Some of my favorite clever song lyrics

I remember a few years ago when I first heard REO Speedwagon’s “Roll With the Changes,” I thought to myself, “Are they still coming out with new songs? I love this one.” I was completely wrong. It’s not that they aren’t touring together, because they are, but the song is from 1978! I couldn’t believe it’s as old as me, since I’m from 1978, too. In fact, the album featuring the song was released 9 months before I was born… wait a second… ew gross, never mind.

I recently had Spotify on and this song played. You think people in 1978 ever thought in about 30 years you’d be able to listen to music in your car, through your phone, on your way to…say, vote for a woman President? They would’ve said you’re crazy! Oh, what, then you got in your time machine and hoverboarded over to the drive-in? Delusional is how they’d classify you.

I totally went down a rabbit hole there, sorry. This is about clever song lyrics! I didn’t catch this line till the other day…

If you’re tired of the same old story, turn some pages.
–REO Speedwagon, “Roll With the Changes”

I love the sentiment of taking action. The line is simple and yet, so clever. Here are a few other favorites of mine.

You’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul. So don’t come back for me. Who do you think you are?
–Christina Perri, “Jar of Hearts”

All of these people I meet, it seems like they’re fine. Yeah, in some ways I hope that they’re not and their hearts are like mine.
–NeedtoBreathe, “Wasteland”

The bride walks down just to start the wedding, and there’s one more girl you won’t be getting.
–Young MC, “Bust A Move”

Ain’t it funny how some people pop into your head so easily. I haven’t seen you in there for so long.
–Dawes, “All Your Favorite Bands”

Or tell your Aunt Louise, tell anything you please. Myself already knows I’m not okay. Or you can tell my eyes to watch out for my mind, it might be walking out on me today.
–Billy Ray Cyrus, “Achy Breaky Heart”

If you have some favorite clever lyrics, feel free to share them in the comments!

-Out of the Wilderness

I always wear protection

I don’t remember caring about wearing protection when I was younger. But now, I do it every time. It’s just too dangerous to take a risk, too much is at stake.

So every time I go out to mow the grass, you’ll find me wearing at least some of the following:

  • ear muffs or ear plugs
  • protective glasses
  • a giant Quicksilver straw hat
  • long pants

Now that I’m 38 and mature about all things, I know the danger of sun exposure. I know the result of not taking care of my eyes and ears. So if I go out and my shadow looks like Princess Leia, so be it. I would rather be mistaken for the fictional Star Wars character than get diagnosed with skin cancer (again), or damage my ear drums, or take shrapnel to the eye.

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Mowing the lawn whilst wearing ear muffs for ear protection makes me look like a princess

If you’re reading this and thinking it couldn’t happen to you, think twice! Wear protection!

-Out of the Wilderness

Worship made worship better

Yesterday I arrived at church somewhat ready for worship. I guess that is to say, I was coming off a week where I think I made strides forward in my relationship with God, which still definitely includes a generous amount of grace from above in those moments I come up short of the target. I walked in and grabbed a seat, the band started with one of my favorite hymns, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Bang! Worship has begun!

posture-worship
not my picture, got it here

But then something even more awesome happened. There was a particular row of folks in front of me, and a guy I didn’t know sitting to my right, a couple of seats away. The row of strangers along with the guy next to me made me fall even more into an awe of God, if that can somehow make sense. You see, when I’m in church, I don’t typically raise my hands, or move around too much. I would love to be that kind of person, but it’s not really my personality. I am more inward as far as that goes. So when I can be around people that are outwardly expressive, I LOVE IT. I love witnessing someone showing passion for the Lord that way.

Yesterday I was encouraged and my worship was even more personal ,somehow, by being near this kind of genuine worship. It made me think, yeah, I feel that way, too! And I might have even swayed a little 😉

-Out of the Wilderness

A guy who (sometimes) shaves his legs

Now before you judge this guy, we’ll call him “Wen” for the sake of privacy, he doesn’t shave his legs consistently. He may do it once every couple of months. Except maybe not in the winter, am I right ladies?

img_20170916_193736660.jpgIt’s not that Wen is interested in having smooth legs. Heck, he doesn’t even use a razor! He uses hair clippers and it’s more to keep things from getting out of control. Think about your front yard. You don’t mow it down to the dirt, right? You just clip the grass so it looks nice and clean. Manscaping, you might say. Wen also does this on his arms, too. It’s not vain, it’s not weird, and in reality, it’s not that uncommon. According to this graph, 48.4% of men in 2015 admit to shaving their legs.

In this world of gender equality, let’s give Ben– I mean, Wen– a little freedom to shave when he feels like it, mmmk?

-Out of the Wilderness

Percy Warner Park trail run

One of the best places to walk/run/hike in Nashville is Percy Warner Park. And there, a well-known location is “the stairs.” A friend of mine and I met there a few days ago and that’s where our trail run started. Let me just tell you, this is no walk in the park, if you’ll pardon the expression. It’s a rugged, tree-rooted, crops of rock-infused path rising to hundreds of feet from where it starts, then back down again. Here’s a view of the stairs, courtesy of Expedia. The hiking trail starts at the top of the stairs.

Expedia image of PWP stairs
image from Expedia.com

We saw some interesting things: Conan the Barbarian (or Outlander?) huffing it around the same path we were on, then saw him again sprinting up the stairs. He literally looked like a modernized caveman, but hey, he was running hard, so more power to him! We also saw a lot of people out to enjoy the beautiful weather we had that day. Then, the pinnacle of sights, a breathtaking view of downtown Nashville. A picture wouldn’t even do it justice, so you just need to go there yourself to see it. In the pic below, it’s the red peak point to the right of the gray 1 mile marker. It’s stunning.

By the end we both were exhausted. We’d climbed a total of 626.6 feet in elevation! My friend suggested as a way to finish our run, a sprint from the flag pole area up to the first wall (you can kind of see the wall in the picture above). Sooooooooo we went ahead and did that 3 times!

We’re crazy. Running with company is so much better than running alone, if only for the sake of having someone there to suffer with you. But I appreciated our conversation, and how he and I often find ourselves running side by side in the race of life, too. Here’s our course from that day…

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-Out of the Wilderness