and the birth of Cassidy Law. It is about renewal, and how even from the darkest ashes the world can become reborn. It is about bringing into this world a life with endless possibilities, guiding it through adulthood and then having to let it go. It is about love and loss and a celebration of them both. It is an amazing song, and I have never regretted using it as the namesake of one of our beloved girls. Happy birthday, sweetie.
I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left you were in his dream
A child of countless trees, a child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name
For you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy
Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac
I can tell by the way you smile he's rolling back
Come wash the nighttime clean, come grow the scorched ground green
Blow the horn, tap the tambourine
Close the gap on the dark years in between
You and me, Cassidy.
Quick beats in an icy heart, catch colt draws a coffin cart,
There he goes and now here she starts, hear her cry
Flight of the seabirds,
Scattered like lost words,
Wheel to the storm and fly
Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine
Fare thee well now, let your life proceed by its own design
Nothing to tell now, let the words be yours, I am done with mine
posted by john at 3:01 PM
2 Comments:
you can go off the hillside website to at least find their official site and there may be sample mp3s, there often are.
also? i love the reason you named your daughter and i too wish her a happy birthday!
Thanks, Sass. I'll go there and check them out. I am also going to sample some of your blogroll list as well. I'm always on the lookout for good music leads...
I always liked that song a lot, and when we knew we had a little girl on the way, it just seemed perfect. Cassidy had a pretty good birthday. They just happened to be playing a Grateful Dead laser light show at the planetarium in Boulder that night, so we drove down to check it out. All in all it was a pretty fun time to be had, for sure.
Post a Comment
<< Home