This goes out to all I know that seek solace.  Solace is ephemeral, it’s rest for a tired heart, it’s a pause in the grind of life, solace is a safe haven, a sideline where you see the action all around you and you know you are going back.  

I wrote Seek No Solace years ago about not searching for solace as it happens upon you serendipitously.  Someone once told me, “everything in moderation” and I’ve lived by those words... solace is something you can’t live for, or make happen.   Solace is your friend indeed but it’s not your lifeline to living.  Solace is a reprieve from a bad situation like resting in the shade on a hot sunny summer day.  You have to get out there in live to make a better life.  Solace is ephemeral, make life happen instead. 

This song below is by A-ha.  They are not the A-ha of the 80’s that most people peg them for.  Listen to Solace and you’ll be better for it.  One of my favorite words is solace.  For them to pay a tribute of sorts to this word put a smile on my face the first time I heard it.   I have good memories of this song.  From days driving up the street to my home where my family waited, to skating in central park listening to it as I cut up and down hills.  I’d hear the verse, “No one got ahead ...standing in line...” and I’d look all around me at the countless people thinking how so many of us refuse to see the beauty in life.  I would wonder how many of these people where “standing in line”.   To hear the song takes me back to moments like that, gliding under the shade of the central park trees framed by the skyline of buildings.  Suddenly I felt my moment of solace too.  Some songs don't have meaning until they fit your life.  Listen to this one and you decide.

A-ha has an interesting perspective on Solace. I like it.  It’s about finding solace, a different view than my own. They begin with a woman that has betrayed her love and now lives in misery over it.  No I don’t mention this out any personal reason, it’s just ironic.   So this woman is left in waiting for her solace.   And taking a different tack than my own, A-ha suggests, “You’re wasting the moment ...biding your time, no one got ahead standing in line.”  The violins pick you up at this point as if delivering on the hope you so desperately desire.   It is sweet and truly picks you up and lifts your spirit.

Then a single violin returns and you feel the isolation again.  The deep desire for that ephemeral solace takes over again.  The desperation is made clear with these words accompanying the single violin: “So something is over ...before it’s begun.  So close you can taste it, but now it’s gone.” Another sad message which speaks for itself in a song of hope.  Perhaps most people would listen to this song and not pick up on these subtleties.   Call me a hopeless romantic, it is what made me a musician a long time ago.  I've often said if a song can change your mood, that is truely great song.  I put Solace in that realm.

I hope you get from Solace what I did.  And remember my friends, family, loved ones and strangers passing through my blog solace is ephemeral.  

SOLACE - listen to Solace - mp3

Some sign of forgiveness
Some form of relief
Is all that she asks for
Is all that she needs
She waits for the day when
She feels more at ease
Some time to be cared for
Some time left in peace

Cold stars of the future
Burn bright in the past
These moments of solace
They won't last
They don't last

You're wasting the moment
Biding your time
No one got ahead
Standing in line
So something is over
Before it's begun
So close you can taste it
But now it is gone

Cold stars of the future
Burn bright in the past
These moments of solace
They don't last
They cannot last

You're hoping for solace
Well, just look around
Everyone here is
Standing in line

One final footnote:  "Just look around, Everyone here is standing in line..."   Don't let this be your fate my friends.   You would only ever need solace if you are out there living.  My dreams have been broken more than once.  The answer isn't standing in line.  Don't let reading my blog be your highlite today.   Make a new friend, take a chance, repair an old friendship, set in motion a life worth living.   Go join that book club, take that dance lesson, join the gym or just walk around the block but get out there and live.   ;)