“Who Can Explain It?
Who Can Tell You Why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.”
– Some Enchanted Evening
I heard this morning that there are two more storms heading our way – the return of Pickles – and Maria was buzzing about a new quilt, so I went off to a corner of the living room with Red early in the morning and had the most beautiful meditation with Annie Lennox, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Red and me. I was thinking this winter would soon be over, I see it will not be over that soon.
I plugged my big earphones into my Iphone and listened to two Annie Lennox songs (I have a big crush on her, and yes I know) from her “Nostalgia” album, “I Put A Spell On You,” and “Summertime.” I wanted to dance with Maria, but she was off in her Studio, I didn’t want to bother her.
Then I went to Bob Dylan’s new album, “Shadows In The Night,” a collection of Frank Sinatra’s best love songs. I remember seeing Bob Dylan in Greenwich Village when I lived there as a young reporter and messed up kid, he was electric then, I knew I was seeing something extraordinary. The world has changed, him and me, he is 73 now, I am 67. He is still inspiring, he has this amazing drive, he keeps writing, singing, performing in his eccentric and individualistic way, his time in the world is coming to an end soon, he will be creating to the end.
I think we have this in common, he and I, we are driven to create, for better or worse, it is an integral part of our being. He is a genius, I am not, but I believe I will be creating to the end as well.
This new collection is beautiful, he brings so much emotion and feeling to these songs. I was never a Sinatra fan, but Dylan brings so much experience and emotion to them, the album is quite beautiful. I called Maria, and I said “we have to dance” to this song, and she said “ok” and came into the house.
Maria is always a sucker for a dance, or for music, or for love, and she came into the house and I put one earbud in her ear, one in mind, and we danced to this very beautiful song, sung so poignantly by this brilliant artist. The song filled me with warmth and hope and love.
“Some enchanted evening, when you find your true love, when you feel her call you across a crowded room, Then fly to her side, And make her your own, For all through your life you May Dream all alone.”
Dylan captured the sadness and power of the song, and of the power of love. All through my life I did dream alone, and when I found her, I flew to her side, and I made her my own. I do not dream alone any longer, and I thank Dylan for speaking to my heart in that way, for helping to remind me in this time of storms and cold, of what is truly important in life.
“Who can explain it? Who Can Tell You Why?”
It is so true of our time that the fools are always giving reasons, and the wise men know better and never try. Dylan is getting older, he is getting wiser. Wise men and women know that what they can’t explain and don’t know is so often more important than what they can explain and do know. In our world, the fools have been given the gift of Washington and of media blogs and cable news, and they give us reasons all day and they explain nothing.
The wise men do not go to Washington, they are not on cable news, they do not tell us why.
I understand as I begin to get old that I do not know, so much of life cannot be explained, cannot be known. That is the key to acceptance, to humility, to listening, to a spiritual life, I think. The older I get, the less I think I know, the fewer answers I think I have.
Answers are the currency of the arrogant and closed-minded. The smart people learn how to listen, not to talk. Listening to this song, it is clear that Bob Dylan knows that. It is a liberating thing for me, to never try, today I felt that it is making me free, and somehow, it opens the door to love. I think I will dance again tomorrow.