02 - Ten Years Gone *My song*

I don't think I can go any further with this blog until I explain 'My song'. Perhaps it is a fallacy to believe that I can sum the whole of my existence into a single song. Especially this early in my existence. And maybe it is. But that doesn't mean that I haven't tried. And that doesn't mean you shouldn't either. It's an excellent soul-searching exercise.

I can recall the moment that I discovered 'my song'.. drivin down the road about 3 years ago, wind in my hair, listening to a song I had heard a thousand times before. Then it hits me. The great philosopher Bob Marley once said, 'One good thing about music is that when it hits, you feel no pain.' There is wisdom in his argument, but I fundamentally disagree. I know plenty of songs that when they 'hit'... I feel pain. Everywhere. My chest, my eyeballs, my gut, my throat, my toes, the very top of my skull. Ten Years Gone is one of those songs. When I was listening to it that day, it was like I was hearing the song for the first time. I heard an aching in his words, what he lost, what he still has, what he remembers, what he learned. I didn't just have one emotion, I think I felt all of them.

Pain. Love. Sadness. Hope. Remorse. Longing. Joy.

What this actually says about me I've scrutinized only minimally. Through the process of learning how to be an 'educator' I have found that I am a 'Global Learner', meaning I can see the big picture and easily reach conclusions, but I struggle when trying to articulate how I got there. I feel a deep connection to the essence of the song but internally I wrestle with the specifics of why. So here is my crack at the specifics.. as best as I can tell you:

I have taken most strongly to the first 3 lines 'then as it was, then again it will be etc.' It is technically a song about Robert Plant's first love who made him choose between her, and his music (obviously he chose the latter). It was a love so powerful that even though it's 'ten years gone' still stirs profound emotion. It's about finding your soul mate 'we are eagles of one nest, the nest is in our soul' ... and yet you're left gut wrenchingly heartbroken knowing that it will never be, 'Flyin' skys of fortune, each have separate ways', completely confounded by the mess left in the wake of your choices 'kinda makes me feel sometimes, didn't have to go' and yet you still come out alive.. and breathing.. 'changes fill my time, baby that's alright with me' still mindful of your pain 'in the midst I think of you and how it used to be', but ultimately still capable of love.

You hear this story not only in the lyrics, but perhaps more significantly in the music itself. The guitar seems to say everything the lyrics do, even culminating in a finish that is as triumphant as the revelation of love itself. Plant, Page, Bonham, Jones... maybe i'm putting them on a pedestal, but in the end what this song amounts to for me is a great work of art. My favorite work of art. It may or may not prove to ring completely true, but I can probably let you know in ten years.


Ten Years Gone - Led Zeppelin

Then as it was, then again it will be
An' though the course may change sometimes
Rivers always reach the sea
Flyin' skys of fortune, each have separate ways
On the wings of maybe, downing birds of prey
Kind of makes me feel sometimes, didn't have to go
But as the eagle leaves the nest, it's got so far to go

Changes fill my time, baby, that's alright with me
In the midst I think of you, and how it used to be

Did you ever really need somebody, And really need 'em bad
Did you ever really want somebody, The best love you ever had
Do you ever remember me, baby, did it feel so good
'Cause it was just the first time, And you knew you would

Do your eyes not sparkle, Senses growing keen
Tastin' love along the way, See your feathers preen
Kind of makes makes me feel sometimes, Didn't have to go
We are eagles of one nest, The nest is in our soul

Fixin' in my dreams with great surprise to me
Never thought I'd see your face the way it used to be
Oh darlin', oh darlin'

I'm never gonna leave you. I never gonna leave
Holdin' on, ten years gone
Ten years gone, holdin' on, ten years gone