Drink A Beer
I know I’m supposed to hate Luke Bryan.
BUT I LOVE THIS!
I know it’s a bit hokey, but the feel is utterly amazing, kind of like the intro to “Free Bird.”
I sometimes wonder if I’ve lost my connection to music. There’s so much I don’t understand, so much that is sound without song, and then I hear something like “Drink A Beer” and not only am I in love with music again, but my humanity is restored.
And sure, the song is about death.
But really it’s about loneliness and reflection.
I don’t know about you. But despite everybody on television reveling in the comfort of others, watching the game, ensconced with buddies at work, I’m oftentimes inside my head, amazed at what I see and wondering how I fit in and what path I should take.
Everybody on television is so good-looking. The movies are full of superheroes. Politics is worse than banking, the people pay lip service to policy, but they’re just there to get rich. And I’m not a mindless partier. Good times, sure. I like them. But it’s something I feel inside, and there doesn’t have to be anybody else around.
When I got the news today
I didn’t know what to say
That’s what happens every morning. I turn on my computer or phone and I’m confronted with information that demands I make decisions, choose this path or that. I’m fearful of making a mistake, I oftentimes just want to check out, which is what I did when I was a kid, with the door closed and my records playing.
I took a walk to clear my head
This is where the walking led
Clearing your head. It’s almost impossible today. I’ll admit I’m addicted to my smartphone. Looking to see if I’m loved. It’s hard to disconnect, to get in touch with your true feelings, gain perspective.
Can’t believe you’re really gone
Don’t feel like going home
Relationships… Once upon a time we all lived close together in villages. Now we’re all in touch online, but just because you know where the person lives, what they look like, that does not mean you want to connect. What do you say? To the girl you had a crush on in seventh grade? The one who left you? That you still think of them? That’ll freak ’em right out. And what you’re really looking for is not them, but the feeling that you’re in control, that you can solve this puzzle of life.
Funny how the good ones go
Too soon, but the good lord knows
The reasons why, I guess
I get why people believe. Because otherwise what happens is so inexplicable. The good do die young. People do get away with murder. If you don’t have more questions than answers, you haven’t lived. But I’m not the joining type. I want to figure it out for myself. And every day I gain knowledge and realize how little I know.
So I’m gonna sit right here
On the edge of this pier
And watch the sunset disappear
And drink a beer
Sometimes that’s all you need. A perch where you can scan the landscape, stare out and marvel how the world really doesn’t care, but that doesn’t matter, it’s so beautiful.
My drinking days are done.
I’m not toasting those who are gone.
But I get the sentiment. Sometimes you just want to disconnect and contemplate this confounding, confusing planet we inhabit.
And it’s not bad alone.
But with the right song, it’s marvelous.
