I’m surprised I’ve never written anything on my blogs about music or shared any music when I was in fact a music major at one point, and have played in bands for nearly a half of my life. Today I was listening to one of NPR’s TIny Desk Concerts and heard one of my favorite bands (Death Cab For Cutie) perform one of my favorite songs (Passenger Seat).
I don’t anticipate Music Mondays on the blog being a place for a lot of music criticism or anything, but more of a place to share some music that I’m into and/or talking about. You should press play on the video above.
Lyrics:
I roll the window down
And then begin to breathe in
The darkest country road
And the strong scent of evergreen
From the passenger seat as you are driving me home.Then looking upwards
I strain my eyes and try
To tell the difference between shooting stars and satellites
From the passenger seat as you are driving me home.“do they collide?”
I ask and you smile.
With my feet on the dash
The world doesn’t matter.When you feel embarrassed then I’ll be your pride
When you need directions then I’ll be the guide
For all time.
For all time.
This particular song was the one Jessica and I danced our first dance to at our wedding. The photos were taken by my friend, Kim Graham of Kim Graham Photography. Kim has had a lot of influence in my life since she photographed our wedding. More than she’s really probably aware of.
Jebb & Jessica Graff’s First Dance – Photography by Kim Graham Photography / kimgraham.net
They aint kidding when they say marriage is difficult. I’m typing this after an uncomfortable conversation I had earlier with Jessica. I started this post before that, and I felt weird about coming back to it because I was out of the mood. All the lovey feelings were gone. I was a jackass earlier because she didn’t react the way I’d hoped she would about something. I’m an idiot sometimes and you don’t get to stop loving someone because you’re no longer in the mood to do so.
While the lyrics in this song are romantic and have played true for both me and Jessica at times, our real guide in our marriage has been God. I believe with all of my being that He was working in Kim several years ago. Jessica and I were struggling with some stuff and Kim handed me a cheesy Christian DVD (Kirk Cameron. Lifetime movie feel.), a book and encouraging words. Those things led me to helping lead us back to a relationship with God and on a healthier path than the one we were on. He was working in a few other unlikely friends, some strangers, and family too and I am forever grateful for all of them and their generosity.
Jebb & Jessica Graff’s First Dance – Photography by Kim Graham Photography / kimgraham.net
Now I listen to this song and hear it in a different way. One that takes the weight off of me or Jessica to do all the metaphorical driving and lets us take turns because after all, “the world doesn’t matter”.
-JG