Wednesday, December 15, 2010

"Out of the cold, dark winter's space/We come together . . ."

The Song: "Don't Be Afraid of the Light that Shines Within You," Luka Bloom. Words & music by Luka Bloom. Track 8 of the 2009 Bar/None Records Sampler.
How/when acquired: Downloaded MP3, 2009.
Listen/watch here.

I did something bad to my main computer on Monday, so am working on an old machine that holds some music I didn't copy over at the beginning of the year. It's an unexpected benefit of something that's otherwise kind of disastrous; I'm rediscovering all these songs I didn't remember I had.

It's tempting to see iTunes as a kind of magic oracle, giving me the music I need when I need it, a secular version of Bible-dipping. This song, at least, was exactly what I needed this morning.

One of the reasons I love Maine at this time of year is that people come together against the cold and the darkness. Christmas lights defy the planetary shift; so what if we're tilting away from the sun, so what if the sun sets at 4:00 p.m., so what if it's 18F out and snowing? We'll light things up. We'll decorate the evergreens with things that sparkle, and we'll gather in snug buildings of wood and brick to drink beer and eat onion rings.

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