Day: November 16, 2003

Oh, and before I forget, my alter ego has published another essay called Cashing in on the Environment over at Open Source Politics.

But you already knew that if you read Thursday’s excuses, didn’t you?

While eating breakfast and discussing poetry this morning, Mike suggested that with my philosophy I would probably fit in perfectly in Norway. Do you think that would explain why my favorite Paul Simon song, at least of his solo songs, is “Slip Slidin’ Away.”

Personally, I’d always attributed my love for the song to its bluesy sound (Do Norwegians love the Blues?) and it’s right-on analysis of life’s problems. Or to the fact that this is the song that I used to sing to myself in the morning as I packed my lunch and got ready for a long day teaching school while the rest of the family slept upstairs.

Personally, I find it difficult to find a stanza that doesn’t somehow describe a part of my life:

SLIP SLIDIN’ AWAY

Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away

I know a man
He came from my home town
He wore his passion for his woman
Like a thorny crown
He said delores
I live in fear
My love for you’s so overpowering
I’m afraid that I will disappear

Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away

I know a woman
Became a wife
These are the very words she uses
To describe her life
She said a good day
Ain’t got no rain
She said a bad day’s when I lie in bed
And think of things that might have been

Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away

And I know a father
Who had a son
He longed to tell him all the reasons
For the things he’d done
He came a long way
Just to explain
He kissed his boy as he lay sleeping
Then he turned around and headed home again

Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away

God only knows
God makes his plan
The information’s unavailable
To the mortal man
We work our jobs
Collect our pay
Believe we’re gliding down the highway
When in fact we’re slip slidin’ away

Slip slidin’ away
Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away

Slip slidin’ away
You know the nearer your destination
The more you’re slip slidin’ away
Mmm…

Now I’m not sure what Paul Simon meant by “destination,” though I have my suspicions, but I sure as hell know what he means by “slip slidin’ away.” I’ve worn my passion for a woman “like a thorny crown” more than once in my life, forgetting my true self in an attempt to be what she wanted me to be. Turns out it don’t get you nowhere but lost. Though I ain’t never been a wife, I’ve laid in bed and thought of things that might have been more than once.

As a divorced father, I’ve certainly longed to tell my son (and daughter) all the reasons for the things I’ve done, only to end up turning around and making that long trip home, leaving them with nothing more of me than a kiss.

If God has a plan, he’s never made me privilege to it. Every time I’ve felt like I’m glidiing down the highway of life, I’ve found myself slppin’ and slidin,’ until I find myself standing beside the road wondering what the hell had just happened.

If it sometimes seems like I’m paying too much attention to the dark side of the road, it’s probably “cause I’ve ended up in the ditch once too often and don’t want to end up there again until I’ve reached my final destination.