Loss is perhaps the greatest emotion we can deal with. Sometimes loss comes as tragedy, unexpected. Sometimes it comes as atrocity, planned.Country music has a long history of songs about loss. Sometimes raucous and irreverent, sometimes howl-at-the-moon sad, sometimes reflective, it covers the most basic of emotions.
This week say the passing of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who devoted her life to the mentally handicapped, and founded the Special Olympics. This week, I couldn't stop thinking about what Joe Kennedy did to her sister Rosemary. And thinking about what Rose might have been like if atrocity had not caught her.
Kenny Chesney has been here before on Saturday Redneck. His song Who You'd Be Today perfectly captures this sense of loss.
Sunny days seem to hurt the most
I wear the pain like a heavy coat
I feel you everywhere I go
I see your smile, I see your face
I hear you laughing in the rain
I still can't believe you're gone
It's not fair you died too young
Like the story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I've been through
Just knowing no one could take your place
An' sometimes I wonder
Who'd you be today?
Would you see the world? Would you chase your dreams?
Settle down with a family?
I wonder what would you name your babies?
Some days the sky's so blue
I feel like I can talk to you
An' I know it might sound crazy
It's not fair you died too young
Like the story that had just begun
But death tore the pages all away
God knows how I miss you
All the hell that I've been through
Just knowing no one could take your place
An' sometimes I wonder
Who you'd be today?
Today, today, today.
Today, today, today.
Sunny days seem to hurt the most
I wear the pain like a heavy coat
The only thing that gives me hope
Is I know I'll see you again some day
Some day, some day, some day.
Can't watch it. My mom tells a story of a mentally ill cousin who had electric-shock treatment in the forties and the results were the same as Rosemary's. Intentions were different but the results the same.
ReplyDeleteBuck, I'm sorry about your cousin.
ReplyDeleteAnd your point is even more powerful than mine - even with "good" intentions, there were still horrible outcomes. We don't know nearly as much as we think that we know.
Records show that the young Kennedy girl wasn't mentally ill, just "slow". She was also beautiful and liked boys. A LOT. They did it, as her behavior "embarrassed them" and they were worried about a pregnancy. Should have left the poor young girl alone.
ReplyDeleteAs to the song. I have that CD in my truck right now, my favorite on the tape is "You Save Me". Good music.