11/08/2006

I popped an old mix CD on the player before I got on the exercise bike tonight. About 20 minutes in, right at the bottom of my energy levels (yeah, I know), on came the Emmylou Harris song "Deeper Well" from her brilliant 1995 album Wrecking Ball.

1995! There on the bike, it hit me how much has happened in my life since that album ruled my world in 1995. I finished college, went to grad school, found my life partner and settled down, bought a house, worked 7 seven years in the local biotech industry, took a year off to re-tool my career, lost my grandmother, lost some friends, lost my cat, planted an awesome garden...all of it, in the blink of an eye.

Here are the lyrics that blew my mind in 1995 and got me through the rest of my cardio workout in 2006:
The sun burned hot, it burned my eyes
Burned so hot I thought I'd died
Thought I'd died and gone to hell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well
I went to the river but the river was dry
I fell to my knees an I looked to the sky
I looked to the sky and the spring rain fell
I saw the water from a deeper well

Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well
Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well

I was ready for love I was ready for the money
Ready for the blood and ready for the honey
Ready for the winnin', ready for the bell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well
I found some love and I found some money
Found that blood would drip from the honey
Found I had a thirst that I could not quell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well

Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well
Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well

Well I did it for kicks and I did it for faith
I did it for lust and I did it for hate
I did it for need and I did it for love
Addiction stayed on tight like a glove
So I ran with the moon and I ran with the night
And the three of us were a terrible sight
Nipple to the bottle to the gun to the cell
To the bottom of a hole of a deeper well

Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well
Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well

I rocked with the cradle and I rolled with the rage
I shook those walls and I rattled that cage
I took my trouble down a deadend trail
Reachin' out a hand for a holier grail
Hey there mama did you carry that load
Did you tell your baby 'bout the bend in the road
'Bout the rebel yell 'bout the one that fell
Lookin' for the water from a deeper well

Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well
Well...lookin for the water from a deeper well

(Harris/Lanois/Olney)


The funny thing is, about an hour before I got on the bike, I had a scotch and soda. Who exercises after a scotch and soda?

4 comments:

Christopher C. NC said...

I listened to Emmylou a lot back in the late 70's and early 80's, back when they still made vinyl albums.

chuck b. said...

You must be old!

:)

My dad listened to Emmylou back then. Actually, no--he listened to her in the early-to-mid-seventies. I gave a listen to Elite Hotel and a couple other albums from that era whose names do not pop into my mind and I enjoyed them for awhile.

lisa said...

"Who exercises after a scotch and a soda?"..heh, I used to swim laps drunk off my ass-sure makes for an interesting workout! Rode my bike across town drunk too...now THAT was scarey! Thanks for posting those lyrics BTW...reminds me of both myself and my son...poor apple never really fell, just rotted on the tree!

chuck b. said...

Yeah, I found it strangely easy to push myself a little harder on the exercise bike working a buzz.