Be Like

There's something about music that is intensely personal.  So when two of my friends met me at the They Might Be Giants concert last night, neither of them being very familiar with the band, I was nervous.

It's like cutting out a small part of you and handing it to them, saying, hey - I hope that you love this, but if you don't, I hope you don't hate me for giving it to you.

I may overthink things.

That said, it was a great show.  They played all my favorites, including the tune for which I named my blog.

Whistling In The Dark is what I named this blog because I started it in 2008 when I was flat out terrified about my father going into the hospital after a heart attack.  

Here is the final bit of that first post:




Dad died nine years ago today.  Nearly a decade ago.  I started the blog six years before that.


Whistling In The Dark is basically about faking your way through something scary.

Here are the lyrics of the song:

A woman came up to me and said"I'd like to poison your mindWith wrong ideas that appeal to youThough I am not unkind"She looked at me, I looked at somethingWritten across her scalpAnd these are the words that it faintly saidAs I tried to call for help
There's only one thing that I know how to do wellAnd I've often been told that you only can doWhat you know how to do wellAnd that's be you,Be what you're like,Be like yourself,And so I'm having a wonderful timeBut I'd rather be whistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkThere's only one thing that I likeAnd that is whistling in the dark
A man came up to me and said"I'd like to change your mindBy hitting it with a rock, " he said,"Though I am not unkind."We laughed at his little jokeAnd then I happily walked awayAnd hit my head on the wall of the jailWhere the two of us live today.
There's only one thing that I know how to do wellAnd I've often been told that you only can doWhat you know how to do wellAnd that's be you,Be what you're like,Be like yourself,And so I'm having a wonderful timeBut I'd rather be whistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkThere's only one thing that I likeAnd that is whistling in the dark
There's only one thing that I know how to do wellAnd I've often been told that you only can doWhat you know how to do wellAnd that's be you,Be what you're like,Be like yourself,And so I'm having a wonderful timeBut I'd rather be whistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling in the darkWhistling, whistlingWhistling in the dark
Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)
Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)
Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)Whistling (whistling), whistling (whistling)Dark (dark), Dark (dark)

The first verse, over time, came to symbolize the head of the first company I worked for in Nashville.  She was not a good or kind person, and she used her power to force me and others into uncomfortable conversations about religion and politics.  I was terrible at the job, and one of anonymous pieces of feedback I received in a review is that I was "Whistling in a graveyard."  So from then on, I would think of her and that job along with the verse.

Not surprisingly, the second verse came to remind me of a manager at my next company who was a bit of a bully, and I felt very trapped in that place with him.  So, it applied heavily.

The bridge and chorus were what sustained me.  I know how to be myself, and I am having a wonderful time of that.  Even if I do have to whistle in the dark.

So, of course, when that song was played, I sang along extra loud. 

There are times still when I'm whistling in the dark.  There's been some of it this year.  But as an optimist, I'm having a wonderful time.  I had a wonderful time last night.  

And I think that's kind of the whole point.






Comments

Christopher said…
I'm glad you had a wonderful time at the concert. I hope your friends did too. It's hard for me to imagine not having a wonderful time at a TMBG concert, but then I remember when their Dial-A-Song would show up on the phone bill as a 50 cent charge. A friend of mine called once and I listened on the extension, hearing "Particle Man" for the first time.
Oh, how the times have changed.
Thank you for continuing to share after all these years.