This week's song choice is "Say" by John Mayer.
The first time I heard this song, I loved it. Not only is John Mayer a great singer/songwriter, the words to this song are so powerful. Wikipedia states, “'Say’ is a song by John Mayer written for the Rob Reiner film The Bucket List in 2007. It was released as a single on November 20 and is the first commercial single in Mayer's career that was not originally released on one of his albums but added to the special edition re-release of his album Continuum.”
If you have seen The Bucket List (starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman) you should already have an understanding of what this song was written about. The movie is about two men who find out they are dying, and decide to live out all their wildest adventures before they go—and take care of some important business with loved ones.
The words to this song are simply stated and easy to follow, so there's not much interpretation required. In this case what I’m interested in are your experiences, and how you can relate to this song.
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Say by John Mayer
Take all of your wasted honor
Every little past frustration
Take all of your so-called problems,
Better put 'em in quotations.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say!
(Repeated)
Walking like a one man army
Fighting with the shadows in your head
Living out the same old moment
Knowing you'd be better off instead,
If you could only...
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say!
(Repeated)
Have no fear for giving in.
Have no fear for giving over.
You'd better know that in the end
Its better to say too much
Then never say what you need to say again!
Even if your hands are shaking
And your faith is broken
Even as the eyes are closing
Do it with a heart wide open.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say.
Say what you need to say!
(Repeated)
*Lyrics provided by www.azlyrics.com
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What do these lyrics mean to you? Have you ever been in a situation where you finally said something that you had been holding inside for a long time? How did it feel to get it out? Are you holding something in now? What is your favorite line?
This week’s challenge: Say it! Do you need to reconcile with a loved one? Do you need to apologize to a coworker? Do you need to tell your significant other something that you’ve been holding back? Do you need to say something out loud to yourself to finally be free of an emotion or thought? This week, I say do it!
Click on the YouTube link below to hear the song:
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Stephanie
2 comments:
A great song choice! Every time I hear this song I think of a quote, "Much unhappiness has come into this world because of things left unsaid." That's from Fyodor Dostoevsky and I've used it as one of my sign offs on e-mails for years now.
And it's so true too. So often people don't say something because they're afraid. Why they're afraid my vary, but it always comes down to fear. Fear of being ridiculed, fear of offending, fear of being misunderstood, fear of causing a confrontation, fear of being the one to give in (i.e., pride). So they stay quiet.
And you absolutely cannot! You have to be true to yourself. Unless, of course, you want to be a doormat or miss life as it goes by.
It's all about conquering fear and speaking your truth, but speaking it for your own benefit not for the benefit of someone else.
Honestly, I don't feel this is something we're taught to do in our society. Society shows us through movies, books, or as examples, that those who speak out are brash, or uncouth, or radicals, or jerks. And those people certainly exist! But I feel as if we're taught to keep feelings inside, to keep them bottled up—and that never has positive consequences.
In this society we're taught the important thing is being right, ironically that's the wrong thing to teach. What's important is being true.
And that's a lesson that's been getting taught over and over again throughout the centuries, from the ancient Greeks philosophical tenet, "Know thyself" to Shakespeare's Hamlet beseeching Laertes "to thine own self be true."
For some reason it's a lesson few seem to ever learn, and that's why it's important that there's always somebody saying it.
For me, personally, this is something I had to learn. There were many times over the first 20-odd years of my life when I wanted to say something and kept quiet. But I don't do that anymore, because I realize what an invaluable commodity it is to have a voice.
I love this song - loved the movie too.
When you say what you need to say, and the other person is responsive, you feel so much better, usually.
When you say what you need to say, and the other person takes offensive, then its a toss up whether you feel better or wish you had kept your mouth shut.
Of course, I will never know what the outcome coulda/shoulda/woulda been if I had said nothing. In the long run, say what you need to say.
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