A Falling Star - Roots

 

This is a picture of the mundane, the bleakness that is seen in so many faces, of tolerating and making the best of life that has ultimately been a steady disappointment.

           Life can be as tough as cold boot-leather, and there are many whose lives have been heartbreakingly different from the bright visions of youth. It's only natural to dream of softer and kinder tomorrows. Sometimes the dreamer ends up fixing so much of his longing in what he wishes for that his fantasy world becomes more real than the actual one. Living and longing for the big break has a hidden sting in its tail: discontent—as a history of fame and wealth can prove—is not done away with by striking it lucky.

 

Meaningless things in greater measures remain meaningless.

 

It doesn't take much to see that nobody gets to keep what they gather here. If we were put here for the purpose of gathering then how is it that so far everyone has had to leave their bags behind?

 

The song is a reflection of a misguided hope, longing for big dollops of what cannot be kept and cannot bring meaning. 

The bright contrast is not the realization of selfish ambition, it never was, that is just another kind of emptiness and meaninglessness done up in a deceptive outfit.

            In short this is a sad sort of picture, wanting to understanding the dryness and bleakness, but at the same time recognising the futility of longing for fulfilment in what never could, and never will fulfil.

 

It seemed right to present the story from his perspective. Some may find it uncomfortable, listening to an appeal rooted in misunderstanding. We can be so frightened to hear or see something from another's perspective (one we disagree with), as if it might change our minds or obscure the clarity of our conclusions. The purpose here is not to change mind but heart, not opinion but attitude. Empathy isn't a compromise of conviction. Understanding the perspective of someone who embraces different beliefs is not to corrupt your own beliefs, but it does in some measure indicate whether your interest in the person is greater than a desire to convince them of your views.

 

So it's not the easy view of spectator moralization but one of trying to understand what it must be like, what motivates him. Sometimes we can be so quick to draw up an opinion on someone that we fail to see them as a person.

 

It is good to evaluate, it is necessary, but cold evaluation without empathy is an ugly thing.