Waking up with a song in my head

Sometimes it’s rather hilarious the songs that go through my head in the morning. I have to wonder what I go to sleep thinking about. The first time I heard this song must have been years ago, it’s been around for a long time. In the last few weeks One Week has been a regular ear worm so I had to listen to it, really listen. It’s fascinating.

Barenaked Ladies – One Week

It’s been one week since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side
and said I’m angry
Five days since you laughed at me saying
Get that together come back and see me
Three days since the living room,
I realized it’s all my fault, but couldn’t tell you
Yesterday you’d forgiven me
But it’ll still be two days till I say I’m sorry

Hold it now and watch the hoodwink
As I make you stop, think
You’ll think you’re looking at Aquaman
I summon fish to the dish,
Although I like the Chalet Swiss
I like the sushi
Cause it’s never touched a frying pan

Hot like wasabe when I bust rhymes
Big like Leann Rimes
Because I’m all about value
Bert Kaempfert’s got the mad hits
You try to match wits
You try to hold me but I bust through

Gonna make a break and take a fake
I’d like a stinkin, achin shake
I like vanilla, It’s the finest of the flavors
Gotta see the show,
Cause then you’ll know
The Vertigo is gonna grow
Cause it’s so dangerous,
You’ll have to sign a waiver

How can I help it if I think you’re funny when you’re mad
Trying hard not to smile though I feel bad
I’m the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral
Can’t understand what I mean?
Well, you soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve
I have a history of taking off my shirt

It’s been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air and said you’re crazy
Five days since you tackled me
I’ve still got the rug burns on both my knees
It’s been three days since the afternoon
You realized it’s not my fault not a moment too soon
Yesterday you’d forgiven me
And now I sit back and wait till you say you’re sorry

Chickity China the Chinese chicken
You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin’
Watchin X-Files with no lights on,
We’re dans la maison
I hope the Smoking Man’s in this one
Like Harrison Ford I’m getting Frantic
Like Sting I’m Tantric
Like Snickers, guaranteed to satisfy

Like Kurosawa I make mad films
Okay I don’t make films
But if I did they’d have a samurai
Gonna get a set of better clubs
Gonna find the kind with tiny nubs
Just so my irons aren’t always flying off the back swing
Gotta get in tune with Sailor Moon
Cause that cartoon has got the boom anime babes
That make me think the wrong thing

How can I help it if I think you’re funny when you’re mad
Trying hard not to smile though I feel bad
I’m the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral
Can’t understand what I mean?
You soon will
I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve
I have a history of losing my shirt

It’s been one week since you looked at me
Dropped your arms to your sides and said I’m sorry
Five days since I laughed at you and said
You just did just what I thought you were gonna do
Three days since the living room
We realized we’re both to blame, but what could we do?
Yesterday you just smiled at me
Cause it’ll still be two days till we say we’re sorry

It’ll still be two days till we say we’re sorry
It’ll still be two days till we say we’re sorry
Birchmount Stadium, home of the Robbie

First of all these guys are hilarious. Secondly this song is relational. There are so many thoughts that wander through my head about communication and perception. My mind can whirl and twirl and think all these crazy thoughts…just like this song goes from laughing at a funeral (which I’ve done) to vanilla being the finest flavor and making films or not.

Yes, I have laughed at a funeral (wake); it was funny a wee bit juvenile but funny. You see, my Pepere loved to play bocce and used the blue balls. So you can see where this is going right? And the conversation went to…Oh never mind we laughed and enjoyed the memory of Pep playing bocce.

I’ve had to say I’m sorry and it’s taken days, sometimes much longer to figure out what needed to be said and done. And quite honestly it will take a lot to apologize if I firmly believe that not only am I not wrong in how I handled a situation but that I’m truly right. If I’m truly wrong I’ll deal with it as best I can including saying I’m sorry.

I love that this song is about a relationship and how we think about things. How hard it is to actually, really communicate with anyone. That we spend some serious time internalizing, thinking about, processing and figuring it all out. Its never quite as simple as saying sorry. There are things like shame and guilt and fear involved. These are quite powerful emotions that keep us from taking care of the relational add to this an overactive imagination and aren’t we in for an amazing roller coaster ride!

Quilting, no matter how we approach it, is relational: it’s a relationship with ourselves, it’s a relationship with other quilters, it’s a relationship with the people with whom we reside, it’s a relationship with our machines or our tools. Sometimes this relationship works smoothly and all goes well, sometimes it downright bites and is quite painful. Sometimes the quilts have a lot to say and sometimes we have to walk away and let go of our quilts. A willingness to do this is essential to our growth as quilt makers. Letting go of quilts does not make us a bad person or indicate in anyway that we’ve made poor choices it does indicate a willingness to think things through, reevaluate them and move on to the beauty that we’ve learned from our quilts. No this is not easy but it’s necessary. Over time we learn what we like, not what we think we’re supposed to like because it’s Tradition! (Think Tevya in Fiddler and you’ve got it) things need to change because we change. We discover more fully who we are and how we want to quilt.

Both the relational and discovery part of quilting are gifts from God. The relationships inform who we are and feed us. Even if that relationship turns out to be not quite what we expected.

God bless!

Teri