I’ve seen your hand turn saintly on the radio dial
I’ve seen the airwaves pull your eyes towards heaven
I spent way too much time listening to songs tonight (not that I ever mind listening to music) in search of those lyrics. The only line I could remember (vaguely) was eyes towards heaven. I could hear it in my head – over and over, but I couldn’t get the rest of the song. Google results gave me a bunch of religious songs, but did not return “True Dreams of Wichita” by Soul Coughing.
I’m not sure what made me think of those lyrics. Lately, I’ve been slightly obsessed with small details and story telling. I made a short playlist of songs that told stories or had interesting and/or narrative lines (it didn’t include “True Dreams” but will). The song “Riptide” with it’s opening line “I was scared of dentists and the dark” made it. So did Marcus King’s “Goodbye Carolina” and the current-ish hit “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton. “Fast Car” and “One Headlight” also made the list, and I suppose “Jack and Diane” and “Free Fallin'” would be good candidates. All of the songs have a sense of nostalgia to them… and maybe that was the impetus – a longing for when I paid closer attention to moments like a hand turning saintly on a radio dial… But I’m practicing.
Tonight, I stepped outside while the dog roamed the yard. The air was still and the temperature was perfect for remembering and dreaming and feeling something more cosmic then myself. It reminded me of evenings on my back deck in Yardley, or the weekend trip to a house secluded in rural Virginia – rustic porch, strings of lights, fireflies in the meadow, music and wine and the sound of crickets. Tonight, the stars were too many to count and the glow of the half moon light barely lit the sky of midnight blue. The pines were still and tall and the whole scene made me want to breath a little deeper, think back a little further… and the airwaves pulled my eyes towards heaven.