Week Twenty-One: Wild Card Week - The Sundays - "Love" - Blind

Week Twenty-One, aka Wild Card Week, will be full of random gems

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The year was 1992, and what a year it was!  It was a time of great change for me and for my family.  It was the year I started high school; it was the year my father finally decided to stop drinking, and it was the year that my brother drove us to school in the silver Saab.

Now, before you let yourself get somewhat impressed, let me tell you a little bit about that “hot mess”.  On the outside, it looked pretty presentable; however, it was a standard, and one of the gears was practically stripped.  The windshield wipers worked when they felt like it.  The front defrost was a joke (the back worked), and my brother and/or I, along with various kind strangers, pushed that piece of crap more than once, in order to get it started.

But, it had a cassette deck that worked, and that is all that truly mattered, now isn’t it?  My brother was an avid fan of rap music and hip hop at that time, so I’ll never truly understand why he let me play this tape for at least two weeks on the way to school. 

I think it was because this song spoke to both of us… We knew we were growing up and would soon be going our own separate ways – two little innocent souls who had raised ourselves and one another.  We also knew that the two people who were supposed to love us until we could “love ourselves,” as this song suggests, simply could not accomplish that task.  Now, don’t get me wrong – my parents were not cruel or unkind.  It’s just that you can’t give away something that you don’t even have, and I don’t think that my parents truly knew how to even love themselves at that point in the game.

This story does not end in sadness; my family is closer than any other family I know, but it took us many years and twists and turns to get there.  “Time's so scarce where I come from; Let them say what they like cause they still can't take your love...”

Picture myself as a thin white child 
back to the day I was born on 
they slapped me into line as it crossed my mind 
I've felt better 
I've felt worse 
this is my life and it's all very well but never again 

as they say "we've been robbed"
and don't you know that this time 

love, just love yourself like no one else
love, it's enough
they can say what they like but they still can't take that 

distance myself from the things I'd like but
everyone has something I need
don't let me wake up & find
all those others leaving me behind
if you don't have a clue about life
then I'm happy to say neither have I 
although I'm not going to shrug my shoulders & suck my thumb
this time 

cause there's something I deserve 

love, just love yourself like no one else
love, it's enough
they can say what they like but they still can't take that 

picture my house in a postcard town 
picture a bomb in the sky
history at the door who could ask for more?
I've felt better
so kill me with love
just love yourself like no one else
time's so scarce where I come from 
let them say what they like cause they still can't take your love