Being Brave

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I heard a Bruce song the other day - go figure - that took me back to another place and time, and while it's strange, the lyrics popped into my head from this song - None But the Brave while I was considering another song - Beat It, by Michael Jackson.

It's funny how the mind works.

It tricks us, from time to time.

Let me set the scene.

I returned to the Buffalo area on my very first break from college. I'd only been away for a month, but it seemed like forever as I had been anxiously awaiting visiting an old high school girl.

I stepped into the bar, and unbelievably headed to the dance floor with her. She seemed as if she really missed me too, but the first chords of the biggest hit of the year - Beat It - blasted through the speakers and that girl looked right past me, her eyes searching the place.

For someone else.

Right then. Right there, I knew that my high school crush was over. As Michael Jackson played she searched for someone else.

Now, of course, it's not a huge story in the grand scheme of my life, but for one reason or another, I remember it as a cautionary tale of not being able to stay in one place, or getting caught in a moment.

I F-ing hate the song Beat It, by the way.

Years later I heard this song from Bruce, and I realized that it had captured that moment of youth.

And you want to be a writer!

This is the crap that haunts me!!

None But the Brave

From passing cars
Their voices sing out
And empty bars
Where guitars ring out
We'd walk and talk about
Who'd be the lucky ones to get out

You said
None baby but the brave
No one baby but the brave
Those strong enough to save
Something from what they gave

None baby, but the brave
No one baby, but the brave

In my dreams these nights, I see you my friend
The way you looked back then
Ah, on a night like this
Now I know that girl no longer exists

Except for a moment in some stranger's eyes
Or in the nameless girls in cars rushing by
That's where I find you tonight
And in my heart you still survive

None baby but the brave
No one baby but the brave
Those strong enough to save
Something from the love they gave

None baby, but the brave
No one baby, but the brave

Now, tonight once more
I search every face on that crowded floor
Looking for, I don't know what for
Just waitin' to see you come walkin' through that door

There's a girl standing by the band
She reminds me of you and I ask her to dance
As the drummer counts away
I take her hand, we move away

Now tonight, I see old friends
Caught in a game they've got no chance to win
Gettin' beat and then playin' again
'Til their strength gives out or their heart gives in

Now who's the man who thinks he can decide
Whose dreams will live and who's shall be pushed aside
Has he ever walked down these streets at night and looked into the eyes of

None baby, but the brave
No one baby, but the brave
Those strong enough to save
Something from the love they gave

None baby, but the brave

And Bruce didn't even put that song on a CD.

Damn.

Listen to the words.

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