Brought to my senses

So, I am a little obsessed with Sting. Have been since I was about 16, and can't see that ending anytime soon. Not obsessed in the stalker kind of way, but in the way that I think he's a musical genius; a brilliant song writer, lyricist and musician; in the way that I'd never actually want to meet him for fear the bubble could burst and my hero worship eradicated. My dad met him once-- he (my dad) was playing at a wedding, and Sting was a guest (it happened to be Don Henley's wedding; yeah-- it took a bit of coercing to get that story out of my dad because 1) he doesn't really know who anyone famous is and 2) he's not really bothered when he is around famous people--unless they are his heroes, which are decidedly not of the pop/rock genre). In any case, he was impressed by Sting because he said he pulled up a chair right in front of the band and was totally grooving with them, and extremely personable. It's probably about as close as I'll ever get to meeting him, and a good story at that. Why ruin it?

I have tickets to see his "Back to Bass" tour in Manchester next March-- 8th row floor! Whoop-whoop! I've gotten to see him several times in concert, including the sold-out Police Reunion World Tour which ended in Hawaii, and my wonderful sister and brother-in-law went with me (also amazing seats-- 4th row, floor thanks to my Aunty Julie!). Ahhhh! Once in a lifetime experience, indeed!

This is (dare I say?) my favorite Sting song; and perhaps one of the most overlooked. It's from Mercury Falling, which wasn't as huge a success as other albums (Ten Summoners Tales is hard to beat), but it has one of his most beautiful songs: Brought to my Senses.


Alone with my thoughts this evening
I walked on the banks of Tyne
I wondered how I could win you
Or if I could make you mine
Or if I could make you mine

The wind it was so insistent
With tales of a stormy south
But when I spied two birds in a sycamore tree
There came a dryness in my mouth
Came a dryness in my mouth

For then without rhyme or reason
The two birds did rise up to fly
And where the two birds were flying
I swear I saw you and I
I swear I saw you and I

I walked out this morning
It was like a veil had been removed from before my eyes
For the first time I saw the work of heaven
In the line where the hills had been married to the sky
And all around me
Every blade of singing grass
Was calling out your name
And that our love would always last
And inside every turning leaf
Is the pattern of an older tree
The shape of our future
The shape of all our history
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Came things I'd never seen
Things I'd never seen

I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me

I know it's true
It's written in a sky as blue
As blue as your eyes
As blue as your eyes
If nature's red in tooth and claw
Like winter's freeze and summer's thaw
The wounds she gave me
Were the wounds that would heal me
And we'd be like the moon and sun
And when our courtly dance had run
Its course across the sky
Then together we would lie
And out of the confusion
Where the river meets the sea
Something new would arrive
Something better would arrive

I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me
I was brought to my senses
I was blind but now that I can see
Every signpost in nature
Said you belong to me...

Arms

Cosmic Love

One of my favorite Florence+the Machine songs. It's one of those songs that breaks your heart... so powerful, meaningful and beautiful. There are really amazing acoustic versions, but I love the original with the driving drumbeat in the chorus juxtaposed with that soft harp in the verses... such a strong metaphor for love.

Just a Kiss

What if?

"'What' and ‘if’ two words as nonthreatening as words come. But put them together side-by-side and they have the power to haunt you for the rest of your life: ‘What if?'..."

"I don't know how your story ended. But I know that if what you felt then was love - true love - then it's never too late. If it was true then it why wouldn't it be true now? You need only the courage to follow your heart..."

"I don't know what a love like that feels like... a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for... but I'd like to believe if I ever felt it. I'd have the courage to seize it. I hope you had the courage to seize it. And if you didn't, I hope one day that you will."

--Letters to Juliet

Repeat

I know I've posted this already. This song always makes me cry. (Her whole album is great, but this is the best song...) I love it.

Listen to it here.

All About Your Heart

Mindy Gledhill, Kendra Lowe
© Blue Morph Music 2010 (BMI), Kendra Lowe (ASCAP)

I don’t mind your odd behavior
It’s the very thing I love
If you were an ice cream flavor
You would be my favorite one

My imagination sees you
Like a painting by Van Gogh
Starry nights and bright sunflowers
Follow you where you may go

Oh, I’ve loved you from the start
In every single way
And more each passing day
You are brighter than the stars
Believe me when I say
It’s not about your scars
It’s all about your heart

You’re a butterfly held captive
Small and safe in your cocoon
Go on you can take your time
Time is said to heal all wounds

Chorus

Like a lock without a key
Like a mystery without a clue
There is no me if I cannot have you

Chorus

Haunted

I have this recurring dream... I never remember any detail, but when I find myself in it, it's immediately familiar. The surroundings are almost always different, and some of the circumstances too. But the themes, and most notably the people, are always the same. It's the kind of dream that lingers when I wake-- often times throughout the entire day. It's a sad dream... a longing a dream; a "what if" dream.

We've all heard the oft-used phrase that "dreams are the conscious desires of the subconscious mind." Perhaps that's true. But a bigger part of me thinks that maybe it's just human nature to wonder what might have been. You can be completely and utterly content in your waking life but every so often your dreams tell you something else. Most people don't take dreams for anything other than what they are-- your mind totally relaxing and wandering from place to place. I don't usually dream, and tend to be one of those people who don't think much of them when I do. I mean, in college I had a Krull-like science fiction dream, still vividly remembered because of all the gore. Just plain bizarre. But inner meaning? Probably not so much.

What do you dream about? Are you ever haunted by your dreams?

Something for You

Cry-worthy song #14173.