Sailing
Christopher Cross
~~*~~
Well it's not far down to paradise
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find tranquility
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me
It's not far to Never Never Land
No reason to pretend
And if the wind is right you can find the joy
Of innocence again
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Believe me
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
Soon I will be free
Fantasy
It gets the best of me
When I'm sailing
All caught up in the reverie
Every word is a symphony
Won't you believe me?
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
Well, it's not far back to sanity
At least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away
And find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles
Just you wait and see
Really, believe me
Sailing
Takes me away to where I've always heard it could be
Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free
~~*~~
In August of 1980 I boarded a DC-8 bound
for Honolulu, Hawai'i, to begin my collegiate
swimming career.
I was terrified and already homesick,
and not at all certain that I should be
flying anywhere, let alone more than four thousand miles away.
My mother, dying of a slow terminal disease,
needed me.
But she insisted I go, so I went.
I view that day as the very first of my adulthood,
even though for years I was expected, quite unfairly,
to be an adult in her care.
I was taking my first steps on a new path.
Something inside me warned me that it was
going to be anything but easy,
was going to be anything but filled with friendship
and love,
was going to be lonesome, isolating,
massively dysfunctional, and painful
in ways I just couldn't imagine.
It was, it has been, it is still.
Back then it was all high-tech for the attendants
to offer you headphones--these plastic things
with tiny ear buds that came in a plastic bag.
Nice thing--they were free.
(Bet you can't even imagine that today.)
A pretty attendant offered me a pair,
and I gladly accepted.
As the jet soared over the deep blue Pacific,
I listened to the offerings,
of which this perfect song was part.
It stands today as both a footnote and a reminder
that I need to live my life my way
no matter the consequences,
no matter how many "friends"
I lose along the way,
no matter how disdained I may end up
in the eyes of society,
the very womb of dysfunction.
I realize the lyrics don't speak about such things,
but I have a wonderful, rich imagination,
and so, for me, they do.
As a result,
this is one of my all-time favorite songs.
Enjoy.
~~*~~
Photography: We Sail On Liquid Sunshine by yours truly
~~*~~
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