And the sky is black and still now, on the hill where the angels sing

Maybe the most universally truthful song ever written, one that burrows down deep into the psyche.

Love the vinyl pops in the beginning; yes this is old and not anyway fashionable, except for the emotions, which are timeless. When I hear this song, and these words, it takes me to many places -- most of them not pleasant, but some bittersweet.

The further away you run doesn't matter, the faster you run doesn't matter; this is inescapable. A line like "ain't it funny how an old broken bottle looks just like a diamond ring" follows you from your first kiss and romance to the moment when you realize that none of it matters.

For many years I had the same recurring dream: I would hit the ball and just couldn't get to first base no matter what. I kept churning and churning, and never went anywhere. That dream stopped and has been replaced by one where I am trying to get somewhere on a bike and I have a flat tire. It's always flat; the bike seems raring to go and I'm riding on the rims.

"Far from Me" is the soundtrack to that baseball game and that aborted bicycle trip.

I hate graveyards and old pawn shops

It finally struck me that the message and poignancy of this song sort of, kind of perfectly encapsulates the overriding theme of this here blog. Well, that, and trying to keep said souvenirs alive, at least in my mind.

And a special shout to John Prine, an American treasure and one of the greatest songwriters of the past 50 years ever.

And don't you know that all he saw was all there was to see

It’s sort of a shock to the system and a hard lesson to learn when someone, and not even your partner or the person who is closest to you, reveals their true self to you.

Someone who is in your life on a very frequent basis, someone whom you trusted, for the most part.

And it doesn’t matter how the revealing occurred, just that it did.

Anyway, just noting this occurrence, which of course is not a life and death situation as in the John Prine brilliance below. So perhaps it’s a stretch to equate this situation with “Six O’Clock News.” But words matter, and words have consequences.

And can cause a lot of hurt. And forever change the relationship with that person.

Roulette, that's the game

This one just never, ever gets old

Unfortunately.