I am wary of people that are always smiling. Aside, of course, from those working in the customer service industry, where they’d better be smiling. I mean, I wonder about those people who are always smiling when they’re not at work, when they’re just themselves. They’re always positive, cheerful, encouraging…
So, obviously, some people are just really positive. I get it. But I wonder if there are others hiding deep secrets, voices in their head, murderous inclinations… and what-have-you.
You might be saying, “Hey, but I’m a cheerful person!” and I congratulate you for being this way. It is tough to find that one person who always seems to be a glowing presence.
I still, to this day, remember a girl from high school that was like this. She was always cheerful and friendly, no matter whom she was speaking to. At least at school. Being in her presence was lifting. I don’t know anything about her because she moved away, but I wonder.
People like this you remember, because the majority of us are just screwed up. There are degrees of screwed-up-ed-ness, of course, but I think we all have more going on than what we let on. To me, this is utterly intriguing. Humans are broken creatures, always searching, always learning, always wondering. Think about the number if times you actually say what you are thinking, and how much thinking goes on in your brain with no audience but yourself… the thoughts that may pass through quickly, the thoughts that linger, and the thoughts that find a permanent parking space at the forefront of your mind.
I wish I could write songs. I love music, especially rock, and sometimes you come across a song whose words are just so spooky that they’re stuck in your head.
For example, this song by Finger Eleven, “Whatever Doesn’t Kill Me” has been in my head for days. The first few lines are this:
Don’t mistake the silences
There’s so much I haven’t said
It’s not that quiet in my head…
I think about this. How perfect are these three lines? They say so much, and say exactly what I think a lot of people wish they could say so precisely.
See, I play guitar, but because of this, despite that I am learning the chords, tabs, whatever, I actually spend quite a bit of time reading the lyrics, learning them, so that I can sing along. That means I end up analyzing them, trying to apply them somehow to my own life.
I am opening up the floor. I want to hear about a song that you love, and why you love it so much. Give me some lyrics like I did, if you want, or if it helps to emphasize your point. Comment below! Or, you can also tell me about someone that you thought might be hiding deep, dark secrets. No names, of course :)!
Great post, Lindsay! About 15 months ago, I was cruising around in my car with the top down, trying to enjoy one of the few warm, sunny days of spring here in Seattle. A song started playing via my iPod, a new one I had just downloaded, 30 Seconds To Mars "Hurricane". There were 2 lines in the chorus that really struck a chord with me:
"Tell me would you kill to save a life?
Tell me would you kill to prove you're right?"
It made me wonder, what would drive a man to do something really terrible, something completely against their nature? And after doing something so awful, could that man ever find his way back to the man he once was?
Well, this was the beginning of my journey. I was so intrigued by this I wrote and entire novel based on these questions. I wrapped it around something that had happened to me, filling the story with villains and ghosts from my past.
It was very therapeutic and has helped to finally chase those ghosts away.
Wow, great answer, Nancy! Great that you were able to apply it to your writing! I am currently doing the same, with my sequel to Exposing Dallas. He deals with a lot of personal demons that have crept up after events in the first novel (to release sometime this fall) and it's so much fun to write!
I'll have to listen to that song–I don't think I have!