About three years ago, I got in my car and traveled to a mysterious place called Waco, Nebraska. Trapped by a railroad and encompassed on three other sides by corn fields, it was a quiet area of Nebraska where neighbors knew each other, and Hunter's is a place that is always happening, especially their tractor tread (waffle) fries. As I entered there to begin my first year of teaching, I couldn't help but reiterate the words spoken by Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I looked at myself in the mirror and said, "I don't think I'm in California anymore." I was so far from home, in a strange environment where people wave to you as you pass them in your car, and watching the Huskers was their religion. I didn't know how to begin a life like this, I was lost.
Home. Such a simple word that we take for granted, that is, until we realize we are out of our comfort zone. But what is home? Is it merely a place with four walls and a roof? A place to find shelter and live? They say home is where the heart is, but what does that even mean? If my heart isn't into eating healthy does that mean junk food is my home? If I don't feel like cleaning, does that mean home is a messy place? In a way, yes. Are you comfortable at home? A common, comforting way of welcoming someone into your home is the expression, "Make yourself at home!" All in all, I guess we can say home is a place in your life you feel the most comfort, or ease.
The song we will be looking at is called "Far From Home" by The Classic Crime. I, ironically, first heard this song on the way to Nebraska. I immediately clung to this anthem for obvious reasons. Only now, as I look at the lyrics, my eyes have been opened. Here, our song writer calls home something he learned in his youth. He states:
I’ve got a bad taste in me
It’s like I’ve been robbed of something
I once was in my childhood memories
Being robbed from home has got to be a horrible feeling. Here, he says that he was robbed of something from his home, his childhood. What can you be robbed of as a child? Here he is robbed of everything he has learned of true love. Haven't we all taken a look at our parents, uncles, aunts, friends, strangers, and seen what love is. Isn't it an attraction that binds together and makes itself stronger than the man of steel? Isn't it something that is written in our stars? Love, all you need is it. Just the word love can either make someone feel lighter than a feather or heavier and more angry than a fat man kicked out of a buffet.So, what does this robbery feel like to the victim?
I’ve got a bad pain in my heart
It’s like the first time that I looked in your eyes
The first time it all fall apart
I've felt this type of pain before. Before my wife and I were happily ever after, we broke up once on questionable terms (unfortunately on my part). I remember her going into the dorm I was living in so she could pick up some stuff to take home. I remember seeing her across the room, longing to do anything: hug her, command her to have a great summer, high five, anything. She did look across, the pain in her eyes, the gut-wrenching, robbed feeling of love. Not to sound too dramatic, our world of love fell apart. Even though I can still feel those emotions, years later I found out she felt the same way. What could I do about it at the time? I tried everything to keep my sanity. I wrote poems, songs, music, I even tried calling her (which didn't work out too well). The song writer puts it best:
All I have is words
To which I’m a slave
I scribble them down
Hoping to save me
But I’m lost
I’m so lost
Nothing seemed to work. No matter what you try, when your "home" is taken from you, your head spins so fast, you can't figure what is up or down. What you should or should not do. You feel this in the song. The music quiets down right before the lyrics I posted above. Then in utter chaos and confusion, the music comes in a little hard to show frustration. You can't feel any hint of hope in his words:
These pages will burn
And I’ll pass away
Yesterday’s gone
And I just can’t shake
The fact that I’m lost
I’m so lost
Then the music goes into a soft, sweet violin that makes you float, or sway to this idea. A calm before the storm if you will. He has accepted it. He is frustrated about this acceptance. Man, I remember feeling this same way. What do you do?! But wait, what is that you hear? A soft, subtle, sound singing the same words. There is a woman singing the exact same words. "Now, we are so far from home, far from home." She is singing with you, then you drown out and she keeps going. Even the drum beat sounds like the same beating heart of the two that feel robbed.What an amazing finish to the song. Do you get it reader? These two are so far apart yet so close at the same time. They both feel the same way. They are each others home. Can you picture, like in a movie, a man so bent out of shape because he cares about his girl so deeply, he is pacing back and forth, he needs her, he wants her. And then the camera fades and opens to a girl, laying in her room crying, wishing the same thing, This is how the song ends. They feel the same thing. They want each other, nay, they need each other.
As I stated before, I later found out my wife wanted the same thing, the embrace, the ability to love back. We were this ending. But we didn't leave each other hanging, we found each other, we returned home. That is the happy ending for me. Does this always happen? No. You will be robbed, you will feel alone, alienated. Sometimes you have to create your own home out of nothing. The thing is, even if you feel far from home, someone feels the same. Are you willing to find your home instead of giving up and settling with something you aren't proud of?
As I painted the picture of me driving into Waco, completely lost, starting out new. I did find a home there among faculty, students, family, hobbies, and I had a place in a dorm and a house. I had a blast. As I continue to move through life, whether literally or metaphorically speaking, I take to heart the quote, "Home is where the heart is." So where is your home? Or better yet, what do you call home? Is your heart in it? Can your attitude about it tear it down or build it up? If you are lost, actively find a way out. Ask for direction and hopefully the right path will be given to you and you can go home.
Far From Home
Home. Such a simple word that we take for granted, that is, until we realize we are out of our comfort zone. But what is home? Is it merely a place with four walls and a roof? A place to find shelter and live? They say home is where the heart is, but what does that even mean? If my heart isn't into eating healthy does that mean junk food is my home? If I don't feel like cleaning, does that mean home is a messy place? In a way, yes. Are you comfortable at home? A common, comforting way of welcoming someone into your home is the expression, "Make yourself at home!" All in all, I guess we can say home is a place in your life you feel the most comfort, or ease.
The song we will be looking at is called "Far From Home" by The Classic Crime. I, ironically, first heard this song on the way to Nebraska. I immediately clung to this anthem for obvious reasons. Only now, as I look at the lyrics, my eyes have been opened. Here, our song writer calls home something he learned in his youth. He states:
I’ve got a bad taste in me
It’s like I’ve been robbed of something
I once was in my childhood memories
Being robbed from home has got to be a horrible feeling. Here, he says that he was robbed of something from his home, his childhood. What can you be robbed of as a child? Here he is robbed of everything he has learned of true love. Haven't we all taken a look at our parents, uncles, aunts, friends, strangers, and seen what love is. Isn't it an attraction that binds together and makes itself stronger than the man of steel? Isn't it something that is written in our stars? Love, all you need is it. Just the word love can either make someone feel lighter than a feather or heavier and more angry than a fat man kicked out of a buffet.So, what does this robbery feel like to the victim?
I’ve got a bad pain in my heart
It’s like the first time that I looked in your eyes
The first time it all fall apart
I've felt this type of pain before. Before my wife and I were happily ever after, we broke up once on questionable terms (unfortunately on my part). I remember her going into the dorm I was living in so she could pick up some stuff to take home. I remember seeing her across the room, longing to do anything: hug her, command her to have a great summer, high five, anything. She did look across, the pain in her eyes, the gut-wrenching, robbed feeling of love. Not to sound too dramatic, our world of love fell apart. Even though I can still feel those emotions, years later I found out she felt the same way. What could I do about it at the time? I tried everything to keep my sanity. I wrote poems, songs, music, I even tried calling her (which didn't work out too well). The song writer puts it best:
All I have is words
To which I’m a slave
I scribble them down
Hoping to save me
But I’m lost
I’m so lost
Nothing seemed to work. No matter what you try, when your "home" is taken from you, your head spins so fast, you can't figure what is up or down. What you should or should not do. You feel this in the song. The music quiets down right before the lyrics I posted above. Then in utter chaos and confusion, the music comes in a little hard to show frustration. You can't feel any hint of hope in his words:
These pages will burn
And I’ll pass away
Yesterday’s gone
And I just can’t shake
The fact that I’m lost
I’m so lost
Then the music goes into a soft, sweet violin that makes you float, or sway to this idea. A calm before the storm if you will. He has accepted it. He is frustrated about this acceptance. Man, I remember feeling this same way. What do you do?! But wait, what is that you hear? A soft, subtle, sound singing the same words. There is a woman singing the exact same words. "Now, we are so far from home, far from home." She is singing with you, then you drown out and she keeps going. Even the drum beat sounds like the same beating heart of the two that feel robbed.What an amazing finish to the song. Do you get it reader? These two are so far apart yet so close at the same time. They both feel the same way. They are each others home. Can you picture, like in a movie, a man so bent out of shape because he cares about his girl so deeply, he is pacing back and forth, he needs her, he wants her. And then the camera fades and opens to a girl, laying in her room crying, wishing the same thing, This is how the song ends. They feel the same thing. They want each other, nay, they need each other.
As I stated before, I later found out my wife wanted the same thing, the embrace, the ability to love back. We were this ending. But we didn't leave each other hanging, we found each other, we returned home. That is the happy ending for me. Does this always happen? No. You will be robbed, you will feel alone, alienated. Sometimes you have to create your own home out of nothing. The thing is, even if you feel far from home, someone feels the same. Are you willing to find your home instead of giving up and settling with something you aren't proud of?
As I painted the picture of me driving into Waco, completely lost, starting out new. I did find a home there among faculty, students, family, hobbies, and I had a place in a dorm and a house. I had a blast. As I continue to move through life, whether literally or metaphorically speaking, I take to heart the quote, "Home is where the heart is." So where is your home? Or better yet, what do you call home? Is your heart in it? Can your attitude about it tear it down or build it up? If you are lost, actively find a way out. Ask for direction and hopefully the right path will be given to you and you can go home.
Far From Home
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