The Monster is Loose
Yesterday was one of those days that was so out-of-whack that it was almost comical. Every phone call was bad news about work, everyone seemed to be looking for answers that I just didn't have. At the end of the day, my mood absolutely dour, I was faced with a 2.5 trip home. Of course, the family was concerned about our plans for the weekend, and all the things that needed to be done around the house.
"Don't bring up a lot of new stuff," I begged my wife. "I'm shot."
A man blew by me on the left side and although I was doing 74 , he gave me the finger. Guess he had a worse day. I turned on my CD player hoping that there was something worth listening to stored in the player. I heard the first chords of The Monster is Loose from Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell 3 - if you don't have it - get it immediately.
What turned my day around was a simple verse in the 2nd song - And I wish I could give you something in return for the precious time you wasted on the tears I never earned; for reaching out to help me across the bridges that I burned.
I suppose that a well-written verse isn't what snaps most people out of a trying day, but as I drove, I counted the words in the verse - 35 - not a wasted word in the group - and it thrilled me to know that there are still artists out there that can create such emotion in such a short window.
Think of the relationship between the writer and the object of his love. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it exciting to be able to play it all out in a couple of true sentences of pure unadulterated feeling. It's strange how the mind works, but I felt all of the angst of all of the emotion in the tattered remnants of that bitter end of a relationship. In 35 words!
While I did not have the capacity to consider ever doing such hateful things to another person, when I returned home I was able to fully grasp the full emotion of the song. The dogs greeted me with jumps, kisses and tails wagging. My boys gave me a quick hug and that smile that told me all was well and my wife and I watched the Yanks win and a new Dateline. We didn't talk much about what needed to be done. It reminded me of song 8 on the same album:
I'm a runaway train on a broken track. I'm the ticker on the bomb that you can't turn back. This time, that's right, I got away with it all and I'm still alive. Let the end of the world come tumbling down. I'll be the last man standing on the ground. And if my shadow is all that survives, I'm still alive.
"Don't bring up a lot of new stuff," I begged my wife. "I'm shot."
A man blew by me on the left side and although I was doing 74 , he gave me the finger. Guess he had a worse day. I turned on my CD player hoping that there was something worth listening to stored in the player. I heard the first chords of The Monster is Loose from Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell 3 - if you don't have it - get it immediately.
What turned my day around was a simple verse in the 2nd song - And I wish I could give you something in return for the precious time you wasted on the tears I never earned; for reaching out to help me across the bridges that I burned.
I suppose that a well-written verse isn't what snaps most people out of a trying day, but as I drove, I counted the words in the verse - 35 - not a wasted word in the group - and it thrilled me to know that there are still artists out there that can create such emotion in such a short window.
Think of the relationship between the writer and the object of his love. Isn't that amazing? Isn't it exciting to be able to play it all out in a couple of true sentences of pure unadulterated feeling. It's strange how the mind works, but I felt all of the angst of all of the emotion in the tattered remnants of that bitter end of a relationship. In 35 words!
While I did not have the capacity to consider ever doing such hateful things to another person, when I returned home I was able to fully grasp the full emotion of the song. The dogs greeted me with jumps, kisses and tails wagging. My boys gave me a quick hug and that smile that told me all was well and my wife and I watched the Yanks win and a new Dateline. We didn't talk much about what needed to be done. It reminded me of song 8 on the same album:
I'm a runaway train on a broken track. I'm the ticker on the bomb that you can't turn back. This time, that's right, I got away with it all and I'm still alive. Let the end of the world come tumbling down. I'll be the last man standing on the ground. And if my shadow is all that survives, I'm still alive.
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