I’m obsessed with a song right now.
I’m hesitant to tell you what it is because it’s a bit too on-the-nose, but the story falls apart if I don’t, so here goes.
It’s titled “Fugitive” by the Indigo Girls.
I know, I know, the queer girl referencing an Indigo Girls song is, as my friend Daryn put it, “so on brand.”
But here we are.
It’s a great song. I’ve known it for years, but recently I heard a live version that blew me away.
In this version, the Girls, as we affectionately call them, bring their usual emotion, harmonies and insight.
But as the song builds, they go further and further and further out there musically and emotionally, until they leave solid ground completely.
Amy and Emily are singing and playing with everything they’ve got.
Guest pianist Julie Wolf is playing with total abandon, doing that Thelonious Monk thing where chords spill into each other in a discordant, beautiful way.
They’ve let go of control.
They’re out there…and it is fucking magnificent.
The music is brave, raw, real and soul-stirring.
And they had to let go to get there.
Letting Go Absolutely
They could have played it safe. They could have maintained control and kept their voices and music reigned in.
But they didn’t.
They let go absolutely. They threw themselves into the void and created something magical.
By the time they hit the 3:25 mark of the song, they are in the hands of something larger and more powerful than themselves. It continues to the crescendo of the song, which is followed by a brief moment of silence before the crowd breaks into cheers.
Surrendering to the Moment
It takes courage to surrender to a moment, to a vision, to a dream. To surrender to your hopes—and fears.
To let go into the void is warrior work.
But if we don’t let go to something grander than ourselves, we never get to that place where magical things happen.
We can keep things under control. We can micromanage our days, lives, friends, families and work.
Or, we can surrender to the magnificence of it all.
We can pour everything we are into this life and see what happens.
Let’s do that, shall we?
It’s only life after all.
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