Dave's Pig
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It's alive right now
Deep and sweet within
Pouring through our veins
Intoxicate, moving wine to tears
Drinking it deep.
Those well chosen words have nothing to do with a pig, or Dave, or even bacon for that matter. Although those words are not mine, taken in full context, they may in fact likely refer to the thing, that inner "joie de vivre" -- that feeling when you are 5 years old which vaults you gleefully out of bed on the first snow day off school. An "exuberant enjoyment of life" is perhaps what those words refer to. As an adult, these words seem to speak far deeper and are more revealing to the point of our journey.
I live each day with a hint of disquietude and angst brought on by the truth that, "the problem is, we think we have time." Without fail, I make sure I examine my every day at some point and ask whether I am burning the day away, knowing I can never wind back the day. The sand in the hourglass never lies. The bottom of the hourglass signifies the past, the memories of days gone by, but the top of the hour glass is hidden, slowly emptying with never an honest clue as to how much is left. This is my life, your life, the masked upper half of the hourglass. At this point in my life, my internal dialogue keeps me pretty honest, my angst to make the most of my sand prods me along insisting I can do more, that I should do more, that I should contribute more.
"Isn't it strange how we move our lives for another day, like skipping a beat? There is much more than we see here, don't burn the day away. Oh then complain and pray more from above, greedy little pig, stop just watch your world trickle away, it'll all be dead and gone in a few short years. Wash out this tired notion that the best is yet to come. But, while you're dancing on the ground, don't think of when you're gone." -D.Matthews
These are lyrics of the talented musician Dave Matthews. I have always loved this man's music, his music has been a staple in my life for 20 years. His music often presents a course correcting compass for me, a result of a challenging time in my life in which I was first introduced to his art. His music and poetry is not for everyone, I will give you yours, give me mine. I dare you find a song that hits things squarely on the cranium more beautifully and with more North Star guiding purpose than Dave's "Pig".
Live your days by his lyrics here, and you will be promised a life of fulfillment and no regrets. If you heed his message here, you will not find yourself in the winter of your life "praying for more from above, you greedy little pig".
You will meet them all in one song -- love, longing, retrospection, introspection, sorrow, regret, optimism, observation, celebration and more. It fits my driving mantra, "the problem is, we think we have time". Here Dave just likes to take a more blunt approach to his message here, smacking you across the face with it as if using a rotting 4 day old lake trout with a stench one just cannot ignore,
"Shake up your bones shake up your feet, I'm saying open up and let the rain come flooding in. Wash out this tired notion that the best is yet to come. Time is short but that's all right, maybe I'll go in the middle of the night. Take your hands from your eyes, my love, everything must end some time. Don't burn the day away." -D.Matthews
Take Dave's trout across the kisser, or maybe even Shawshank's poignant "get busy living or get busy dying" mantra, don't burn the day away.
Regardless of how you slice it, the problem is, you mistakenly think you have time. However, tomorrow has to be someone's last day, and if it is yours, make sure you face it with peace, "take your hands from your eyes my love, everything must end some time". Just make sure you didn't burn too many days away and let too much sand aimlessly pass you buy. After all, maybe you'll not even make it to tomorrow, maybe you will go in the middle of the night, so don't burn today away.
- Shawn
PIG, lyrics by Dave Matthews