In celebration of the self-discovery I have sought after for the past five years, especially the past couple, I thought that I'd share the lyrics to a song that really jumped out at me lately. My mom called me and asked me to make her a CD from my iTunes library. She requested a few herself, and then told me to fill in the empty tracks with what I thought would be fitting. Then, as I was downloading the ones I was missing for this playlist I made for her, she sent me a text message to my BlackBerry telling me that Alan Jackson's new song "After 17" reminded her of me and of the days gone by before I went to school at Alabama. See, my sister is three years older than me and my dad travels a lot. So, for two years there was a lot of time that it was just Mom and me hanging out, talking, bonding, and well, the occasional fighting. But when I downloaded this song and listened to it two or three times, I realized that this is very much like me. I'm proud of myself for being who I am today. I know that I am not a replica of my sister or maybe not the perfect daughter, but I have a loving family that loves me for who I am. Never have they tried to change me or my style or my likings or anything. They allow me to embrace the fact that I swim upstream and never fall in to the crowd. I think that's why I have been so blessed with the self-realization and confidence that I have to this day. Plus, Alan Jackson's music has a VERY special meaning to my family. I'm tying to think of a way to explain the way my family is about his music but there really is no way to describe it. It is something so special that it doesn't need to be explained between mom, dad, Ashley, and I. We all know what I'm talking about when I say this. It's strangely comforting that I have this country music musician to bring back some old feelings of familiarity and love between the Jones clan.
Her right hand closed the front porch door
Suddenly a child no more
All the ribbons, all the bows
In a box now on her closet floor
Anxious for what's to come
Afraid to leave a place she loves
She's not a woman, not a girl
Trying to find her place in this crazy world
Meet a lover, make a friend
Tryin' to figure out what this life really means
After 17
Broken hearts and rusted dreams
Sometimes make it hard to leave
Certainty is out of reach
Even with some self beliefs
So she bites her lip and shows a smile
Flips her hair and flaunts her style
She's not a woman, not a girl
Trying to find her place in this crazy world
Meet a lover, make a friend
Tryin' to figure out what this life really means
After 17
Her memories she stowed away
Pulls them out on rainy days
Brand new faces take their place
Beside the ones that never fade
She's strong and fragile, weak and smart
Whatever cost she plays the part
She's not a woman, not a girl
Trying to find her place in this crazy world
Meet a lover, make a friend
Tryin' to figure out what this life really means
After 17, After 17
Her right hand closed the front porch door
And suddenly a child no more
-Alan Jackson
Peace&LOVE
bjj
No comments:
Post a Comment