“The world is a sad place, a bad place, a terrible place to live. Oh, but I don’t want to die.” Those words, lyrics from an old song, kept replaying in my head all week. I even sang them to my friends. None of us could come up with the rest of the lyrics, who sang the song, or when.
Finally today I ran the words through my web browser and came up with “Reflections of My Life” written and sung with gorgeous harmonies by The Marmalade, a band that made no impression on me at the time. I was way too young for their lyrics then.
Now when I hear the opening lines: “The changing of sunlight to moonlight/Reflections of my life, oh how they fill my eyes” they speak to me about time passing and the paradox of living in a terrible world that holds so much beauty. I can’t help thinking about 9/11 tomorrow.
Another anniversary: nine years ago today, I started “A Writer’s Diary.” It always feels wrong to talk about my personal projects the day before 9/11 and this year, I feel it more. Maybe that’s why the song has been haunting me all week.
“All my sorrows, sad tomorrows/Take me back to my old home.” Of course we can’t go back. Our world is forever changed, forever changing. But the longing for a simplier more peaceful time remains, even as we live our sad tomorrows.
Cynthia Harrison 