Sometimes Goodbye is a “Second Chance”

I love my parents. I love the place where I grew up. But it’s a cradle. And you have to leave your cradle. It’s not just a metaphoric observation on some option in life, this is an imperative. I’m not saying everyone should leave their home but your home doesn’t make you who you are. Even your parents. Sure, you inherited their genetic material and that and the place you grew up in define you but they shouldn’t constrain you. You should go and find your own place in life.

These are the kinds of thoughts that have been running through my head since I was ten. Yes, ten, I’m not kidding. Since then I was thinking about what I want to do with my life and where that life should take me. It took me until I was about 14-15 to really nail it down but I was thinking about it even then. And these are some of the main topics of my life. Because – and again, I mean no disrespect to my parents – but my father can be a bit pressuring at times, to the point where you think that you’re not the one running your own life. And I think this is one of the main reasons why I turned up the way I am, always have to do things my way, most often in the complete opposite way as everyone else, just so I could feel that I’m in control.

And since this is one of the things that truly define me, I really connected with this song. I liked Shinedown for a while but didn’t really get a discography going. I still have some songs of them on my Grooveshark playlist so I guess I listened to them at least once. Yesterday, this song kind of caught me by surprise. I listened to it, got a handle on the words and then played it back again. Then I went on line and searched for it, wikied it and watched the video (also embedded below).

I don’t really think I know why it happened but I started tearing up. Towards the end of it I really had to stop myself from crying. It’s not a really sad story, it’s just a very touching, very real story that I personally empathise with. It’s a story about leaving behind limitations, pursuing your dreams no matter where they take you and following your heart.

This is what Shinedown’s frontman had to say about this song (to the audience, before they played it):

“It’s important for you to hear this… When I grew up, everyone was okay with being in a bubble. They were cool in their circle. That’s fine. But no one should discourage someone if they have a dream, if they want something more […] This song was difficult for me to write the lyrics to because it’s about my mother and my father, and about the day I said goodbye to them, because I had to go try, and I’m still trying, every day, to become a man. So, this song is about that. It’s about the moment that you wake up and you decide you want to go for every single dream you ever want.”
—Brent Smith, Pointfest 22
And here’s the video:
I think it’s because of the leap. It’s like he’s saying, “I’m not angry”, because it’s not about anger or resentment or any kind of hard feelings. It’s all about going after what you care most about, not letting anything stop you. And I would never want to do that if I had the choice but, and this is the heart-wrenching bit, she had to leave everything she knew – her home town, her house, her friends, her boyfriend, her mom and dad and little brother – to follow her passion. That is sad… and incredibly brave.

Posted in Humanity, No Category, Stories of My Life, Thinking Out Loud by with comments disabled.